If Rumble comes back at Heavyweight, how would he fare against the top 10?

First of all he's obviously on some juice, so USADA would stop him. But let's leave that out of the debate. Assuming it's all 5 rounds fights (important):

C: Stipe Miocic - Miocic by TKO on championship rounds
#1: Francis Ngannou - Ngannou by KO early on
#2: Curtis Blaydes - Blaydes by RNC on championship rounds
#3: Alexander Volkov - Volkov by TKO on championship rounds
#4: Alistair Overeem - Rumble by KO
#5: Derrick Lewis - Rumble by TKO
#6: Mark Hunt - Rumble by TKO
#7: Junior dos Santos - who the fuck knows where JDS stands right now but i would go with Rumble by KO
#8: Marcin Tybura - Rumble by KO
#9: Tai Tuivasa - Rumble by TKO
#10: Aleksei Oleinik - interesting fight, old man Oleinik by submission early on

Beats 6/11, not bad.
Lol'd hard at the prospect of Volkov and Oleinik beating Rumble.

Oleinik got pieced up and almost KOd on the feet by Blaydes bro; he gets rocked in almost every fight against far worse strikers than Rumble. Volkov would get starched even quicker than he did against Vitaly, and his takedown defense is horrible so Rumble could wrestlefuck him even better than Kongo and Tony Johnson did if he chose to do so.
 
Lol'd hard at the prospect of Volkov and Oleinik beating Rumble.

Oleinik got pieced up and almost KOd on the feet by Blaydes bro; he gets rocked in almost every fight against far worse strikers than Rumble. Volkov would get starched even quicker than he did against Vitaly, and his takedown defense is horrible so Rumble could wrestlefuck him even better than Kongo and Tony Johnson did if he chose to do so.
Yeah he gets rocked against heavyweights, Rumble's power wont be the same (proportionally) at heavyweight, for me the Arlovski fight proves that. Oleinik is slick and if he gets a takedown will be game over for Rumble. Blaydes is a great grappler and that's why he survived on the ground with Oleinik.

Yes, Rumble could wrestlefuck Volkov, but i said 5 rounds, if he tries that, i think he will be gassed by the championship rounds and then Volkov finishes him there. Early on, Volkov pieces him up on the outside.
 
Yeah he gets rocked against heavyweights, Rumble's power wont be the same (proportionally) at heavyweight, for me the Arlovski fight proves that. Oleinik is slick and if he gets a takedown will be game over for Rumble. Blaydes is a great grappler and that's why he survived on the ground with Oleinik.

Yes, Rumble could wrestlefuck Volkov, but i said 5 rounds, if he tries that, i think he will be gassed by the championship rounds and then Volkov finishes him there. Early on, Volkov pieces him up on the outside.
He shattered Arlovski's jaw with one punch and had him eating through a straw for 3 months, something no other Heavyweight did. He was unable to finish Andrei and gassed in that fight because he wasn't used to carrying around 230lbs of muscle, because he'd been fighting at Middleweight not long before. Oleinik's takedowns are terrible and Rumble's TDD is excellent, there's no chance he gets him down. Kongo's cardio isn't any better than Rumble's and neither is Tony Johnson's, and they took Volkov down and held him down with little effort.

Volkov is scared of power and fights scared against heavy hitters, just look at his mediocre performance against Nelson. He would run all night before getting caught with a head kick or a right hand and subsequently slept.
 
Well, he would probably try to wrestle with Stipe, Oleynik, Werdum, Tybura and Blaydes.
 
He shattered Arlovski's jaw with one punch and had him eating through a straw for 3 months, something no other Heavyweight did. He gassed in that fight because he wasn't used to carrying around 230lbs of muscle, because he'd been fighting at Middleweight not long before. Oleinik's takedowns are terrible and Rumble's TDD is excellent, there's no chance he gets him down. Kongo's cardio isn't any better than Rumble's and neither is Tony Johnson's, and they took Volkov down and held him down with little effort.

Volkov is scared of power and fights scared against heavy hitters, just look at his mediocre performance against Nelson. He would run all night before getting caught with a head kick or a right hand and subsequently slept.
Yeah, no other heavyweight did that, but many of them actually KO'd Arlovski. He doesn't have much of a chin and still Rumble couldn't put him away. Let's not act like Rumble DIDN'T WANTED TO KO Arlovski there, he WASN'T ABLE TO, very different.

