How Over Hyped was Thiago Santos?

MMAProfessional

MMAProfessional

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We seemed to know what to expect from Thiago. I very good fights with KO ability. Was good enough to KO mid-level guys then when he got to the big leagues showed that he couldn't hang. KOing everyone then fights Moose who made it look like he didn't belong in there. Holland had a similar rise where he had a string of right match ups but ended up in a position he probably shouldn't be in. Holland has a win against Souza which we now know wasn't that great for what state he's in. Then two straight fights with high level guys and two loses in a row.

Thiago then beats Anders and Manuwa, both mid level guys. Manuwa has always been hyped as a top LHW but we all know he's in there to get KO'd and make a name. Jan was a good win then the close fight with Jones put him into the position to keep fighting high level guys. He is now on a 3 fight win streak. He's been knocked down now to fight someone more his speed in Walker so I expect an easy KO>
 
KO’d the current champ not too long ago. Arguably won that decision over Jones with every ligament in both knees trashed. Unfortunately was a career altering fight/injury. He was a great fighter. Hope he can snatch a couple more highlight reel KO’s before he retires.
 
Personally, I think most people that were hyping him at LHW hadn't seen much of him at MW, granted he was obviously cutting huge weight but was always inconsistent.

I wouldn't say he was KOing everyone before Moose, hadn't he already lost to Uriah and got subbed by Spiceley at that point?

He's always been a great fighter but has a record of 13-8 in the UFC, some suspect losses but some great wins at the same time. I just wish he was at LHW for longer in his career rather than spend so long as a MW borderline 10-15 guy.

The Holland comparison I completely get, makes sense.

Judging his career solely at LHW I wouldn't say he was overhyped, at the time he gave Jones his closest fight.
 
He's always just been inconsistent. He can beat good guys and lose to guys he should beat. That said I'm sure he's past his best at this point especially with the injury.
 
He's a big hitter but I always had trouble accepting him as a legitimate threat at 205lbs, even when he was winning. That Eric Spicely loss just hung in my mind constantly, even though it was likely a fluke / one-off.
 
Great striker, non existent ground game. So although he’s got great skills there’s always an easy route to beating him. Makes it so he can beat great fighters but also lose to average ones
 
MMAProfessional said:
We seemed to know what to expect from Thiago. I very good fights with KO ability. Was good enough to KO mid-level guys then when he got to the big leagues showed that he couldn't hang. KOing everyone then fights Moose who made it look like he didn't belong in there. Holland had a similar rise where he had a string of right match ups but ended up in a position he probably shouldn't be in. Holland has a win against Souza which we now know wasn't that great for what state he's in. Then two straight fights with high level guys and two loses in a row.

Thiago then beats Anders and Manuwa, both mid level guys. Manuwa has always been hyped as a top LHW but we all know he's in there to get KO'd and make a name. Jan was a good win then the close fight with Jones put him into the position to keep fighting high level guys. He is now on a 3 fight win streak. He's been knocked down now to fight someone more his speed in Walker so I expect an easy KO>
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Overrated? he's been devastated by a near career threatening injury (a la Shogun). He arguably beat the last 2 LHW champions (one by KO).
 
MMAProfessional said:
We seemed to know what to expect from Thiago. I very good fights with KO ability. Was good enough to KO mid-level guys then when he got to the big leagues showed that he couldn't hang. KOing everyone then fights Moose who made it look like he didn't belong in there. Holland had a similar rise where he had a string of right match ups but ended up in a position he probably shouldn't be in. Holland has a win against Souza which we now know wasn't that great for what state he's in. Then two straight fights with high level guys and two loses in a row.

Thiago then beats Anders and Manuwa, both mid level guys. Manuwa has always been hyped as a top LHW but we all know he's in there to get KO'd and make a name. Jan was a good win then the close fight with Jones put him into the position to keep fighting high level guys. He is now on a 3 fight win streak. He's been knocked down now to fight someone more his speed in Walker so I expect an easy KO>
Click to expand...
Arguably beat Jon Jones, KO'd the current LHW champ. That's not a bad starting place. He's not an all-time great but he's had a very good career. Whos is overhyping him?
 
He can still beat anyone on any given night. He is as dangerous as they come.
 
MMAProfessional said:
We seemed to know what to expect from Thiago. I very good fights with KO ability. Was good enough to KO mid-level guys then when he got to the big leagues showed that he couldn't hang. KOing everyone then fights Moose who made it look like he didn't belong in there. Holland had a similar rise where he had a string of right match ups but ended up in a position he probably shouldn't be in. Holland has a win against Souza which we now know wasn't that great for what state he's in. Then two straight fights with high level guys and two loses in a row.

Thiago then beats Anders and Manuwa, both mid level guys. Manuwa has always been hyped as a top LHW but we all know he's in there to get KO'd and make a name. Jan was a good win then the close fight with Jones put him into the position to keep fighting high level guys. He is now on a 3 fight win streak. He's been knocked down now to fight someone more his speed in Walker so I expect an easy KO>
Click to expand...
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He is - or at the very least was - a good fighter with some great physical gifts.

Before his knee injuries, he was a bit like a huge version of Edson Barboza, though i consider Edson to be the better fighter between the two.
 
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