A-Level Athlete Anders.

[AndrewGolota48]

Dude couldn't even get to the level of Schaub or Mitrione in football. Let that sink in.

He was actually WAY higher level than Schaub in football, but not Mitrione.

He probably didn't make the NFL in part because he's undersized, which doesn't make him any less athletic as a MW fighter.

Sure he may not be an elite NFL player, but his athletic background still puts him in a very elite class (starter on a national championship college team).

There is no fucking black and white distinction here, it's a continuum. He is clearly a worlds higher athlete than virtually any MMA fighter based on this Sherdog evaluation, and yet he is not dominating by any stretch even after years of dedicated training and amateur fights.

It would stand to reason that the difference between Anders and Machida on a football field is likely greater than Anders and a top level NFL linebacker, and yet it didn't matter.

In fact your Schaub and Mitrione mentions are very appropriate here. Schaub wasn't half the football player Mitrione was, and yet he easily walked through him in MMA. Mitrione wasn't half the football player Marcus Davis was and yet he walked through him in MMA with far less training.

 

[djacobox372]

A man who can make 185 can never be an A level athlete.

(j/k)

This guy could cut to 185, 6'5 205lb walk around

 

[BigMuffler]

This guy could cut to 185, 6'5 205lb walk around

Do you not know what j/k means?

Wasn't Michael Jordan like 6'6 and 215 lbs? He could've made 185 by MMA cutting standards too lol.

 

[emax]

He was actually WAY higher level than Schaub in football, but not Mitrione.

He probably didn't make the NFL in part because he's undersized, which doesn't make him any less athletic as a MW fighter.

Sure he may not be an elite NFL player, but his athletic background still puts him in a very elite class (starter on a national championship college team).

There is no fucking black and white distinction here, it's a continuum. He is clearly a worlds higher athlete than virtually any MMA fighter based on this Sherdog evaluation, and yet he is not dominating by any stretch even after years of dedicated training and amateur fights.

It would stand to reason that the difference between Anders and Machida on a football field is likely greater than Anders and a top level NFL linebacker, and yet it didn't matter.

In fact your Schaub and Mitrione mentions are very appropriate here. Schaub wasn't half the football player Mitrione was, and yet he easily walked through him in MMA. Mitrione wasn't half the football player Marcus Davis was and yet he walked through him in MMA with far less training.

If someone got to thinking it was as simply as having NFL type athleticism, maybe just look at Marcus Jones vs Cormier or Romero. All of them were looking to get into MMA in their late 30s, and the end result for Marcus vs Cormier or Romero was kind of staggering. And Marcus started over 35 NFL games; the guy was an NFL caliber player full stop. And I kind of doubt anyone thinks he'd necessarily be running roughshod over, say, Cormier, Cain or Stipe if he had gone into MMA in his early 30s. As for Jon Jones, yes, his natural abilities, when it comes to deadlifts, squats, 40 yard dash, vertical jump and similar areas, would be standard or below standard in football or basketball. Not so the fact that he'd been wrestling at very high levels since his early teens or his natural fight IQ and ability to execute game plans while getting punched repeatedly.

Brock underlines the point how low average athleticism is in heavyweight MMA.

He tried to make the NFL, with the Vikings, but wasn't worth the effort to develop into a player. Had he started younger, he likely had NFL athletic qualities.

He entered MMA with zero experience and became a world champion a few fights later. Lets really stop and unpack that for a moment - a guy with even LESS experience in MMA (zero) then he had in football (youth level), in the NFL he wasn't even worth keeping on a practice squad.

In MMA he casually walked into the sport and won the heavyweight championship.

Regarding Jones, we know from his siblings, he has elite genetics. It isn't random chance you have 3 brothers who are all elite athletes. We rarely get guys of that caliber in MMA, with such an easy case study to read, and Jones is one of the greatest of all time.

He entered MMA and simply ran roughshod over everyone. In other professional sports, Jon Jones is the standard, not the greatest ever.

I would think with Brock you'd have look at the Vikings' interest in him and what it says about how much of an athletic titan he really was. By and large NFL teams aren't gonna look at you if you didn't play college ball; as far as they would see it the skills needed to play football at that level just wouldn't be there. That the Vikings showed even brief interest in him during the preseason despite his complete lack of experience at the college level shows how off the charts he was. If he had made football his primary high school sport and chosen to play it in college he clearly had the capability of starting some NFL games.

