Darrion Caldwell is the BW GOAT in the making

[fermaPY]

Caldwell is In the making, i think he can still evolve, but for the Bellator BW div. Is a monster, the only ONE that can give him problems should be Dudu
Another great prospecto is Koreshkov, if he gets the win over Bendo, we will talking about a legit top 10/15 WW

 

[Baguba171]

He's got a far way to go. Cruz is clearly the bantamweight GOAT and he's got time to add some big scalps to his resumé. Caldwell needs to get the title and go on a big run while hoping Bellator can sign some names to fight him. Bantamweight doesn't have a ton of depth right now. Bellator needs more talent at 135 for that to even be remotely possible.

 

[GIBLERTBAPTISTA]

Caldwell will be champ before the end of the year. I was rooting for Warren but to pull off a vintage Warren comeback, but he didn't have a chance to do anything that fight. Domination from start to finish.

Bellator needs to sign some BW prospects to keep the division interesting. When they had the tournaments Bjorn was signing good guys and prospects on a regular basis. Morcego, Betao, Marx, Leone guys like that might have never been champions, but they gave the division some depth.

 

[Paul L]

Caldwell needs some time before he's ready for a guy like Cruz, but if there was a style to beat Cruz, a smothering, fast, agile, wrestling champion would be the exact one. He's fast enough to get a hold of Cruz and quick enough to keep him down on the ground, he just needs to work on being well rounded and utilizing his agility on the feet as well as he does on the ground.

I'd say have him fight Dantas and Galvao, then defend a couple more times, then jump ship to the UFC if he can get out of his contract.

 

[Ballsaque]

Caldwell has absolutely 0 boxing. Don't think I have seen him throw a punch in a fight yet. However his grappling, and especially BJJ is something special. His progression in submission grappling is quite astounding, most def. a natural at that. But if you can stop his takedown, you can beat him with ease at this point, Rafael Silva almost did it.

 

[CC27]

I don't really see that as being any different than a UFC contender who hasn't lost yet but has only fought guys around 8-12 but looked great doing it; who do you have in mind as being overhyped?

For every example outside of the UFC; i'm sure an example of a guy inside the UFC who flashed talent can be said too i.e. Gunner Nelson & Brandon Thatch as examples. I guess the difference would be that those guys get the chance to show it or fail while the guy elsewhere can have the debate last a lot longer.

Here is my memory of the big names outside of the UFC and how they were viewed:

170/185 Lombard - He is a grey area; he needed to drop a weight class, but I would still pick a steroid abusing Lombard over Robbie. Fresh off of suspension Lombard still needs to be re-evaluated later this month. At 185lbs he appears to have been overvalued but at his new weight class it isn't exactly incorrect

Dantas/Galvao - Have never heard them called the best

Strauss - Haven't heard him called the best

Pitbull - Nobody is calling for him at 145 as the best, but i've went on record as to saying I think he would be in the title mix if he ever dropped to 135 like I think he is capable of doing.

Chandler/Alvarez - I thought the rematch was a tie (10-8 round for Chandler) but Eddie is coming off wins over Pettis and Gil so I think both of them have been capable of beating the champs at various points of their career

Askren - He has a loud small group of fans; and falls under the he could probably be the champion but only if Dana wanted him to be the champion. He is one dimensional but very good at that one dimension, the matchups could be made to get him to the title belt or the matchups could be made to have him go 0-2 and flame out.

Koreshkov - Coming off a performance even better than Caldwells and most don't have him beating Bendo

185lbs - All fighters laughed at universally outside of the UFC

McGeary - I've read "he could be the next Jon Jones" largely just because he is tall, rangy and has some fun striking, but in terms of the present I think most would be shocked if Phil Davis doesn't beat him. If he beats Phil Davis though, his hype is going to get huge in a hurry.

Will Brooks - Probably considered the fighter most likely to beat the UFC champ; seems reasonable to me, he is well rounded and just recently murked Chandler

King Mo - There are people who rank him too high but he isn't getting called the GOAT in any circles.

Gatheje - He is an awesome watch and it has probably been said but with each additional fight most realize he takes too much damage to be the best

Overeem - Hype was justified, he has been an unlucky fighter in the UFC.

Minakov - Who can remember that long ago? lol

Fedor - worthy of the hype

Caldwell - Monster

Bubba Jenkins - I overrated him as a fighter when I saw that he was moving to 145, but not sure many others echoed my thoughts. Still too early to be written off but he isn't apart of a major gym I don't think; so it is

Anytime someone comes up they instantly get hyped as the best by a certain group of fans.

Gil, Eddie, Chandler, Pitbull, Liam, Aoki, Warren, Caldwell, Lombard, Askren and on and on.

and Dantas was called the best by people on this site when he first came up, shit I remember threads about Tiger Sarnavskiy and how UFC let the future LW champ go to Bellator etc. This happens in UFC as well, I think everyone is in a rush to crown the next guy, some want to be hip and be like I knew that guy before he was great, I called it.

And yeah guys in UFC win a fight and they get hyped but they dont get called the best in the world.

if Erick Silva was in Bellator a few years ago and smashed a few guys this board would be saying he's the best WW and would smash dudes in UFC. You've been around, you know thats the truth.

There are great fighters outside the UFC but people rush to crown them.

Caldwells great but be honest, if that was Almeida or Sterling wouldnt the same thing be said about them? That they are the BW goats etc?

You are right about one thing though, difference is they will have a chance to prove it. Thats what the UFC offers than you cant get in any other org.

Caldwell will beat Dantas/Galvao and then have nobody to fight and we'll have the same discussions like we do for Bibi and Moraes about where he really stands in the div.

 

[agibmxmma]

Caldwell is a legit up and comer, one who is past the prospect phase of regional orgs. But has yet to show much beside his superior wrestling, a very strong jitz/judo grappling skill set, cardio and athleticism. He has looked very basic with his striking thus far, against opponents who would be ranked outside of the top ten in Zuffa's 135lb division, except Warren, who would be top ten in Zuffa. Obviously he will fight Dantas and Galvao soon in Bellator, and with them signing him long term, I doubt he ever touches 135lbs in Zuffa, maybe 145lbs sometime way down the road. I do think Bellator should buy Marlon's contract out from WSOF and get Bibi over to Bellator. Really surprised Bellator didn't go after Sterling harder. But unless Bellator can grab Faber (if he loses to Cruz and TJ, sadly I think he is done with Zuffa), maybe TJ or Edgar, I doubt Caldwell will ever get to prove some right or wrong with the high praise and top Zuffa 135lb fighters comparisons.

 

[stillm93]

His 2009 NCAA div 1 national championship victory over Brent Metcalf. That is all