Daniel Cormier Refutes Claims of Adesanya Being the MW GOAT. Compares Anderson to Ali.

[Corrado Soprano]

And AS didn't do the same, noob?

Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen would wreck Izzy

 

[315MMAFighter]

Anderson is way far ahead of Israel. Israel has a long way to go before he even comes close to being considered anything close to Silva

 

[kuroro]

Yeah. He would have tapped sonnen. Izzy is great on the ground.

you dont think adesanya could have beat chael sonnen? i dont see anything in silva's ufc run that adesanya couldn't have done too.

 

[squeezewax]

Silva in his prime always reminded me of Ali. Both fought for too long too.

 

[Cowboy Kurt Angle]

GSP is MW GOAT

 

[RockyLockridge]

Isreal is leaving a HUGE mark on UFC middleweight history in a hurry he has fought and beat legit great fighters at mw including silva (though past his prime clearly in a fun fight) he he's already 6-0 in MW title fights, he hasn't had the title that long yet either if he can continue to fight at a rate greater than 1.5 fights a year, he'll catch up with anderson pretty quickly.

 

[MCS]

It's 10 defenses vs 3, so of course.

Ali is fairly widely considered the greatest, so you start to look at an MMA equivalent to that. Then Jones comes up, usually rated higher than Anderson. But Ali had losses, too. It's how Anderson did it, the flair, elegance, style reliant on skill over physicality. So yes, Anderson is the closest in that sense. Shots out of nowhere, the matrix. Jones is too clumsy for the comparison to ring true.

 

[Prime Goku]

The GOAT comments regarding Izzy, Usman etc all come from teenage casual fanboys on social media, which forces the MMA media to talk about it.

 

[HeffDoesWant]

Not even close, just like the poll.

 

[jk7707]

Adesanya MW GOAT?

 

[Blayt7hh]

I mean Israel COULD end up entering that discussion but he really hasn’t been around that long.

 

[Pem123]

While it's definitely disappointing how Anderson's career ended he still is the MW GOAT despite having an asterisk next to his record IMO.

Yeah, Agreed.

but if we forget about the asterisk for a moment, it's not even close for now.

 

[Mike]

Nah it's still Anderson.

 

[Oddmonster]

Anderson had a fun competitive fight with Izzy when Izzy was 30 and he was a month or so away from his 44th birthday.

Now let's pretend the tables were turned and it was 44 year old Izzy fighting 30 year old Anderson.

End of debate

None of us know how good a non-juiced Anderson was. I was a huge fan of Anderson, but seeing his decline after getting busted just proved how much steroids does for a fighter.

 

[HeDidn'tWantTheFight]

None of us know how good a non-juiced Anderson was. I was a huge fan of Anderson, but seeing his decline after getting busted just proved how much steroids does for a fighter.

He was 40 when he got busted, and was also coming off a horrific injury. I'm of the opinion that those were the two biggest factors that contributed to his decline.

Also, at least half of the guys he fought during his reign were known roiders too, and thus, the playing field would've been level from that perspective. Funny how steroids didn't help them as much when they faced him.

 

[SlomiGa]

well, Ped user with double digit L's
+ Israel won when they fought each other.

Adesanya > Anderson

Come at me Anderoid Fans

Anyone that matters think Silva is way beyond Israel. Sucks for you, I guess, but it is what it is.

 

[gluehuffer1776]

weidman is mw goat

 

[pankrat]

@pankrat how close would Izzy be to Anderson in this discussion, should he beat Whittaker again?
I remember you rating Whittaker highly (understandably so) that's why i ask, hombre.

I think there is no debate p4p, but regarding their all-time divisional standing, I agree beating Whittaker emphatically in a rematch would place Israel fairly close to Silva at MW.

I would still rank Silva higher mainly due two reasons:
> Way more tittle defenses
> No controversial or even just close decisions (Romero, Gastelum). Silva either finished the fight or took an abysmally lopsided decision

 

[pankrat]

It's 10 defenses vs 3, so of course.

Ali is fairly widely considered the greatest, so you start to look at an MMA equivalent to that. Then Jones comes up, usually rated higher than Anderson. But Ali had losses, too. It's how Anderson did it, the flair, elegance, style reliant on skill over physicality. So yes, Anderson is the closest in that sense. Shots out of nowhere, the matrix. Jones is too clumsy for the comparison to ring true.

Ali is not widely considered the greatest. That would be Sugar Ray.

I think the Ali/Silva comparison is pretty fair in that their qualiy of performance and dominance at a certain period of time was fascinating and almost unparalleled.

 

[pankrat]

None of us know how good a non-juiced Anderson was. I was a huge fan of Anderson, but seeing his decline after getting busted just proved how much steroids does for a fighter.

Yeah, not being in his 40s after 20+ years of pro fighting career, with plenty of injuries in the process including breaking your leg in half at 39.

You were a "huge fan" though lol