Where do you place Joseph Benavidez on the all time greats list?

dmwalking said:
Much love to Joe B. A legend in his own right.


But he’s not an all time great. He’s a pioneer,

Kinda like Bonnar and Lytle.

His exciting style helped keep his division alive. His efforts helped build stars.

Sadly, his frame was just too small. Limbs too short to reach the target. Head too big to dodge punches. He had the brain power. But his physical attributes were always gonna be a problem.

So no. Not an all time great. But 100% a gritty exciting pioneer. If anyone loves guys like might mouse, Brandon, god of war…..be grateful for guys like Joe B.

I would challenge anyone to name a boring fight he was in. Dude had a ton of heart.
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I would not consider Benavidez a pioneer as I consider Demetrius Johnson an al--time great, not a pioneer.
Both had their prime in the 2010s and both are greats of the lighest weightclasses, obviously Joe B some tiers behind but he was still one DJ's biggest rivals which is saying something.

Definitely would not compare him with Bonnar or Lyttle from any angle.
 
Greatest failure to ever do it. He never lost motivation to become a champion even when he went 0-5 in title fights. Seriously that has to be a record for the amount someone has failed to win a belt in MMA. I remember everyone saying he was going to beat Figgy in the first fight, then when he lost he and everyone else blamed it on a head butt. The next fight happens and it was the most GLORIOUS beat down of all time. And I'm not exaggerating, dude got dropped 3 times, almost submitted, sliced up with elbows and then finally choked out unconscious all in less than a single round all in front of his wife.

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blaseblase said:
You have to consider his age and time in the sport though. Fitch only spent 3 years as the no 2 fighter, Benavidez spent 8, and was 35 when he fell off after a 14 year career. If you think prime DJ would handle Fig then it's not a stretch to think prime Benavidez also would have considering he took DJ to split decision and was dominating everyone else he fought during his prime. Let's not forget Joe B handling a prime Formiga who went on to beat Figgy. Those two losses to Figgy are like Topuria beating Volk at 35, age has to be considered.
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Figiueredo fucks up ANY version of Benavidez
 
Was a big Benavidez fan for years. First time I saw him fight was actually his first loss to Cruz.

Problem with Benavidez was he had poor striking technique. In spite of that, he blasted numerous foes over the years, and threw lots of head kicks and guillotines for subs. Stuff that worked on lots of incapable fighters… but not championship material sadly. Too brutish I suppose.

Pretty damn consistent record for most of his career though, only losing title fights. It’s remarkable.
 
blaseblase said:
Do you really value a guy who won a belt one time over the guy who was the second best fighter for 8 years right under a top 5 P4P GOAT? IMO he's a greater fighter than Sean Strickland, Luke Rockhold, Michael Bisping, or anyone on that level.

When I made this thread I was thinking of DC, who literally never would have been a UFC champion if Jones wasnt a fuck up. And now he's considered the second greatest LHW and a top 10 GOAT. Solely because of Jones getting suspended. Sometimes winning a title is about being in the right time at the right place. Benavidez is basically DC if the greatest fighter in his division wasn't a fuckup.
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Strickland, Rockhold and Bisping wouldn't really be on any all time great lists. Unless you were gonna fill out an entire top 50 or 100 but it'll just get really tricky at that point.
 
Perphats top 10 in his divison ? Am no 125 expert. Nice record. Figuredo stopped his career.
 
OldBoy91 said:
Gotta feel for a lot of the Alpha Midget guys.

Benavidez was the clear #2 for years behind Mighty Mouse and beat everybody else but couldn't get past the champ.

Mendes was the clear #2 for years behind Aldo and beat everybody else but couldn't get past the champ.

Faber was the clear #2 for years behind Cruz and beat everybody else but couldn't get past the champ.
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Dillashaw left the camp when he became the clear #1 and beat the TAM champion Cody..
 
blaseblase said:
Do you really value a guy who won a belt one time over the guy who was the second best fighter for 8 years right under a top 5 P4P GOAT? IMO he's a greater fighter than Sean Strickland, Luke Rockhold, Michael Bisping, or anyone on that level.

When I made this thread I was thinking of DC, who literally never would have been a UFC champion if Jones wasnt a fuck up. And now he's considered the second greatest LHW and a top 10 GOAT. Solely because of Jones getting suspended. Sometimes winning a title is about being in the right time at the right place. Benavidez is basically DC if the greatest fighter in his division wasn't a fuckup.
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Not a single one of these fighters is considered an all time great.

Real talk, Benavidez was the #2 guy during the infancy of a developing division, his skills are nothing special compared to the Flyweights of today.

blaseblase said:
I'm trying to be fair to you but Benavidez would literally be at least the flyweight GOAT if DJ didn't exist and DJ is on the all time great list. He's also the only fighter to have a razor close fight with prime Cruz. The idea what he would be outside the top 100 is absolutely ludicrous. You're going to have to provide a top 100 list because your posts sound incredibly stupid.
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Which one of these wins makes Benavidez at least the flyweight GOAT without DJ?

Is it Tim Elliot, Dustin Ortiz, John Moraga, Ali Bagautinov, or Zach Makovsky?

Is it Henry Cejudo or Alex Perez (the only one of these 7 fighters he managed to finish)?
 
blaseblase said:
But he didn't and who knows what would have happened. He would have had to beat JDS, Werdum, Stipe, and Overeem. Benavidez had a better chance of running through flyweight, his only challenge there would have been Dodson. He beat the likes of Cejudo, McCall, Formiga, Makovsky, etc.
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These fighters have over 30 combined losses, not exactly a whose who, you have got to be trolling.
 
EndlessCritic said:
WEC 42 was such a crazy event.

Everyone thought Benavidez was beating Cruz, and everyone thought Torres was going to remain champ forever.

Ended up being the end of Torres' reign, the start of Cruz' incredible run, and a constant question of wtf happened to Brian Bowles.
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Meth happend
 
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