Is the MW division now more stacked than when Anderson Silva was champion?

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

https://www.mmamania.com/2009/06/24/ufc-rankingsmma-rankings-featured-in-usa-today-for-june-2009

This is the 2009 MW rankings.

1. Anderson Silva
2. Nate Marquardt
3. Yushin Okami
4. Dan Henderson
5. Demian Maia
6. Jorge Santiago
7. Robbie Lawler
8. Thales Leites
9. Vitor Belfort
10. Chael Sonnen

This is today's rankings.

1. Israel Adesanya
2. Robert Whittaker
3. Paulo Costa
4. Jarred Cannonier
5. Jack Hermmanson
6. Yoel Romero
7. Darren Till
8. Derek Brunson
9. Kelvin Gastelum
10. Uriah Hall

Which ranking has more killers?

 

[DennisHallmansSpeedo]

Not at all

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Nope. Just look at the names/fighters in the top 10 2009....

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

Definitely not

 

[chinarice]

Of the MWs who have come alomg since? Absolutely.

Rocksalt, Weidman, Jacare, Romero, Whittaker, Costa, Adesanya and probably Cannonier beat nearly every guy Silva beat during his reign.

 

[No Skill Gap]

MW today is better.

You can't look at a name and go by legacy. You have to look at how good that fighter was in that exact moment in time aka Henderson or Marquardt.

Nate Marquardt fell off hard. Obvious steroid user, was pretty good at MW but would get absolutely dumped on by guys like Izzy/Whittaker/Romero, probably Till/Costa, etc. He was ranked 2nd.

Henderson wasn't fully washed but was still a bit past prime at that point, he was like 38-39 years old at the time. Okami was solid but not great. Maia was never an awesome MW, but again a solid guy, etc.

That snapshot in time vs right now overall? Today wins easily. The only real argument is how heavily you weigh Anderson Silva himself. But the competition overall at MW was very clearly worse.

There's a reason Thales Leites, Travis Lutter, Patrick Cote', Demian Maia, Sonnen (first time) all were getting title shots.

 

[VVarhead]

LOL no.

Whittaker who was reigning over this division for quite some time got demolished by Adesanya, who went to a decision with 44-year-old Grandpa Silva and left no doubt that prime Silva would've mopped the floor with Izzy.

 

[chinarice]

LOL no.

Whittaker who was reigning over this division for quite some time got demolished by Adesanya, who went to a decision with 44-year-old Grandpa Silva and left no doubt that prime Silva would've mopped the floor with Izzy.

this is about the whole division..... not one compared to them all.

Rocksalt, Weidman, Jacare, Romero, Whittaker, Costa, Adesanya and probably Cannonier win the majority against Thales Leites, Maia, Cote, Sonnen, Lutter, Nate M....

Also, Where you getting this "Whittaker reigned over the division for quite some time?" He barely fought.....

 

[VVarhead]

this is about the whole division..... not one compared to them all.

Rocksalt, Weidman, Jacare, Romero, Whittaker, Costa, Adesanya and probably Cannonier win the majority against Thales Leites, Maia, Cote, Sonnen, Lutter, Nate M....

The champ beat most of that division and is supposed to be the best the division has to offer which is why I was using Whittaker as a reference, makes sense if you think about it real hard.

 

[Fraz]

Yes any hardcore knows it's much stronger now. Most of the top ten now would have went on an Anderson Silva like run if they were in their primes back in the day.

 

[Todd498]

Definitely! silva even on his PED’s would NOT be nearly as dominant.

 

[chinarice]

The champ beat most of that division and is supposed to be the best the division has to offer which is why I was using Whittaker as a reference, makes sense if you think about it real hard.

He beat guys who would have dominated most of Silva's opponents.....

 

[Mangar]

No

 

[VVarhead]

He beat guys who would have dominated most of Silva's opponents.....

I disagree, but I don't know why you want me to explicitly state that when it should be obvious by the statement i initially made.

 

[arcadeperfect]

LOL no.

Whittaker who was reigning over this division for quite some time got demolished by Adesanya, who went to a decision with 44-year-old Grandpa Silva and left no doubt that prime Silva would've mopped the floor with Izzy.

DC went to a decision with Silva also. Cannonier finished Silva in RD1. It really doesn't tell you that much.

 

[No Skill Gap]

LOL no.

Whittaker who was reigning over this division for quite some time got demolished by Adesanya, who went to a decision with 44-year-old Grandpa Silva and left no doubt that prime Silva would've mopped the floor with Izzy.

MMA Math.

You can do that with anyone. Styles make fights and Izzy + Silva are both counter punchers. Also didn't Izzy clearly beat Silva, not that it's impressive at that age...but just because it wasn't a finish doesn't mean it was a close fight.

It's easy to create a narrative based on MMA Math, watch: Romero lost a close fight to Whittaker. Romero got destroyed by Adesanya. Romero lost to Costa in a close fight. Romero was nearly finished by Kennedy but cheated, beat Kennedy. Kennedy lost to Rockhold. Romero finished Rockhold. Rockhold finished Weidman. Weidman finished Silva twice.

So by the transitive property of autism Tim Kennedy would have beat Anderson Silva, Romero definitely would have beat Silva, and Costa/Adesanya/Whittaker would have all beat Silva.

Do I believe that? No. But you can use wins and losses of certain fighters to make the case with tard math, just like I did.

 

[Dionysian]

When Anderson first became champ it was definitely worse than today.
That period you listed was peak time under Anderson, a bit better than today.
When Chris first became champ was the golden age of MW.
Today is alright... there were certainly weaker periods but stronger as well. The golden age of MW guys are all pretty declined right now, only Romero still top level (ironically the oldest guy of the lot too ha)

EDIT: What is your source for those 2009 rankings? They look sort of... off?

 

[chinarice]

I disagree, but I don't know why you want me to explicitly state that when it should be obvious by the statement i initially made.

Ok... We can agree to disagree. That's fine.

 

[TheSpider]

No way. Only known Silva haters like the poster above me make those ridiculous claims.

 

[pankrat]

6/10 in 2009 were WWs barely cutting to make 185, that eventually moved down to 170

Today you have Paulo Costa who step into the cage at 210+lbs and Cannonier who was a HW

I do think Okami, Marquardt or Maia could give problems to Till, Gastelum and Whittaker