Media Dustin Poirier on Gaethje's 254 performance: Tony made Justin look better than he is

[Franklin U.]

I never bought that. I still don't buy it. One fight doesn't change anything especially in the one guy in question was just standing in front of him eating jabs and straight rights.

I still believe Gaethje is a front end fighter, imo. I don't believe his cardio is like conors that its super bad or something, butt its not as good as people are making it out to be.

I do my homework and I see what I see with my eyes. Gaejthe couldnt swim an Olympic lap in a pool without laboring ( watch tuf/alvarez)......now trevor whit- has him swimming like a fish and is a staple of his cardio training. That along with him not engaging in these wreckless exchanges are the biggest difference in Gaejthe....he fights smarter. Hes better but not to the point of some of his fans make him and, yes, cardio a HUGE part of it.
Your entitled to your opinion

 

[Peli]

I do my homework and I see what I see with my eyes. Gaejthe couldnt swim an Olympic lap in a pool without laboring ( watch tuf/alvarez)......now trevor whit- has him swimming like a fish and is a staple of his cardio training. That along with him not engaging in these wreckless exchanges are the biggest difference in Gaejthe....he fights smarter. Hes better but not to the point of some of his fans make him and, yes, cardio a HUGE part of it.
Your entitled to your opinion

We agree to disagree. Like I said, I don't think his conditioning is God awful. I just don't think its hyped up to be. I believe if someone makes him work, he's gonna get tired. The one guy he looked great against was the one guy who sat there and didn't make him work.

 

[ThePunisher]

Nah Justin is legit. Going up against a top 10 fighter of all time will make a lot of people look outclassed.

 

[TripTictonic]

I like how you skipped Lando part.

Tony is a fun fighter for sure, but his run has been far from stellar. He’s been rocked in almost all of his fights and has never really outclassed any of his opponents. He usually just outlasts them. He couldn’t outlast Justin. And Justin may be the best fighter he’s ever faced, so it’s ridiculous to say he lost just because he’s older. And regarding Tony’s top10 wins:

#2 RDA
#8 Lee
#6 Pettis
#4 Cerrone

That’s it. And Tony didn’t dominate those guys, those were bloody wars that could’ve go both ways.

Tony is good, but he’s win streak ain’t even close to Khabib’s, he really didn’t separate himself from the pack. Gaethje, Conor and Dustin would’ve mostly likely beat any version of Tony

You post is so factually incorrect. First of all Josh Thomson and Barboza were also ranked when Tony beat the breaks off of both of them. Thomson came to the UFC after being Strikeforce champ, finished Nate and lost a very close fight to Benson, and then got the worst beating of his career form Tony. That’s 6 top 10 wins at LW. Why are you leaving those guys off? That’s 6 top 10 wins. Can you name the LWs with more?? Tibau and Trujillo were also top 15. Tony has the 2nd most ever top 15 wins behind Benson.

All of those fights were “not close or could have gone either way.” Lmao. The closest fight was with RDA (one of the best LWs of all time) and by the last round Tony was salsa dancing and turning RDA’s face to hamburger. Just because Pettis, Lee and Cowboy has a few moments of success doesn’t mean they didn’t get absolutely crushed. All of those fights ended in finishes after they were thoroughly beat up before hand. You bring up Tony “almost” losing fights but let’s talk about Poirier getting absolutely flatlined by MJ in the first round much more recent than Ferg losing Mj or Conor getting eaten alive by a short notice Nate Diaz (lol) straight off a bender in Cabo? 2016-/17 Ferg would eat Conor’s best, gas him out and slice him the fuck up.

 

[GOATtalks]

You post is so factually incorrect. First of all Josh Thomson and Barboza were also ranked when Tony beat the breaks off of both of them. Thomson came to the UFC after being Strikeforce champ, finished Nate and lost a very close fight to Benson, and then got the worst beating of his career form Tony. That’s 6 top 10 wins at LW. Why are you leaving those guys off? That’s 6 top 10 wins. Can you name the LWs with more?? Tibau and Trujillo were also top 15. Tony has the 2nd most ever top 15 wins behind Benson.

All of those fights were “not close or could have gone either way.” Lmao. The closest fight was with RDA (one of the best LWs of all time) and by the last round Tony was salsa dancing and turning RDA’s face to hamburger. Just because Pettis, Lee and Cowboy has a few moments of success doesn’t mean they didn’t get absolutely crushed. All of those fights ended in finishes after they were thoroughly beat up before hand. You bring up Tony “almost” losing fights but let’s talk about Poirier getting absolutely flatlined by MJ in the first round much more recent than Ferg losing Mj or Conor getting eaten alive by a short notice Nate Diaz (lol) straight off a bender in Cabo? 2016-/17 Ferg would eat Conor’s best, gas him out and slice him the fuck up.

