News Ariel thinks Tony is at a crossroad (12 wins in his last 13)

[Rebel_LioN]

Guy loses one fight in several years and now he’s at a cross road.

He’s going to melt Oliveira to the body because Charles keeps a high guard and doesn’t keep a tight defense. Charles also has shown to wilt in the past and Tony makes guys quit.

 

[Get To Da Choppa]

Ariel Helwani has to be a Sherdogger with that logic. His hair was also at a crossroad in 2003

 

[Martialbeef]

It only is due to his age

 

[Rorschachxx]

He is in a very unique position though. I kinda see Ariels point. He wins, he is right back in the picture for a title. Especially given the current state of the LW division. He loses, he can pretty much kiss that belt goodbye for a few years. Lets not forget Tony is 36 with tons of damage received. We'll see what happens.

 

[Kaynan]

It only is due to his age

This. He can only climb back the up the mountain so many times

 

[hohner]

He is right. Did he lose because he started getting worse being in the wrong side of 35, or did he have one bad night?

 

[Dragonfly7814]

He is tho. He's in a race to be among greatest lightweights

 

[ConditFan]

With a loss, he could be kicked out of the top five, first 2 fight losing streak, and be alot further away from a title shot with two losses in a row in a truly competitive division. Seems like a crossroads

 

[imbossing]

Tony the type of guy where he gives birth to his parents

 

[markg171]

I hate Ariel as much as the next guy, but if he loses how's he wrong? He'd be 0-2 to the top 5 (presuming Charles moves up with a win), get kicked out to the back of it himself, and Conor/Dustin is obviously the current fight for #1 LW without Khabib, who was always Tony's most compelling matchup and that's gone.

If he loses, yeah. It's back to fighting the lower top 15 guys again unless he wants to try risking Hooker and possibly going 0-3 against the top 5.

This is his fight to stay among the top. And even then, while Charles is streaking, he's not currently top 5.

 

[Mammothman]

I would not be surprised if Tony goes full Weidman from now on specially since Oliv have looked unstoppable recently

 

[arcadeperfect]

1 loss is usually more damaging than a win. He's 36 and if he loses to Charles he'll have to win at least 3 fights in a row to be considered for a title shot. 3 fights is a year's worth of fighting.

 

[OZ!]

Ariel is right in a few ways though. As stated earlier, his age comes into play. Did Justin blow him out of the water because he made adjustments or has the degradation of Tony after all those wars and injuries and his age finally started to catch up with him? Also, as someone else mentioned, he is older and if he loses again he isn’t going to be in the title picture anymore and its only going to get harder for him to get back as the division deepens and he continues to age. And the last thing is him being so injury prone. It wasn’t a slow fall from grace for guys like Cain and Weidman. They were top dogs and then suddenly they were fucking wrecked. Tony may not have a graceful walk into the sunset in him and this fight, against a fighter he would have blown the doors off 3 years ago, will now be a really great indicator of where he is and what’s left for him. I get that its weird to see a guy like him destroy folks, then lose one fight and have everyone wonder, but his age and the division and his style all leave a lot of questions for pundits and fans alike. So as much as I would like to say this is just Ariel putting his foot in his mouth, he is absolutely right.

 

[Barteh]

Ferguson is old and he looks horrible in his last fight. He's taken an insane amount of damage through his career and many people are writing him off. It's a fair assesment to say it's a crossroad fight. He could go down on the BJ Penn/Anderson path or he would redeem himself and come back strong. Odds aren't in his favour.

 

[TripTictonic]

As a Tony fan, I do kind of ag

I hate Ariel as much as the next guy, but if he loses how's he wrong? He'd be 0-2 to the top 5 (presuming Charles moves up with a win), get kicked out to the back of it himself, and Conor/Dustin is obviously the current fight for #1 LW without Khabib, who was always Tony's most compelling matchup and that's gone.

If he loses, yeah. It's back to fighting the lower top 15 guys again unless he wants to try risking Hooker and possibly going 0-3 against the top 5.

This is his fight to stay among the top. And even then, while Charles is streaking, he's not currently top 5.

Tony hasn’t fought a lower top 15 in 6 or 7 years. As a current top 3, if he lost to Charles in a competitive fight, why would he go all the way back to fighting out of the top 10 immediately??

 

[Portland8242]

I think this is the most winnable fight for Tony out of the fights that can get him back to title contention. IMO it was a good thing for Tony that the Poirier fight fell through, that is an awful matchup for him.

 

[Goatbib]

Tony will violently finish Oliveira. He may face adversity yet again but he'll get the job done. Mark my words.

 

[GangGangGang]

Guy loses one fight in several years and now he’s at a cross road.

He’s going to melt Oliveira to the body because Charles keeps a high guard and doesn’t keep a tight defense. Charles also has shown to wilt in the past and Tony makes guys quit.

Then you look back at all Tonys wins and have to rethink everything. Not to mention that beating he just took at his age (37). Theres no reason to think that Tony of today is better than Tony of say even just a year ago. Tony has only been fighting once a year since 2016. Clearly there are multiple reasons as to why one may suggest Tony is at a crossroad at this point in his career.

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

Ariel is always at a crossroad where he can be fucked by bob Sapp or a lightweight like Brian Ortega

 

[DarthChen731]

He's not wrong, but Helwani is also a fuggin beta punk