Johnson/Kongo fights were 3 round fights. Not the same. Are we discussing here 3 or 5 rounds? It does matter, dude. I don't think Rumble can hold Volkov down for 5 rounds by any means. And yeah Volkov "fights scared" because he isn't any idiot, he knows he can get KO'd by someone with power like Nelson, and he would fight in the same way with Rumble, and imo beat him.
 
Yeah, no other heavyweight did that, but many of them actually KO'd Arlovski. He doesn't have much of a chin and still Rumble couldn't put him away. Let's not act like Rumble DIDN'T WANTED TO KO Arlovski there, he WASN'T ABLE TO, very different.

Johnson/Kongo fights were 3 round fights. Not the same. Are we discussing here 3 or 5 rounds? It does matter, dude. I don't think Rumble can hold Volkov down for 5 rounds by any means. And yeah Volkov "fights scared" because he isn't any idiot, he knows he can get KO'd by someone with power like Nelson, and he would fight in the same way with Rumble, and imo beat him.
He did break Arlovski's jaw.
 
Current top 10 UFC HW rankings:
C: Stipe Miocic
#1: Francis Ngannou
#2: Curtis Blaydes
#3: Alexander Volkov
#4: Alistair Overeem
#5: Derrick Lewis
#6: Mark Hunt
#7: Junior dos Santos
#8: Marcin Tybura
#9: Tai Tuivasa
#10: Aleksei Oleinik

Assuming he's in the shape he was when he was fighting full-time, I would favour him over anyone not named Stipe, who I imagine would survive Rumble's early storm and grind him out. He's a better striker than anyone on that list and has some of the best takedown defense in MMA, especially when he's fresh. I also believe he'd be able to wrestlefuck Ngannou and Volkov comfortably should he choose to mix in a few takedowns. Blaydes has the best chance of beating him out of the contenders because of his great chin and excellent wrestling.

Edit: Sorry Lil Nog, but it wouldn't be a Rumble thread without this glorious GIF....



Inb4 someone says Rumble is too small for HW


He looks quite out of shape. Does he still train mma or is he eveyday gym bro now?
 
He did break Arlovski's jaw.
Yeah i know that, and that's not any better than actually being able to KO Arlovski. If his power at HW was THAT devastating, why he didn't KO'd Arlovski like many did in the past? He landed a right hand that dropped Andrei, there just wasn't enough power.
 
Yeah, no other heavyweight did that, but many of them actually KO'd Arlovski. He doesn't have much of a chin and still Rumble couldn't put him away. Let's not act like Rumble DIDN'T WANTED TO KO Arlovski there, he WASN'T ABLE TO, very different.

Johnson/Kongo fights were 3 round fights. Not the same. Are we discussing here 3 or 5 rounds? It does matter, dude. I don't think Rumble can hold Volkov down for 5 rounds by any means. And yeah Volkov "fights scared" because he isn't any idiot, he knows he can get KO'd by someone with power like Nelson, and he would fight in the same way with Rumble, and imo beat him.
1. He was saved by the bell, and notable Heavyweight prospect Tai Tuivasa hit Arlovski with hard shots and couldn't even come close to putting away. Most of Andrei's KO losses happen through an accumulation of punches, e.g. Kharitonov or when he literally runs/jumps straight into a punch, e.g. Fedor. If 2016 Rumble hit Arlovski with the same shots that Kharitonov or Fedor did, he would've gone to sleep even quicker.
2. You said Volkov would TKO Rumble lol, a guy that's never come close to being put away with strikes. Only chance Volkov would have is to run nonstop and even then Rumble would still catch him and sleep him. He looked petrified against Roy and never came close to hitting him with anything significant.

3. Why am I arguing with you again?
If Rose gets a KO against JJ i delete my account here

<45>
 
1. He was saved by the bell, and notable Heavyweight prospect Tai Tuivasa hit Arlovski with hard shots and couldn't even come close to putting away. Most of Andrei's KO losses happen through an accumulation of punches, e.g. Kharitonov or when he literally runs/jumps straight into a punch, e.g. Fedor. If 2016 Rumble hit Arlovski with the same shots that Kharitonov or Fedor did, he would've gone to sleep even quicker.
2. You said Volkov would TKO Rumble lol, a guy that's never come close to being put away with strikes. Only chance Volkov would have is to run nonstop and even then Rumble would still catch him and sleep him. He looked petrified against Roy and never came close to hitting him with anything significant.

