Losing performances that were better than Colby's

[RustyShacleford]

The only trend I actually find irritating on this forum is how much has been made of Colby's losing performance against Usman. I'm not a Colby fan and I don't think he deserves the rematch, but honestly that's not why Im bothered. I just find it objectively frustrating that an unprecedented level credit is being given to a decisive loss just because he was competitive at times during the fight. I mean, is the bar really that low? Usually when a loss gets hyped it's because someone was dominating before getting caught with a ko or sub, but the best argument for Colby is that he was even on the scorecards heading into the fifth. HE WASN'T EVEN WINNING BEFORE HE LOST! And don't come at me with that early stoppage shit either. He got consecutively dropped, and even if he could have survived, that would be a 10-8 round and a decisive loss (unless you wanna make the laughable claim that he could of got a finish).

But instead waisting more time explaining why a guy who got tko'd lost a fight, I thought it would be more fun to celebrate more noteworthy losing performances. I'll start with one of my favourites: Rory vs Lawler II.

Rory was well ahead on the scorecards heading into the fifth, having outpointed Robbie in the first, and then battered him in the third and fourth rounds with a series of strikes that would have finished any fighter that didn't have Lawler's inhuman level of durability. And even when Rory did get his face crushed in the last round, he simultaneously tore Robbie's lip open, which would have resulted in a stoppage if Rory had not first succumbed to his own, more extreme level of pain. War Rory, your losing performance against Robbie was legitimately worthy of celebration.

 

[accolyte1022]

When that one creature beat Superman to death.

 

[revoltub]

Any other fights as examples?

 

[Fesaine]

Gustafsson vs Jones/DC

Holloway vs Volk 2

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Gustafsson vs Jones/DC

Gus is basically the start of this whole phenomenon.

 

[HavokHarmon]

Gus is basically the start of this whole phenomenon.

In fairness the argument there was that the fight was incredibly close and many felt Gus should have won. On top of that Jones had looked truly untouchable up until that fight. Watching Gus even hit a takedown on Jones was like watching Superman stumble backwards after getting shoved by a random guy off the street.

 

[1BadMF]

He was more than "decisive at times", he was winning rounds the fight was a war until Usman
finished him in the last round.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Its because there is no one else. So when a dominant champion has a close-ish fight people wanna run it back holding on to the hope the challenger can repeat their performance instead of getting sparked out easily like the rest of their competition has

 

[D'z]

Nog won most fights where he lost the majority of the rounds. That count?

 

[Dude Incredible]

Shogun vs Hendo 1

Likely any FOTY and FOTY contenders deserve a nod to the loser.

The only trend I actually find irritating on this forum is how much has been made of Colby's losing performance against Usman. I'm not a Colby fan and I don't think he deserves the rematch, but honestly that's not why Im bothered. I just find it objectively frustrating that an unprecedented level credit is being given to a decisive loss just because he was competitive at times during the fight. I mean, is the bar really that low? Usually when a loss gets hyped it's because someone was dominating before getting caught with a ko or sub, but the best argument for Colby is that he was even on the scorecards heading into the fifth. HE WASN'T EVEN WINNING BEFORE HE LOST! And don't come at me with that early stoppage shit either. He got consecutively dropped, and even if he could have survived, that would be a 10-8 round and a decisive loss (unless you wanna make the laughable claim that he could of got a finish).

But instead waisting more time explaining why a guy who got tko'd lost a fight, I thought it would be more fun to celebrate more noteworthy losing performances. I'll start with one of my favourites: Rory vs Lawler II.

Rory was well ahead on the scorecards heading into the fifth, having outpointed Robbie in the first, and then battered him in the third and fourth rounds with a series of strikes that would have finished any fighter that didn't have Lawler's inhuman level of durability. And even when Rory did get his face crushed in the last round, he simultaneously tore Robbie's lip open, which would have resulted in a stoppage if Rory had not first succumbed to his own, more extreme level of pain. War Rory, your losing performance against Robbie was legitimately worthy of celebration.

Robbie's lip exploded somewhere around 2:30 of round 4. There was no stoppage between 4 and 5...

 

[WuDi]

Usman had to cheat to survive. Nuff said.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

I feel like the points being missed or i missed the point. There are title fights that went to a decision where people argue the results, but that's a completely different category. To me, this thread is about how everyone is using his efforts before getting finished as argument that he should get another shot, as if that had ever mattered. When has that happened where a guy decisively lost a title fight, but people were like, "do it again cuz he did well"?

They lost.

 

[BigTruck]

When that one creature beat Superman to death.

Huh

 

[richardjohnson]

I feel like the points being missed or i missed the point. There are title fights that went to a decision where people argue the results, but that's a completely different category. To me, this thread is about how everyone is using his efforts before getting finished as argument that he should get another shot, as if that had ever mattered. When has that happened where a guy decisively lost a title fight, but people were like, "do it again cuz he did well"?

They lost.

This is my thinking as well. It was a competitive fight, but in the end Colby got finished and couldn’t make it to the final bell. Had he managed to not get finished he would have a much bigger claim to a rematch IMO.

 

[Jose Beehive]

Max vs Volk 2?

 

[fullspar]

Colby haters are out in full force today, must be the fact Usman is ducking Colby in favour of fighting Diaz

(I was never a fan of Colby btw, wanted to see Usman shut him up. But since Usman started being a Duck, Colby seems so much more appealing now)

Colby bless

 

[HeDidn'tWantTheFight]

Colby deserves the credit because Usman had to resort to faking nut shots and eye pokes to get out of trouble earlier in the fight

 

[Tone505]

Any other fights as examples?

Gus is basically the start of this whole phenomenon.

GSP vs Bj Penn 1

 

[Ares Black]

Hendricks vs GSP

A nobody almost beat the GOAT!

 

[Sparky]

Anderson and Chael