Would TJ Grant have beaten Pettis or Bendo?

[Legendary]

TJ was suppose to fight Benson for the title but then he got injured and Pettis replaced him. Pettis won the title and then TJ was suppose to fight him, but pulled out due to concussion.

TJ wrestled and did BJJ from an early age. I think he would of taken Pettis down pretty easily as Guida did it. He also had an iron chin and was bigger then Pettis. TJ only was ever stopped once by armbar, and it was early in his career at a higher weight class.

Bendo would have equalized the grappling and then probably outlasted TJ.

Best lightweight ever who never won the title. He even matches up well with current 155ers.

 

[Epicness]

Think he wouldve probably beaten Pettis via his kryptonite - pressure on the feet

and probably Bendo by his kryptonite too - split decisions

 

[randomg1t]

well he certainly would've made a fight out of it, but i think both henderson and pettis were too slick for him at the time.

he would've made their title defenses really uncomfortable, though. he was very beatable, but there was just no way you didn't get hurt if you fought grant around that time.

 

[RVCA]

Beats Pettis but loses a close one to Bendo

 

[Klaavical]

TJ is one of the most underrated fighters of all time, those two fights prime vs prime could have gone either way IMO .

 

[JustOnce]

TJ was suppose to fight Benson for the title but then he got injured and Pettis replaced him. Pettis won the title and then TJ was suppose to fight him, but pulled out due to concussion.

TJ wrestled and did BJJ from an early age. I think he would of taken Pettis down pretty easily as Guida did it. He also had an iron chin and was bigger then Pettis. TJ only was ever stopped once by armbar, and it was early in his career at a higher weight class.

Bendo would have equalized the grappling and then probably outlasts TJ if it were a 5 rounder, but TJ would have probably beaten him in a 3 rounder.

Best lightweight ever who never won the title. He even matches up well with current 155ers.

TJ Grant did not do BJJ from early age, nor did he wrestle from early age. Wiki says he started at 15. That's not starting from early age at all.

But, who knows. Might have beaten Pettis, not sure about Bendo.

 

[Legendary]

TJ Grant did not do BJJ from early age, nor did he wrestle from early age. Wiki says he started at 15. That's not starting from early age at all.

But, who knows. Might have beaten Pettis, not sure about Bendo.

15 isnt early? Point is that his wrestling was much better then Anthony's. Along with the pressure, size, and chin.

 

[JustOnce]

15 isnt early? Point is that his wrestling was much better then Anthony's. Along with the pressure, size, and chin.

You think starting ANY sports at 15 is early? There are guys who start at 5. That's early.

 

[Hamm and Clov]

I think he would have beat Pettis and probably lost to Henderson in a clear but competitive decision.

 

[Super Black]

Nope. WEC never die

 

[PicoPulse]

TJ Grant is the LW Goat that never was

 

[dean22]

Before he suffered his concussion in training, I still don't believe he peaked as a fighter. He had a lot more to offer the sport but made the correct decission to focus on life after fighting and his children once the symptoms never showed signs of improvement .

In terms of potential outcomes for those two fights at that time, I personally believe he would have came out on top vs Ben via split decission. It would have been close but I feel TJ could have recieved the nod with constant striking pressure, crafty wrestling and ground control. In regard to TJ vs Pettis at that time I feel Pettis may have provided a bit of difficulty for TJ. I would also like to believe that TJ could have controlled him via wresting like Clay had previously. Knowing TJ well and having shared this conversation with him on a few occasions, he would not have taken that route. I'd like to think he would have betten them both but I feel Pettis would have given him trouble at the time in their careers.
Glad he is still thought of. He is an awesome person and it would have been nice to see him as UFC champ before his time was complete.

 

[JSN]

Crazy to think he left the UFC as a # 1 title challenger to go work in a coal mine or some shit the same time McGregor was starting to move toward unheard of earnings in the sport even if the millions didn't;t come for another couple of years.

 

[SiMntjMMA]

Yeah he would have probably been a champ but eventually he would have lost to Nate Diaz I think

 

[beefcake180]

I've always maintained that TJ was on his way to dethroning Benson at 164.

His pressure style would have been real tough for Pettis too. Have to imagine he still loses to RDA but it's one or mma's great unanswered questions sadly.

 

[Gambit MMA]

if he were to beat one of them i would think it would be pettis. he was just the more flawed fighter and it took time for the right matchup after clay beat him to expose him again

 

[Shadey1]

I genuinely feel that tj grant would have won the title. He'd have probably took a close bout over ben while I could see his bout with pettis being reminiscent to pettis against rda

 

[Rorschachxx]

Good question. Where is he btw?

just fucking around.