Could babalu have been ufc champ at any point if he went to Middleweight?

[king of theRing]

One of his best performances came at when he fought at 195 or 190 vs robbie and that was one of the few times he has looked like he was in his 20's again. You think instead of having to be famous by getting cracked by Chuck, he could have been the one to beat rich franklin and evan tanner at MW?

 

[kenetics]

Ya. I think he could've of beat tanner but not sure about Franklin.

 

[gspieler]

Wins over Chael, Horn, Shogun, Lawler, etc. I'm pretty sure it's feasible he could have held UFC gold at some point, considering the relative strength of the UFC during his heyday.

 

[ALAN PARTRIDGE]

Bab Lu ??

 

[king of theRing]

Ya. I think he could've of beat tanner but not sure about Franklin.

Could have been interesting. I was one of the very few not impressed with franklin as most where in the day. Never saw his streak or skill set in particular to be what people made it out to be

 

[kenetics]

Could have been interesting. I was one of the very few not impressed with franklin as most where in the day. Never saw his streak or skill set in particular to be what people made it out to be

Franklin abilities were balanced in every area. He had pretty good cardio

 

[king of theRing]

Franklin abilities were balanced in every area. He had pretty good cardio

Yeah he was good everywhere, but never saw anything that warrants world class. I saw a guy who was just a very disciplined guy who is a hard worker

 

[Lay N Pray 101]

Ya. I think he could've of beat tanner but not sure about Franklin.

I dunno, I think Tanner would give him a good fight and I could see Tanner GNPing Babalu to a TKO victory.

 

[TheGrouch]

Always good to see a Babalu thread...one of my all-time favorites.

Quite possible he could have gotten that MW strap. Franklin would have been tough, because he was such a technical striker and avoided TDs well.

 

[king of theRing]

I dunno, I think Tanner would give him a good fight and I could see Tanner GNPing Babalu to a TKO victory.

Yeah tanner style wise seemed to be a tougher fight for babalu. Styles make fights

 

[Lay N Pray 101]

Yeah tanner style wise seemed to be a tougher fight for babalu. Styles make fights

It would of been a fun fight to see. Tanner was never out of a fight unless he was really out. Actually dropped Franklin in their 2nd fight after being beaten up.

 

[VanMMA]

He was a bad matchup for Anderson. He would've done very well at MW.

 

[L.T.]

Nah.

 

[king of theRing]

Sad thing is ufc didnt get the best out of him that they could have. He was popular with the hardcores and the casuals loved him cause he looked like a killer. If they would have offered him a title shot at 185 afyer loss to Chuck, they could have made some money with him.

 

[ixRanGzeNxi]

Absolutely.

 

[HelloJapan]

Big fan, and yes, it could have been possible.

 

[CereserBr]

I think Babalu would be to big to make 185... he struggled a lot to make 195.

 

[A_bomb47]

I think he could've beaten Tanner and maybe even Franklin as well. So yeah, he could've been a champion at middleweight.

 

[king of theRing]

I think Babalu would be to big to make 185... he struggled a lot to make 195.

But he looked the best he has since the early days.

 

[CereserBr]

But he looked the best he has since the early days.

Babalu is a big guy... i think hes bigger than Shogun. He was a HW wrestler in Brazil. Fought several fights as a HW... Big boned