What Does Current 36-Year Old Usman Bring to MW

[TheGreatA]

Decent gatekeeper for young prospects looking to make a name from themselves.

 

[mkt]

He had the best defensive wrestling stats in ufc history just cause he ran into khamzat and got owned in wrestling doesn’t mean others at MW will have any such advantage over him.

Also USADA is leaving. Ceo of EPO will be back!!

Yeah, I don't think a lot of MWs can take him down at will. But I also don't think he'll be a dominant offensive wrestler at this age, with his knee problems and against bigger guys. That's why I said he might be more of a sprawl-n-brawl striker with good TDD.

 

[mkt]

considering he went the distance with the guy whos getting a title shot, and IMO, beat him rounds 2 and 3, on short fucking notice, i would think, a helluva lot. especially with a real fucking fight camp, and no USADA.

Maybe, but we also haven't seen Khamzat against a real Top 10 MW.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

Maybe, but we also haven't seen Khamzat against a real Top 10 MW.

we seen him go toe to toe with the guy whos getting the shot. same with kamzhat.

 

[IneedSometop]

If he stays at MW he seems like he'd be a solid top 5-10 gatekeeper. It's hard to say but looking at the top 15 UFC rankings I'd favor Usman over anyone ranked 11-15 and a couple guys in the top 10

 

[mjfan23]

Yeah, I don't think a lot of MWs can take him down at will. But I also don't think he'll be a dominant offensive wrestler at this age, with his knee problems and against bigger guys. That's why I said he might be more of a sprawl-n-brawl striker with good TDD.

Sadly that’s how most wrestlers age. They do evolve into sprawl and brawl

 

[mkt]

Top MWs like Sean Strickland and Rob Whitaker who couldn’t succeed at WW?

how many takedowns did Leon land on usman in their thirteen rounds? One!?! Huge wrestling advantage to Leon lol

Strickland and Whitaker made their transitions at a much younger age, though. Other WWs like Johnny Hendricks didn't have nearly as much success moving to MW (to be fair, Hendricks was really too short small at MW). We've also seen fighters like Lawler and Maia move down to WW from MW and do much better (until both of them got too old). So it really depends on the figher and circumstances.

 

[SeattleFightFan]

I'm not being negative here. I still think he's a very good fighter. But neither he nor Khamzat have faced an official Top 10 MW yet. So what does current Usman bring to the table at 185? A few intro thoughts

• He mostly seems to be a sprawl-n-brawl striker at this point. He hasn't done much offensive wrestling in the last 4 years or so. Even against Masvidal (first fight) he mostly held him against the cage. I guess that's technically part of Randy Couture's "wall-n-stall" wrestling style, but not traditional MMA wrestling on the ground.
• When he won the WW title, he outwrestled a champ who was a former D1 wrestler. That was his major skillset at the time but i don't think it is now, especially with bad knees against bigger 185 pounders. So again, I see him as a striker who mostly uses his wrestling defensively now.
• In his fights with Colby, he showed really good cardio in keeping up with Colby's striking output, something few other fighters could do. Can he still do that at age 36? If he wants to stand with Strickland and can't KO him, he better have amazing cardio to win.
• Usman has a few KOs and started to look like a KO machine in the Masvidal rematch and Burns fight, but not so much since then. Is this a possibility? I doubt it. Big KO power is a great asset for older fights, but I just don't see him turning into a late-stage Hendo or Yoel. Maybe I'm wrong. We'll see.

Better than most, he survived a 5 minute onslaught from Khazmat (which many fighters in his position would not have done), arguably could have / should have won that fight 29-28 (or drawn 28-28), and likely would have won a 5 rounder....against the biggest up-and-comer UFC has on the roster.

Am I just playing devil's advocate, or do I made good points? I put it to you, Greg.

