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UFC 194: Aldo vs McGregor


wandshogun09

Who wins and how?   

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I've just watched the go big weidman/rockhold video, and it's a shame that it's not getting the huge buzz it deserves due to the main event, but I think Weidman vs Rockhold, in terms of talent, is the greatest middleweight fight of all time.

 

I go back and I can't recall any fight that comes close in talent terms. Obviously Anderson is classed as the greatest, but his opponents were never particularly world class. 

Now we have these two guys where they both possess so many dangerous tools and both athletically are of the new breed of fighters that are now coming through.

 

I can't pick a winner with these two, but I'm bizarrely wanting a Rockhold win. Both aren't particularly likeable, but since this Bisping fight Rockhold has slightly grown on me.

 

Plus, DC is his training partner, and I fucking love DC.  

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Whether Anderson's opponents were as good as Rockhold or Weidman is up for debate, but I disagree that he never fought anybody world class. The two that immediately spring to mind are TRT Belfort and prime Sonnen. While both men have done a grand job ruining their legacy and reputation, they were still incredibly skilled fighters when Silva made them look average. Granted, I think both those men get battered by Rockhold and Weidman, in their PED prime, but that has a lot to do with the game evolving and getting better - Rockhold and Weidman are far more well rounded and are very much the top end of the new MIXED martial artist where they have several skills.

 

Sonnen, in particular, was a brilliant middleweight wrestler and if he didn't have a genuine GOAT fighter to contend with he would have had a run with the middleweight belt, as he was clearly the second best fighter in that division for a while.

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I've just watched the go big weidman/rockhold video, and it's a shame that it's not getting the huge buzz it deserves due to the main event, but I think Weidman vs Rockhold, in terms of talent, is the greatest middleweight fight of all time.

 

I go back and I can't recall any fight that comes close in talent terms. Obviously Anderson is classed as the greatest, but his opponents were never particularly world class.

Now we have these two guys where they both possess so many dangerous tools and both athletically are of the new breed of fighters that are now coming through.

 

I can't pick a winner with these two, but I'm bizarrely wanting a Rockhold win. Both aren't particularly likeable, but since this Bisping fight Rockhold has slightly grown on me.

 

Plus, DC is his training partner, and I fucking love DC.  

 

As is probably obvious to everyone on here, I'm about as knowledgable about MMA as Gandhi, but I wouldn't have said that about an opponent list that includes Dan Henderson, Vitor Belfort, Stephen Bonnar, Demian Maia and Nate Marquardt and Chris Weidman.

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Whether Anderson's opponents were as good as Rockhold or Weidman is up for debate, but I disagree that he never fought anybody world class. The two that immediately spring to mind are TRT Belfort and prime Sonnen. While both men have done a grand job ruining their legacy and reputation, they were still incredibly skilled fighters when Silva made them look average. Granted, I think both those men get battered by Rockhold and Weidman, in their PED prime, but that has a lot to do with the game evolving and getting better - Rockhold and Weidman are far more well rounded and are very much the top end of the new MIXED martial artist where they have several skills.

 

Sonnen, in particular, was a brilliant middleweight wrestler and if he didn't have a genuine GOAT fighter to contend with he would have had a run with the middleweight belt, as he was clearly the second best fighter in that division for a while.

 

I was as big a fan of Sonnen as anyone on here, but to say he was world class certainly is ridiculous. Sonnen was an exceptional wrestler, but his stand up was pretty poor, and whilst he had decent ground and pound, he lacked the ability to finish his opponents apart from (sorry Wand) Shogun.

 

I'm specifically talking about fighters possess every single tool in the game. There's no question this fight is pitting the two most talented and athletic guys the middleweight division has ever seen. 

 

You've seemed to have taken my post as a knock on Silva, and it's not. Even Carbomb and Rey's post seems to suggest that.

 

Also, Carbomb, you really need to check that list of fighters again. Henderson you could maybe make a case for, but suggesting Maia, Marquardt, and especially Stephan Bonnar are world class then I don't really know where to begin to be fair.

 

Even Belfort, he's proven that whilst he's fucking lethal for a few minutes, he's a steriod cheat who has a 2 minute gas tank. 

 

Again, this isn't me questioning Silva's legacy, it's more me saying this fight from a talent perspective is the best middleweight fight we've seen so far. 

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I really don't think it's ridiculous at all to call Sonnen world class for a certain period of time. Post-Maia loss, his one sided approach was good enough to beat everyone, bar the GOAT. I think the only time he struggled a bit was that tight match with a revived Bisping, which Sonnen won. Sonnen was legit the second best middleweight on planet earth for a period of time, you don't get to that level without being world class, IMO.

 

The "he couldn't finish" debate is bollocks as well. Seeing as the goal is to win by doing whatever and Sonnen won. Even tapping out Stann impressively.

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I really don't think it's ridiculous at all to call Sonnen world class for a certain period of time. Post-Maia loss, his one sided approach was good enough to beat everyone, bar the GOAT. I think the only time he struggled a bit was that tight match with a revived Bisping, which Sonnen won. Sonnen was legit the second best middleweight on planet earth for a period of time, you don't get to that level without being world class, IMO.

 

Of course he's was second best, but it was during an era where Silva made his opponents look second rate.

 

I guess it's where you stretch perception of what makes a truly great world class fighter. To me, Sonnen was never that. 

 

Also, of course the 'couldn't finish' thing is bollocks, if used as the only reason why someone isn't world class. I didn't say that though. Just look at GSP for an example. 

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Chael Sonnen was definitely a world class fighter, but only against a certain kind of opponent. He was all wrong for Anderson. It's always easy to look back on Anderson's run and pick holes, he most definitely got a lot of favourable matchup's in terms of style but you can't knock the achievments. Pretty much every guy he faced deserved their crack at the belt.

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Chael Sonnen was definitely a world class fighter, but only against a certain kind of opponent. He was all wrong for Anderson. It's always easy to look back on Anderson's run and pick holes, he most definitely got a lot of favourable matchup's in terms of style but you can't knock the achievments. Pretty much every guy he faced deserved their crack at the belt.

 

That makes no sense Ebb. You're either a world class fighter or you're not. You can't pick your opponent to deem that label.

 

I understand the point you're making in terms of Sonnen looking better against a certain opponent because of style, and agree with what you're saying in general, but to me you can't be classed a world class fighter only when your style works in your favour against your opponent. 

 

Also, again, it's not knocking his achievements.

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Anderson Silva for such a long time looked untouchable, which is why hardly anyone including myself thought Weidman was going to win the first fight. This was down to anyone at 185 who looked impressive and got together a decent streak of wins ended up being outclass by Anderson. That's why the way the first Weidman fight ended was so shocking, no one had really managed to get a clean strike on Silva because of his insane head movement. So to see Silva get KTFO like that was huge and then Silva's leg snapping in the second fight, really did away with the myth of Anderson being unstoppable. Especially with all the steroids business after his return. I like Weidman as a fighter, but he has been plagued with injuries which will tarnish his time with the belt, if he beats Rockhold and continues to be champion. 

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