Who do you see as the biggest threat to each champion?

[sdpdude9]

Who do you think poses the biggest threat to the each current champion? Only limitation I’ll put on this is it must be somebody current competing in said division.

Daniel Cormier - Francis Ngannou. I don’t see many guys giving Cormier too much trouble at Heavyweight. Going to go with Ngannou just because he has that ridiculous power that can put anybody out.

Jon Jones - Johnny Walker. I don’t favor any light heavyweight fighter against Jones but if I had to pick one I’ll jump on the hype train and say Walker. He’s got length and the explosiveness to potentiall catch Jon.

Robert Whittaker - Israel Adesanya. Israel has good technical striking and fights long, something Whittaker struggled against with Wonderboy. Coin toss imo.

Kamaru Usman - Colby Covington. Styles make fights. Colby brings the wrestling like Usman does and could potentially shut it down. He also puts on a high pace which is what you need against Usman.

Khabib Nurmagomedov - Gregor Gillespie. Again, styles make fights. I think Gillespie May be the only guy that can shut down Khabib’s grappling game and even potentially keep Khabib on the floor himself.

Max Holloway - Zabit Magomedsharipov. Zabit is a good technical striker that could possibly pick Holloway apart with his range. He’s also likely the better grappler.

Henry Cejudo (BW) - Dominick Cruz. I don’t think Cruz will be back soon if ever but I think his foot work and wrestling could pose some problems for Cejudo.

Henry Cejudo (FLW) - Joseph Benavidez. Benavidez already holds a close win over Cejudo. Plus, who else are you really going to pick?

Amanda Nunes (FW) - Cris Cyborg. I mean, who else is even in that division?

Amanda Nunes (BW) - Germaine de Randamie. Don’t favor any woman over Nunes but Germaine May be the only girl that can hang on the feet with Amanda.

Valentina Shevchenko - Liz Carmouche. I mean maybe? Again, I don’t think Shevchenko has much competition here but a grinding wrestler may have the best shot. Plus, Carmouche did beat her before.

Jessica Andrade - Joanna Jedrzejczyk. They already fought one and it was lop sided. Joanna too good at distance and would likely pick Andrade apart at range again.

 

[Deleted member 545701]

Daniel Cormier - Agreed w/ OP

Jon Jones - Walker is untested so I can't say I agree. Maybe Jan because of his power and amazing TDD

Robert Whittaker - Agreed w/ OP

Kamaru Usman - Agreed w/ OP

Khabib Nurmagomedov - Dustin Poirier in my opinion.

Max Holloway - Alexander Volkanovski. Zabit would gas out in the championship rounds.

Henry Cejudo (BW) - Agreed w/ OP

Henry Cejudo (FLW) - Agreed w/ OP

Amanda Nunes (FW) - Agreed obviously

Amanda Nunes (BW) - Agreed w/ OP

Valentina Shevchenko - Agreed I guess. Don't really know who else is in that division

Jessica Andrade - Agreed w/ OP

 

[Kertol]

I agree with ts

 

[iwhoopedbatman]

Jones' biggest threat is and always has been himself

 

[Drugstore Cowboy]

Aleksandar Rakic may be the biggest darkhorse in all of MMA today, other than Joe-B and Dustin Poirier.

 

[sdpdude9]

Aleksandar Rakic may be the biggest darkhorse in all of MMA today, other than Joe-B and Dustin Poirier.

I almost put him over Walker. Both guys could potentially cause problems but I’d still favor Jones.

 

[ortizgnp]

Can't wait for Jones to make it look easy against Walker.

 

[sdpdude9]

Can't wait for Jones to make it look easy against Walker.

He probably does, honestly. I’d certainly favor him. Walker just seems to have the explosiveness for a potential Hail Mary. But I’d agree, Jones likely makes easy work of him and everybody else.

 

[1pedestrian]

Daniel Cormier - Ngannou
Jon Jones - Johnny Walker
Robert Whittaker - Israel
Max Holloway - Volkanovski
Henry Cejudo (FLW) - Benavidez
Amanda Nunes (FW) - Cris Cyborg
Amanda Nunes (BW) - GDR
Jessica Andrade - Joanna

 

[ferrisjso]

HW-I don't see anyone at HW really giving DC trouble either. The only reason he might lose is he's getting older and his decline has been masked by fighting inferior opponents for awhile. I'd say Stipe over Ngannou because Stipe did beat Ngannou and there really hasn't been any reason to suggest that changes today.