 

[storeybuckle]

I think people give athletes a super human ability that just isnt there. It seems any inner city kid who focuses on American sports from youth instead of becoming a lawyer is in peoples minds an "A level athlete"

I'm positive that there's hundreds and thousands of white collar guys who would have been "A level athletes" had they never had the opportunities they did towards education, and focused on sports instead.

This^

 

[ThEiCeMaN6791]

Ufc fighters are c-d level athletes. Look what happened when b level athlete jon jones came in. He mopped the floor with every one and he barely trained ufc. Yoel Romero could be considered an a level athlete in his youth and is still dominate as a senior citizen.

Jones didn’t barely train. He was already a high level wrestler.

 

[ThEiCeMaN6791]

Brock underlines the point how low average athleticism is in heavyweight MMA.

He tried to make the NFL, with the Vikings, but wasn't worth the effort to develop into a player. Had he started younger, he likely had NFL athletic qualities.

He entered MMA with zero experience and became a world champion a few fights later. Lets really stop and unpack that for a moment - a guy with even LESS experience in MMA (zero) then he had in football (youth level), in the NFL he wasn't even worth keeping on a practice squad.

In MMA he casually walked into the sport and won the heavyweight championship.

Regarding Jones, we know from his siblings, he has elite genetics. It isn't random chance you have 3 brothers who are all elite athletes. We rarely get guys of that caliber in MMA, with such an easy case study to read, and Jones is one of the greatest of all time.

He entered MMA and simply ran roughshod over everyone. In other professional sports, Jon Jones is the standard, not the greatest ever.

Jones and Brock were successful because of WRESTLING.

 

[UhHuhSure]

Herschel Walker did good at 47. Mitrione is legit

 

[The Natural Born Runner]

He was pathetic.

 

[The Natural Born Runner]

Herschel Walker did good at 47. Mitrione is legit

Lol @ "did good".

 

[dragovic]

a lot of sore vaginas around here whenever somebody suggests that football (or NBA) players aren't A level athletes.

 

[Troublesome10]

Anders didn't lack athleticism, he lacked tools to get the job done. A right hook and some legs kicks would have done him wonders. He already understands pressure footwork but needs to add some round circular strikes to cut of the lateral movement of a guy like Machida.

 

[The Bard]

I guess it goes to show that it takes more than athleticism.

It goes to show that Machida, like nearly all top fighters, is a great athlete himself.

A normal man doesn't get locked in the cage with a division 1 football player for 25 minutes and manage to stay on his feet for almost all of it.

 

[ThEiCeMaN6791]

a lot of sore vaginas around here whenever somebody suggests that football (or NBA) players aren't A level athletes.

Of course they are A level athletes. My point was that there are A level athletes in most, if not all professional sports.

 

[kflo]

Of course they are A level athletes. My point was that there are A level athletes in most, if not all professional sports.

it's a dumb argument because many skills translate differently to different activities / sports.

baseball players mostly can't play in the nfl. and vice versa. or nba. or soccer. or track and field. or fighting.

roy jones was an average athlete in development league basketball. and a freak athlete in the ring. charlie ward wasn't a great athlete on a basketball court, but that's ignoring that he won a heisman trophy in football. hall of fame tight ends couldn't play pro basketball. etc, etc.

 

[Kowboy Karl]

Anders with a level athletics and meager skills put the fear of god in machida

When he touched machida the dragon almost died

Pretty sad a ninja piss drinker training ninja shit from birth can’t do shit to an a level athlete who’s been training 4-5 years max.

Split decision in Brazil

A level athletes dominate this sport.

 

[UhHuhSure]

Lol @ "did good".

LOL @ your trolling

 

[sb413197]

You forget TS...the minute someone steps foot in a MMA fight they go from being an A-level world beater that would win a MMA title in 3 months, to being a D-level athlete that shouldn't have been even playing their prior sport and only came to MMA because they were bad at their old one.

 

[dragovic]

Of course they are A level athletes. My point was that there are A level athletes in most, if not all professional sports.

I dont know that they are. I just feel like people draw that conclusion because they think football and basketball is the shit.

 

[The Bard]

In MMA he casually walked into the sport and won the heavyweight championship.

No he didn't, not any more than Overeem, Wonderboy, Fedor, and Cro Cop "casually walked into the sport." Brock (and Jones) had long and illustrious combat sports careers prior to entering MMA.