I like how you skip Lando every time. Low tier UFC guy almost finished Tony. Tony’s very hittable and Conor would have an easy time shutting his lights out.

I used FighMatrix data. Thompson wasn’t top10 when he fought Tony, he was on 2 fight losing skid and 2-4 in his last 6.

Barboza wasn’t top10 as well and was riding that amazing 1 fight win streak over Felder.

Tony beat RDA 48-47, so that pretty much as close as it gets.

He beat Castillo by split decision. Got dropped by Lando, Pettis and mounted by Lee. He could’ve been DQed a few times as well, like against Barboza and Cerrone.

Tony was quite lucky he made 12 in a row to be honest.

 

[Randlewand]

Tony really isn't as good as people make him out to be. Dustin, conor and possibly even hooker beat him. Wouldn't be surprised if Oliveira does too.

Tony was a product of Shertard hype. Embarrassing really.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Pettis didn't break his hand against tony.

He bitched out and said he did on the stool.

Didnt actually break it.

Yes, GTFO here if you think Pettis had anything but a miraculous puncher’s chance at that point in the fight. He knocked Tony down once but didn’t really have him in danger and was otherwise dragged behind the woodshed.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

I like how you skip Lando every time. Low tier UFC guy almost finished Tony. Tony’s very hittable and Conor would have an easy time shutting his lights out.

I used FighMatrix data. Thompson wasn’t top10 when he fought Tony, he was on 2 fight losing skid and 2-4 in his last 6.

Barboza wasn’t top10 as well and was riding that amazing 1 fight win streak over Felder.

Tony beat RDA 48-47, so that pretty much as close as it gets.

He beat Castillo by split decision. Got dropped by Lando, Pettis and mounted by Lee. He could’ve been DQed a few times as well, like against Barboza and Cerrone.

Tony was quite lucky he made 12 in a row to be honest.

Everyone who has ever won 12 in a row was lucky to do so. It’s stops being a coincidence when he finds a way to break or choke you over and over and over again. He’s always been susceptible to getting caught, and without an iron chin he’d have major problems. But he has that iron chin.

He’s a winner, plain and simple.

 

[DoctorStoppage]

Dustin is heavily overrated

 

[GOATtalks]

Everyone who has ever won 12 in a row was lucky to do so. It’s stops being a coincidence when he finds a way to break or choke you over and over and over again. He’s always been susceptible to getting caught, and without an iron chin he’d have major problems. But he has that iron chin.

He’s a winner, plain and simple.

What you said is 100% true. But do you remember were are our discussion began?

Tony didn’t lose to Gaethje because he got old suddenly. He lost, because Gaethje is the more technical, powerful striker who can deal with Tony’s pressure.

 

[rjmbrd]

More then one thing can be true at the same time:

- JG showed improved fight IQ and patience against Tony

- Tony is 36 with an entire year off fighting and looked regressed


There is definitely some truth in what Dustin is suggesting, you just have to take it measured in context. Aside from being out a year, look at Tony's corner telling him to 'throw sand.' He is self trained and had no coaching.

JG on the other hand showed up with a world class coach who's been helping him improve. He gave him good advise and Justin was wise enough to listen. He's also improved his cardio.

 

[Peli]

Nah Justin is legit. Going up against a top 10 fighter of all time will make a lot of people look outclassed.

strawman. No one is saying he's not an elite LW. However, he's not 2.0 He's not this revamped fighter who's elminated much of his faults. They're still there. He's still gaethje. That's enough to win a title if Khabib isn't there, but its not some mythical 2.0 figure.

 

[Peli]

Dustin is heavily overrated

Overrated in what sense? Who is he rated over? The majority of people picked him to lose to Khabib and they're picking him to lose against conor. There are loud minorities(especially when he faced khabib) but the overall public didn't pick him to win. He's rated accordingly imo, Elite LW future HOFer but not in the goat conversation or anything. Not rated to beat the best fighters in his era.

Kinda like gaethje to be honest. More well rounded than gaethje and I think he's the better fighter but they're both in that same tier legacy wise. gaethjes a bit lower because he's only beat one quality dude. Hell, if anything justin is more overrated because he's only beaten one elite lw.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

• Dustin bet Khabib to win and Bet him to win by submission.
  
• Mentions how surprised how of Justin's BJJ and position awareness on the ground, but says he has no room to talk because despite doing BJJ for a long time, he got beat by Khabib there too
• Says Certain guys can't adjust their styles that much. Justin is the wrecking ball, not so much the matador.
• Tony made Justin look a little better than he is honestly.

I'm glad people are realizing 2.0s aren't real.

Been said this. There wasn't 2.0 or patient Gaethje. He just faced weaker competition (which made him look really good) and a good fighter who refused to try and take his fight with Gaethje to the ground where he probably would choked Gaethje unconscious.




(I was screaming at Ferguson to pull guard in the 3rd round)