LHW-Corey Anderson-Large wrestler, worst matchup for Jones. Can see him having a shot to take Jones down and keep him there winning by decision.

MW-Yoel-I don't consider the current champ or the interim champ to be near the best of this division. Way I see it is Yoel(at least pre injury)has already shown why he's the biggest threat.

WW-Masvidal/Askren/Colby. I consider all to be pretty inferior to Marty and to have little chance but there needs to be some answer I suppose. Masvidal probably is the answer because of his KO power but look at what happened to Woodley.

LW-Khabib, Tony and Dustin are all basically champs, question doesn't apply the same way.

FW-Volk. I think Volk is going to destroy Holloway easily and might rule for a decade or some crazy long time period. Holloway's domination of 145 had a lot to do with there being no power strikers(at least who stayed) and Volk is a drastic change from that era. Think Zabit might beat Max too but he is a DISTANT runner up to Volk.

BW-This division is so clogged hard to tell where everyone stands. I'm of the opinion that Henry's might have already beaten the toughest challenge in Moraes though I'm not confident of that at all. Surprised by OP's pick of Cruz, it's getting close to a decade since the Cruz injury and Cruz couldn't beat Cody who has shown to not be quite as good as the elite 135's. I get Cruz beat MM 5-0 in 2011 but neither Cruz or MM are anything close to the same as back then.

FLW-Joe B I guess. Getting old but he's beaten Henry(fight could have went either way) and has kept proving why he deserves this spot. 125 has very few fighters on the roster right now but if they did would be hard to say Joe B hasn't proven he deserves to be the number 1 contender. Joe B did almost beat MM after all and Joe B's head to head with MM reads almost exactly the same.

145(W)-Not a real division. I guess Cyborg is getting the belt at some point if she stays in the UFC.

135(W)-Don't think there's a correct answer to this, at least one that we should know from what we've seen. My issue with Randamie is her running from 145 to avoid Cyborg while Nunes went up to 145 to fight Cyborg. Not picking against Nunes, same with Marty. Unlike Marty though she's beaten basically everyone of note. Randamie might be the answer by process of elimination.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Kind of depressing if these guys are really the only threats to the current champions. What the hell went wrong with UFC?

 

[sdpdude9]

Kind of depressing if these guys are really the only threats to the current champions. What the hell went wrong with UFC?

We tend to favor champions and see them as the best in the division in most cases. But then they meet somebody that majority expects them to beat and they don’t. Quite possibly any one of these fighters lose to somebody you wouldn’t expect.

 

[Goober8008]

Against Khabib Tony Ferguson is definitely the correct answer

 

[Goober8008]

BTW some of these answers are crazy...biggest threat to Jones Corey Anderson? Bigger threats to Khabib than Tony is Gregor Gillespie?

 

[BJpencil]

Who do you think poses the biggest threat to the each current champion? Only limitation I’ll put on this is it must be somebody current competing in said division.

Daniel Cormier - Francis Ngannou. I don’t see many guys giving Cormier too much trouble at Heavyweight. Going to go with Ngannou just because he has that ridiculous power that can put anybody out.

Jon Jones - Johnny Walker. I don’t favor any light heavyweight fighter against Jones but if I had to pick one I’ll jump on the hype train and say Walker. He’s got length and the explosiveness to potentiall catch Jon.

Robert Whittaker - Israel Adesanya. Israel has good technical striking and fights long, something Whittaker struggled against with Wonderboy. Coin toss imo.

Kamaru Usman - Colby Covington. Styles make fights. Colby brings the wrestling like Usman does and could potentially shut it down. He also puts on a high pace which is what you need against Usman.

Khabib Nurmagomedov - Gregor Gillespie. Again, styles make fights. I think Gillespie May be the only guy that can shut down Khabib’s grappling game and even potentially keep Khabib on the floor himself.

Max Holloway - Zabit Magomedsharipov. Zabit is a good technical striker that could possibly pick Holloway apart with his range. He’s also likely the better grappler.

Henry Cejudo (BW) - Dominick Cruz. I don’t think Cruz will be back soon if ever but I think his foot work and wrestling could pose some problems for Cejudo.

