Usman at middleweight

[3rdAccount]

Now that we just witnessed the middleweight title fight, let me ask, does anyone think Usman would be successful against the top 5 middleweights? I don't think he can beat Hermansson or Vettori.

 

[Arm Barbarian]

Nope. Weightclasses for a reason.

 

[daPROFESSOR]

Usman would do great at mw.

 

[3rdAccount]

Usman would do great at mw.

So against who?

 

[daPROFESSOR]

So against who?

everyone. Duh

 

[3rdAccount]

everyone. Duh

Ugh. Thanks for the input. What an oxymoron your username is.

 

[chiefwiggum]

Everybody knows if you were born in the same continent the fight can’t be made.

 

[Simple Southerner]

If Usman knows what's best he stays at ww and continues to pick up title defenses which will help his legacy

 

[moosaev]

Now that we just witnessed the middleweight title fight, let me ask, does anyone think Usman would be successful against the top 5 middleweights? I don't think he can beat Hermansson or Vettori.

Usman’s chin isn’t the best. I wouldn’t say he’s chinny, but his chin has been checked by welters, middleweights would KO if they landed imo.

 

[Gabriel201]

He is already very jacked and has great endurance at WW, so i don't think he would benefit too much from more weight.

 

[DS66]

I think Usman beats most MW's. His walk around weight is probably pretty close to a lot of them, he's a huge WW. He likely walks around at about 200 lbs which is the same as Izzy. Just look at the pace Kamaru fights at after a brutal weight cut, now imagine an extra jacked fully hydrated Usman who doesn't have to cut nearly as much. I think he wears down most of the top MW's with his relentless pace. The only ones I'd favor over him are Izzy and maybe Rob, but even then he certainly has a shot at beating both.

 

[JKS]

Would Usman fight Izzy?? Or are they friends?

 

[Post 2 Decision]

In the top 10? Usman beats the guys that don't belong there: Kelvin, Till, Holland... Who all happen to be former welterweights...

He probably beats Uriah Hall and Edmen too.

But he loses to the top 7

Izzy
Whittaker
Cannonier
Vettori
Brunson
Costa
Hermansson

 

[3rdAccount]

I think Usman beats most MW's. His walk around weight is probably pretty close to a lot of them, he's a huge WW. He likely walks around at about 200 lbs which is the same as Izzy. Just look at the pace Kamaru fights at after a brutal weight cut, now imagine an extra jacked fully hydrated Usman who doesn't have to cut nearly as much. I think he wears down most of the top MW's with his relentless pace. The only ones I'd favor over him are Izzy and maybe Rob, but even then he certainly has a shot at beating both.

I'd pick him to be the favorite against Gastelum and maybe Till. Do you think he'd be the favorite against Vettori, Hermansson or Costa?

 

[3rdAccount]

In the top 10? Usman beats the guys that don't belong there: Kelvin, Till, Holland... Who all happen to be former welterweights...

He probably beats Uriah Hall and Edmen too.

But he loses to the top 7

Izzy
Whittaker
Cannonier
Vettori
Brunson
Costa
Hermansson

That's actually how I see it going. Although, I think Holland would pose lots of trouble for Usman.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

I dont think he beats Izzy but he likely beats everyone else there. He is very big and strong for 170.

 

[DS66]

I'd pick him to be the favorite against Gastelum and maybe Till. Do you think he'd be the favorite against Vettori, Hermansson or Costa?

Yeah, Kamaru would be the favorite vs all 3. Certainly vs Vettori and Hermansson, what exactly could those guys do to Usman? They've never beaten a top fighter. They have some decent wins by outgrappling weak grapplers, but they're obviously not gonna outgrapple Usman.

Costa would certainly have a chance vs Usman as he'd be the bigger fighter and obviously has KO power, but Kamaru is just so much more skilled than him. I wouldn't bet against Usman in that one.

 

[CorninginChristianburg]

Kamaru is not a big WW. He walks around at 190 pounds. A typical MW walks around at 210, cuts to 200 in camp, and cuts to 185 in the couple days before the fight. I mean, he doesn't even look like a big WW. And being much smaller is a massive disadvantage for a wrestler than a striker. If he put on mass I think he could take on some of guys in the MW top 10 just because their wrestling technique is inferior, but I don't imagine him being able to move up and clean out the division no.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

He's a tad chinny and gets tagged for too much to think he could survive against the hardest hitters at 185. But he could be top 5

 

[DS66]

I just don't know if Usman would be able to frequently land his right hand against Hermansson or Vettori to be honest. Hermansson would just keep his hands up the whole time since he has good wrestling on his own. Usman is certainly a better wrestler than either two of them but I do think he'll have a hard time taking them down. I thought Costa would be the guy who might get clipped with that right hand though but he can take some punches so I don't know. He'd be hard to takedown and keep down too.

I don't think Usman has to frequently land his right hand to beat those guys. Most likely he'll just jab them to death, in between clinch exchanges where he holds them up against the cage. His jab has looked phenomenal lately and is a much more effective strike than anything in the standup arsenal of Vettori or Hermansson. They don't present any threat to Usman on the feet, and I don't believe they have any shot at taking him down and controlling him on the ground.