I really don't understand where the hype and sentiment behind Benny comes from.
Who has this dude beat?
People talk about him like he's this real scary dark horse and like he's inevitable.
But what is that based on?
At 22 and 4, if you just look at the numbers, you'd think he's an elite fighter.
But parse it out a bit -
He had a good start to his career. Can't fault him for a TKO loss to Nijem early in his run.
From 2009 to 2015 he only lost once, putting him at 12-1 entering 2016.
His best wins during this time were the always game Jim Miller and a split decision over a prime Michael Johnson. Both are middle of the pack fighters but solid wins over game opponents nonetheless.
Then he got subbed by gatekeeper Chiesa. Chiesa is the bigger dude though and hasn't looked bad at WW. The next year in 2017, Benny got KO'd by gatekeeper Edson Barboza. Finished twice, by two gatekeepers, in back to back years. In his next fight, also in 2017, he has a
majority draw with a completely washed Evan Dunham. Then he gets KO'd in 42 seconds by the young Alex Hernandez. Clearly Benny was going through a real rough patch at this point.
After Beneil's
rough 2017 & 2018, he began his unbeaten streak that he's on now. Winning 8 consecutive fights from 2018 to today. But again, these numbers only look impressive on the surface. Parse it out,
who has he beaten from 2018 to today that warrants his hype as an elite fighter? Drakkar Klose? Carlos Diego Ferreira? Fucking Tony Ferguson in the middle of a 5 fight losing streak?
I'm being rhetorical and obviously his best win during this run has been his most recent one over Mateusz Gamrot and honestly it's probably the highest quality win in his career thus far. To me, that win is the first and only piece of evidence we've had that Beneil
might be elite. If you look closely at who he's beaten and when he beat them, *as well as his losses*, his record is far less impressive than the 22-4 would suggest.
I'm looking forward to Charlie Olives reminding everyone that there's levels to this and sending Beneil back down the ladder and ending his silly grappling nerd hype train.