Henry Cejudo (FLW) - Joseph Benavidez. Benavidez already holds a close win over Cejudo. Plus, who else are you really going to pick?

Amanda Nunes (FW) - Cris Cyborg. I mean, who else is even in that division?

Amanda Nunes (BW) - Germaine de Randamie. Don’t favor any woman over Nunes but Germaine May be the only girl that can hang on the feet with Amanda.

Valentina Shevchenko - Liz Carmouche. I mean maybe? Again, I don’t think Shevchenko has much competition here but a grinding wrestler may have the best shot. Plus, Carmouche did beat her before.

Jessica Andrade - Joanna Jedrzejczyk. They already fought one and it was lop sided. Joanna too good at distance and would likely pick Andrade apart at range again.

Valentina is the biggest threat to Nunes, the second fight I thought Valentina won. It was very close. I'd still like to see Tony fight Khabib. Tony's cardio could make the difference. If he could get to the later rounds I like his chances. That fight needs to happen. Dominick Cruz couldn't do anything to Cejudo at this point. I'd say Petr Yan but anybody has their hands full with Cejudo. He's annoying but the dude can fight.

 

[SCTwins]

If one of the answers is Liz Carmouche, it's probably best to just leave that division out of the discussion.

 

[sdpdude9]

BTW some of these answers are crazy...biggest threat to Jones Corey Anderson? Bigger threats to Khabib than Tony is Gregor Gillespie?

Reason I picked Gillespie over Tony is purely style based. I agree Ferguson is the rightful #1 contender and could pose some threat to Khabib, for sure. However, what makes me think twice about him is that his coach, Eddie Bravo, said their strategy was to let Khabib take him down and work on the ground. I don’t think that’s the best strategy against Khabib, somebody that could potentially shut down the wrestling has a better chance imo. But it’s all opinion until they step in the octagon together.

 

[SlomiGa]

Rakic is more of a threat than Walker .

 

[FrontNakedChoke]

Who do you think poses the biggest threat to the each current champion? Only limitation I’ll put on this is it must be somebody current competing in said division.

Daniel Cormier - Francis Ngannou. I don’t see many guys giving Cormier too much trouble at Heavyweight. Going to go with Ngannou just because he has that ridiculous power that can put anybody out.

Jon Jones - Johnny Walker. I don’t favor any light heavyweight fighter against Jones but if I had to pick one I’ll jump on the hype train and say Walker. He’s got length and the explosiveness to potentiall catch Jon.

Robert Whittaker - Israel Adesanya. Israel has good technical striking and fights long, something Whittaker struggled against with Wonderboy. Coin toss imo.

Kamaru Usman - Colby Covington. Styles make fights. Colby brings the wrestling like Usman does and could potentially shut it down. He also puts on a high pace which is what you need against Usman.

Khabib Nurmagomedov - Gregor Gillespie. Again, styles make fights. I think Gillespie May be the only guy that can shut down Khabib’s grappling game and even potentially keep Khabib on the floor himself.

Max Holloway - Zabit Magomedsharipov. Zabit is a good technical striker that could possibly pick Holloway apart with his range. He’s also likely the better grappler.

Henry Cejudo (BW) - Dominick Cruz. I don’t think Cruz will be back soon if ever but I think his foot work and wrestling could pose some problems for Cejudo.

Henry Cejudo (FLW) - Joseph Benavidez. Benavidez already holds a close win over Cejudo. Plus, who else are you really going to pick?

Amanda Nunes (FW) - Cris Cyborg. I mean, who else is even in that division?

Amanda Nunes (BW) - Germaine de Randamie. Don’t favor any woman over Nunes but Germaine May be the only girl that can hang on the feet with Amanda.

Valentina Shevchenko - Liz Carmouche. I mean maybe? Again, I don’t think Shevchenko has much competition here but a grinding wrestler may have the best shot. Plus, Carmouche did beat her before.

Jessica Andrade - Joanna Jedrzejczyk. They already fought one and it was lop sided. Joanna too good at distance and would likely pick Andrade apart at range again.

 

[Joshuaace]

Dana White.

 

[Kvothe_the_kingkiller]

DC --> Jon Jones
Jon Jones --> Jon Jones
Whittaker --> injuries
Usman --> Covington
Khabib --> ?
Holloway --> Volk
Cejudo --> Assuncao
Cejudo --> Closing the division