 

[cburm]

I'm not being negative here. I still think he's a very good fighter. But neither he nor Khamzat have faced an official Top 10 MW yet. So what does current Usman bring to the table at 185? A few intro thoughts

• He mostly seems to be a sprawl-n-brawl striker at this point. He hasn't done much offensive wrestling in the last 4 years or so. Even against Masvidal (first fight) he mostly held him against the cage. I guess that's technically part of Randy Couture's "wall-n-stall" wrestling style, but not traditional MMA wrestling on the ground.
• When he won the WW title, he outwrestled a champ who was a former D1 wrestler. That was his major skillset at the time but i don't think it is now, especially with bad knees against bigger 185 pounders. So again, I see him as a striker who mostly uses his wrestling defensively now.
• In his fights with Colby, he showed really good cardio in keeping up with Colby's striking output, something few other fighters could do. Can he still do that at age 36? If he wants to stand with Strickland and can't KO him, he better have amazing cardio to win.
• Usman has a few KOs and started to look like a KO machine in the Masvidal rematch and Burns fight, but not so much since then. Is this a possibility? I doubt it. Big KO power is a great asset for older fights, but I just don't see him turning into a late-stage Hendo or Yoel. Maybe I'm wrong. We'll see.

A new top 5 contender is what he brings if were talking facts and my opinion is

guy with great striking and wrestling and tdd when mw has never really had that hes a hard fight for any top 5 me

 

[HatKick]

As others have said he's the perfect gatekeeper. Probably has at least 2-3 good/close-to-prime level performances left in him.
If he sticks around for a while they'll eventually match him up with guys like Bo Nickal, Borralho and Shara Bullet, i.e. any MW the UFC wants to promote.

 

[beater81]

I wouldn't mind seeing him vs Knuckles. I bet that be a great fight.

 

[benebox]

Don't count out Usman, he looked good rds 2 and 3 against Khamzat!

 

[mkt]

A new top 5 contender is what he brings if were talking facts and my opinion is

guy with great striking and wrestling and tdd when mw has never really had that hes a hard fight for any top 5 me

Those aren't "facts" until Usman proves himself against a ranked MW.

 

[mkt]

A new top 5 contender is what he brings if were talking facts and my opinion is

guy with great striking and wrestling and tdd when mw has never really had that hes a hard fight for any top 5 me

Those aren't "facts" until Usman proves himself against a ranked MW.

 

[mkt]

A new top 5 contender is what he brings if were talking facts and my opinion is

guy with great striking and wrestling and tdd when mw has never really had that hes a hard fight for any top 5 me

Those aren't "facts" until Usman proves himself against a ranked MW.

 

[mkt]

A new top 5 contender is what he brings if were talking facts and my opinion is

guy with great striking and wrestling and tdd when mw has never really had that hes a hard fight for any top 5 me

Those aren't "facts" until Usman proves himself against a ranked MW.

 

[mkt]

Better than most, he survived a 5 minute onslaught from Khazmat (which many fighters in his position would not have done), arguably could have / should have won that fight 29-28 (or drawn 28-28), and likely would have won a 5 rounder....against the biggest up-and-comer UFC has on the roster.

Am I just playing devil's advocate, or do I made good points? I put it to you, Greg.

Sure, I thought Usman did well on short notice. The thing is that neither Usman nor Khamzat has faced a Top 5 MW so we really don't know where they stand based on fighting each other. My question is what does he bring to the MW division? Toughness is a fair attribute to add to the list.

 

[Bruce Lee666]

Sadly that’s how most wrestlers age. They do evolve into sprawl and brawl

Wrestling works Better when you're Young and Strong and are in His Prime.

 

[mkt]

A new top 5 contender is what he brings if were talking facts and my opinion is

guy with great striking and wrestling and tdd when mw has never really had that hes a hard fight for any top 5 me

Top 5 based on what? Neither he nor Khamzat have fought any Top 5 MWs yet.

 

[mkt]

Wrestling works Better when you're Young and Strong and are in His Prime.

Yep. There are a few exceptions like Couture and Cormier who could still wrestle well when they were old. But both of them started MMA later in life and are exceptions, not the rule. Coleman is another example, sorf of...he could wrestle well enough to beat a mid-level LHW like Bonnar when he was in his mid-40s, but he was certainly not elite level. Most guys, especially if they have power, turn into sprawl-n-brawlers though like Hendo, Yoel, Chandler, etc. Heck, Gaethje did that when he started MMA.