The light heavyweight division exactly 10 years ago

blaseblase said:
Which of those names would you bet on Alex to beat?
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Made a lengthy post of my assessment. Fully and openly acknowledge that there’s waaaaay better grapplers in this 2013 era than currently. Jones, DC, Davis, and Bader are terrible matches for Alex. Chael could get TDs all day, but he’s pillow fisted with terrible sub defense. I don’t see him beating Alex, but if he did, it would be via lnp.
 
blaseblase said:
I don't know about that. We all saw Pereira fight Jan. He almost got subbed and scraped by a split decision win. Gustafsson and Glover are far better wrestlers than Jan considering how their fights went. So are Davis, Bader, and Evans. Bader is the only one I would give a 50/50 chance for Pereira to beat given his iffy chin.
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Jan did not almost submit Alex. I just rewatched this. It was never under the chin, and Alex fought the grips each time. Alex almost guillotined Jan before this when they were both dry.
 
Pequeño Corey said:
Jan did not almost submit Alex. I just rewatched this. It was never under the chin, and Alex fought the grips each time. Alex almost guillotined Jan before this when they were both dry.
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Lol stop. Jan dominated him in the grappling and then gassed because of high elevation. What do you think the guys who dominated Jan would do to Pereira? The current LHW division is fucking weak and Jan was considered a below average grappler back then.
 
RockyLockridge said:
I honestly think the ryan bader of this time would be champion pretty easy

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MW was better too, Same with Welterweight.
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Bader was at his best right before he went to Bellator. I think that Rumble loss lit a fire under his ass. 2016 Bader was finishing dudes. Definitely a threat in today’s landscape.

MW was nasty at that time. There’s guys on that list with serious grappling, but all chose to engage in kickboxing matches; Jacare and Yoel come to mind. Luke for sure would get KTFO’d badly today with that porous defense. Tim Kennedy and Moose were durable and well rounded, and for sure could have some success today if they were still in their primes.
 
blaseblase said:
Lol stop. Jan dominated him in the grappling and then gassed because of high elevation. What do you think the guys who dominated Jan would do to Pereira? The current LHW division is fucking weak and Jan was considered a below average grappler back then.
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How does one dominate the grappling if they gas after one round due to the other fighter being defensively sound? Jan dominated 1 round, and then lost. Don’t blame altitude. There is no “sea level Blachowicz”. He doesn’t have the conditioning or skill to grapple with Alex for 3 rounds and he lost the fight because of it. Altitude is such a copout. It affects both fighters equally. Stop making excuses.
 
Pequeño Corey said:
Jan did not almost submit Alex. I just rewatched this. It was never under the chin, and Alex fought the grips each time. Alex almost guillotined Jan before this when they were both dry.
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Guilotine also wasn't close
 
Pequeño Corey said:
How does one dominate the grappling if they gas after one round due to the other fighter being defensively sound? Jan dominated 1 round, and then lost. Don’t blame altitude. There is no “sea level Blachowicz”. He doesn’t have the conditioning or skill to grapple at altitude with Alex and he lost the fight because of it. Altitude is such a copout. It affects both fighters equally. Stop making excuses.
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Completely lmao at the Cain Stan arguing there is no sea level. Jan dominated the grappling, there isn't an argument otherwise. He literally got a takedown in every round. The fight went to split decision my guy and cardio obviously played a part.
 
michi972 said:
Guilotine also wasn't close
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They were still dry. Looked worse than that rnc attempt imo. If we’re going to tell lies itt and claim that Alex almost got rnd’d, than let’s at least ackowledge all of the sub attempts in that round.
 
blaseblase said:
How does it stack up to today?

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Imo this is the one division I don't think you can argue has improved over time.
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Middleweight and Light Heavyweight have gotten worse, undoubtedly. I'd argue 170lbs has gotten worse too but it's more debatable. 155lbs 10 years ago had prime RDA, Pettis, Bendo, Thompson, Nate Diaz, Khabib as a rising contender before getting derailed by injuries...I'd say 155 was arguably better too. The sport really isn't evolving the way idiots claim, especially not with how the UFC is afraid to sign talent but mass signs bums these days.
 
HuskySamoan said:
Middleweight and Light Heavyweight have gotten worse, undoubtedly. I'd argue 170lbs has gotten worse too but it's more debatable. 155lbs 10 years ago had prime RDA, Pettis, Bendo, Thompson, Nate Diaz, Khabib as a rising contender before getting derailed by injuries...I'd say 155 was arguably better too. The sport really isn't evolving the way idiots claim, especially not with how the UFC is afraid to sign talent but mass signs bums these days.
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People just pick 10 years and say oh this sport isnt evolving, as if nothing happened between 10 yrs ago and now. Cmon man


You yourself said Khabib was derailed by injuries.... and in that time he came back and destroyed everyone. Just because he's retired now doesnt mean we get to ignore all the in between. Divisions have an ebb and flow. Sometimes things are worse and sometimes things are better. That doesnt mean there isnt an evolution.
 
HHJ said:
People just pick 10 years and say oh this sport isnt evolving, as if nothing happened between 10 yrs ago and now. Cmon man


You yourself said Khabib was derailed by injuries.... and in that time he came back and destroyed everyone. Just because he's retired now doesnt mean we get to ignore all the in between. Divisions have an ebb and flow. Sometimes things are worse and sometimes things are better. That doesnt mean there isnt an evolution.
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So, evolution in the assumed sense is...continual progression, improvement, growth etc. And in regards to the top 10 comparative to then and now? I think prime Pettis, Bendo, RDA and even Nate Diaz are huge handfuls for Gaethje, Oliveira, Poirier, Gamrot, Fiziev etc. I think Armans wrestling would be too much for probably all of them except Bendo. Khabib was in the top 5 then even too, so he's gotta count, the only one now who could possibly beat 2014 Khabib is Arman or Islam and I'd only favor Islam to do it, personally. Even guys like Jorge Masvidal was top 15 and having solid runs at 155 back then, Khabilov was still around the ranks. Straight up, I don't think current 155 in terms of top 10, top 15 or top 20 is better than it was a decade ago. I legitimately think 170lbs is debatable, 185lbs and 205lbs were clearly better. Heavyweight was debatable too, probably better in 2014...Cain, DC, Werdum, JDS, Stipe, Hunt, Alistair...It certainly wasn't bad.


I think the sport is evolving, but to act like this generation of UFC talent is so far improved is laughable and its a common narrative. People just ASSUME the lower divisions got better, but I mean, at the top anyways, has 155? (No)
 
HuskySamoan said:
So, evolution in the assumed sense is...continual progression, improvement, growth etc. And in regards to the top 10 comparative to then and now? I think prime Pettis, Bendo, RDA and even Nate Diaz are huge handfuls for Gaethje, Oliveira, Poirier, Gamrot, Fiziev etc.
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I dont agree.
 
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