3. Why am I arguing with you again?


<45>
1. Tuivasa is a bum. Doesn't mean anything. If Rumble's power was the same at heavyweight, Arlovski would've been KO'd clean like he was against Fedor, instead of only being dropped and surviving to the end of the round. Look to what Ngannou and Stipe did to Arlovski. That's heavyweight power. Different.
2. Volkov never really tried to TKO Roy, there was no need to. It was a easy win. And yeah Volkov would TKO a gassed out Rumble R4/R5.
3. Well, that's on you :p
 
Arlovski is not even in the top 11, and Rumble is one of the few guys who beat him but didn't finish him (when Arlovski was younger and better than he is now). If anything, it shows Rumble's power did not translate to HW as well.

Only reason Arlovski survived the first round was that the knockdown happened so late in the round. He was saved by the bell, basically.
 
Only reason Arlovski survived the first round was that the knockdown happened so late in the round. He was saved by the bell, basically.
That's definitely true, +5 seconds and Rumble would've finished him by TKO. I don't think anyone here will contest that.

Thing is, at LHW Rumble KO people out, he starches them. He landed a big right hand, and that only dropped Andrei. Either Andrei's chin is very underrated or Rumble's power at HW is overrated.
 
Meh, the Rumble hype is over the top. Yes the guy hits hard but he also folds as soon as things don’t go his way. Stipe would break him, first mentally then physically.
 
Yeah he gets rocked against heavyweights, Rumble's power wont be the same (proportionally) at heavyweight, for me the Arlovski fight proves that. Oleinik is slick and if he gets a takedown will be game over for Rumble. Blaydes is a great grappler and that's why he survived on the ground with Oleinik.

Yes, Rumble could wrestlefuck Volkov, but i said 5 rounds, if he tries that, i think he will be gassed by the championship rounds and then Volkov finishes him there. Early on, Volkov pieces him up on the outside.

To be fair Rumble did still win that fight though and ARlovski's chin as glass is vastly overestimated, TRT Bigfoot didn't KO him either.
 
Thing is, at LHW Rumble KO people out, he starches them. He landed a big right hand, and that only dropped Andrei. Either Andrei's chin is very underrated or Rumble's power at HW is overrated.

Maybe you shouldn't use one exhange/punch as a prove how his power would not be enough at HW? That is a pretty poor amount of evidence, and even with that we are still talking about a knockdown, which would have led to TKO if there was more time. You must understand why we think your argument looks really weak.

And he doesn't have to be the hardest hitting HW anyway, he would be the better striker vs possibly everyone for different reasons as well. He is much more as a striker than just a heavy hitter. He has never been outstruck, knocked down or even rocked standing. He is possibly the best striker ever in MMA, most dominant definitely.
 
1. Tuivasa is a bum. Doesn't mean anything. If Rumble's power was the same at heavyweight, Arlovski would've been KO'd clean like he was against Fedor, instead of only being dropped and surviving to the end of the round. Look to what Ngannou and Stipe did to Arlovski. That's heavyweight power. Different.

Not all punches land in the same place, at the same angle, etc. Fedor landed clean on Bigfoot but never KO'd him. Shortly afterwards, Cormier KO'd Bigfoot in the 1st round and Cain did the same a little later. User your logic, this means both Cormier and Cain hit significantly harder than Fedor.
 
It would just be so Rumble if Cormier won the HW belt and Gus became LHW champ wouldn't it? <45>
 
Maybe you shouldn't use one exhange/punch as a prove how his power would not be enough at HW? That is a pretty poor amount of evidence, and even with that we are still talking about a knockdown, which would have led to TKO if there was more time. You must understand why we think your argument looks really weak.

And he doesn't have to be the hardest hitting HW anyway, he would be the better striker vs possibly everyone for different reasons as well. He is much more as a striker than just a heavy hitter. He has never been outstruck, knocked down or even rocked standing. He is possibly the best striker ever in MMA, most dominant definitely.
I understand what you're saying but Rumble landed a lot in that fight, specially R1, and R3 on the clinch IIRC. That right hand i'm talking about was just the best punch of the fight. Watching that fight, i remember not being impressed and immediately thinking that LHW was the right weight class for Rumble. That opinion remains.

I agree he's a good striker, no doubt about it, but hey, let's not go crazy. The reason he's never been outstruck on the feet it's because of his power, let's assume for a second that his power won't be anything special at HW, you still think he will outstrike people like that? He's really good defensively speaking, but offensively not so much. Good right hands and some powerful haymakers, high kicks, but it's about it. No jab and not a lot of movement. Technically speaking, I wouldn't rank him ahead of Stipe, JDS, Overeem by any means. Then we have Ngannou, who AS A STRIKER, is as dangerous as Rumble was at LIGHT heavyweight.
 
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