As a top fighter, is getting finished an inevitability?

[Hester65]

lawlor is the exception.

who was champ 5 years ago that is still champ?

fedor? beaten a bunch by guys whop are gatekeeper esque in ufc right now-bigfoot, hendo, etc...

liddell? was starched by rashad, a present day gate keeper.

i am not saying that the rule applies to every single fighters, but generally speaking, the fight game evolves every day.

you think liddell woudl beat any top 10 right now?

Liddell at his peak would be a threat to nearly everyone in the top ten at the moment. The top 10 at the moment has Ryan Bader, OSP, and Jimi Manuwa. That is beside the point, though.

Let's continue on the Liddell line. It's not as if his skill set wasn't enough to win the fights he lost after Evans, it's that his other abilities faded and didn't allow for him to get away with the flaws in his original style. I could make an argument that Liddell was beginning to slide even before that fight, but any version of Liddell is going to struggle with the type of style Evans has.

Evans wasn't something completely new when he beat Liddell, either. He wasn't the first agile, coordinated wrestler with powerful offensive strikes. The guy that dethroned him (Machida) wasn't original, either. The dragon wasn't the first counter striker with excellent takedown defense. Hell the guy that beat Machida had been around for a while at that point.

Acting as if these fighters don't get old and their physical tools are some set entity is foolish. Their physical gifts are what allow them to get away with their technical flaws.

Of course Evans is a gatekeeper now, he's 137 years old and the holes in his game are roughly the same. The guy has no idea how to beat fighters that don't give him massive openings for strikes and can stop him from taking them down.

There isnt anything out there we haven't seen. MMA finished its evolution years ago. We are just witnessing young fighters get old and new fighters move in.

The original question asked us if being finished inevitable. For a majority of fighters, yes they will be finished at some point or another. However, there are a few fighters that haven't been yet (Jones, MM, etc). If they retire without being stopped, then no it's not inevitable.

 

[hot carl]

Liddell at his peak would be a threat to nearly everyone in the top ten at the moment. The top 10 at the moment has Ryan Bader, OSP, and Jimi Manuwa. That is beside the point, though.

Let's continue on the Liddell line. It's not as if his skill set wasn't enough to win the fights he lost after Evans, it's that his other abilities faded and didn't allow for him to get away with the flaws in his original style. I could make an argument that Liddell was beginning to slide even before that fight, but any version of Liddell is going to struggle with the type of style Evans has.

Evans wasn't something completely new when he beat Liddell, either. He wasn't the first agile, coordinated wrestler with powerful offensive strikes. The guy that dethroned him (Machida) wasn't original, either. The dragon wasn't the first counter striker with excellent takedown defense. Hell the guy that beat Machida had been around for a while at that point.

Acting as if these fighters don't get old and their physical tools are some set entity is foolish. Their physical gifts are what allow them to get away with their technical flaws.

Of course Evans is a gatekeeper now, he's 137 years old and the holes in his game are roughly the same. The guy has no idea how to beat fighters that don't give him massive openings for strikes and can stop him from taking them down.

There isnt anything out there we haven't seen. MMA finished its evolution years ago. We are just witnessing young fighters get old and new fighters move in.

The original question asked us if being finished inevitable. For a majority of fighters, yes they will be finished at some point or another. However, there are a few fighters that haven't been yet (Jones, MM, etc). If they retire without being stopped, then no it's not inevitable.

i am unsure but i think we might be arguing the same point.

i am of teh view that the vast majority of fighters will get koed.

and lets not overstate shogun's abilities.