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Greatest Performances by Low-Mid Tier Fighters

Forrest beating Shogun and Page.

Sonnen/Silva 1.

Reems big bro vs couture
 
myles jury vs. micheal johnson
rory macdonald vs. carlos condit (at the time)
marcus davis vs. nate diaz (davis dropped him & won 1st round, didnt get too hurt til 3rd)
brendan schaub vs. mirko cro cop (schaub is fucking garbage, still cant believe he ko'd him)
lavar johnson vs. pat barry (barry isnt a great mma fighter but an amazing striker, johnson threw everything he had at him against barrys technique and it paid off. crazy KO)
mike kyle vs. bigfoot silva (strikeforce)
ricardo llamas vs. cub swanson (whos on a tear right now)
kendall grove vs. mark munoz (munoz isnt that great hes hyped, but grove dropped him and was fuckin him up pretty good a couple times in that fight)
dustin hazelett vs. josh koscheck
Anthony njoukani vs. edson barboza (i think he shouldve won the fight)
ryan bader vs. rampage ( i think bader is pretty shit )
frankie edgar vs. bj penn I
elliot marshall vs. brandon vera
mike pierce vs. josh koscheck
tim boestch vs. lombard (if you can consider boetsch mid tier)
rick story vs. thiago alves (story just clinched him but alves is a beast and story is never gonna be a contender, alves shouldve won that fight but story did good being boring)
mark hominick vs. jose aldo (held his own striking sometimes, dominated the 5th)
brett rogers vs. fedor emelianenko (he had his moments in the 1st round) (strikefarce)
keith jardine vs. gegard mousasi (strikeforce)
anthony johnson vs. vitor belfort (at the time johnson moved up to 185 for first time of career against top 5 belfort and was manhandling him early)
jake shields vs. dan henderson (i consider shields a low tier fighter. only reason he won that fight is hendo is too old to cut to 185 and had a huge back injury in that fight. shields still managed to look shit despite having constant sub openings and mount)
 
ironball said:
myles jury vs. micheal johnson
rory macdonald vs. carlos condit (at the time)
marcus davis vs. nate diaz (davis dropped him & won 1st round, didnt get too hurt til 3rd)
brendan schaub vs. mirko cro cop (schaub is fucking garbage, still cant believe he ko'd him)
lavar johnson vs. pat barry (barry isnt a great mma fighter but an amazing striker, johnson threw everything he had at him against barrys technique and it paid off. crazy KO)
mike kyle vs. bigfoot silva (strikeforce)
ricardo llamas vs. cub swanson (whos on a tear right now)
kendall grove vs. mark munoz (munoz isnt that great hes hyped, but grove dropped him and was fuckin him up pretty good a couple times in that fight)
dustin hazelett vs. josh koscheck
Anthony njoukani vs. edson barboza (i think he shouldve won the fight)
ryan bader vs. rampage ( i think bader is pretty shit )
frankie edgar vs. bj penn I
elliot marshall vs. brandon vera
mike pierce vs. josh koscheck
tim boestch vs. lombard (if you can consider boetsch mid tier)
rick story vs. thiago alves (story just clinched him but alves is a beast and story is never gonna be a contender, alves shouldve won that fight but story did good being boring)
mark hominick vs. jose aldo (held his own striking sometimes, dominated the 5th)
brett rogers vs. fedor emelianenko (he had his moments in the 1st round) (strikefarce)
keith jardine vs. gegard mousasi (strikeforce)
anthony johnson vs. vitor belfort (at the time johnson moved up to 185 for first time of career against top 5 belfort and was manhandling him early)
jake shields vs. dan henderson (i consider shields a low tier fighter. only reason he won that fight is hendo is too old to cut to 185 and had a huge back injury in that fight. shields still managed to look shit despite having constant sub openings and mount)
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Damn. A lot of good ones here.
 
codymo said:
Damn. A lot of good ones here.
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thanks man. heres a few more

antonio mendes vs. thiago silva (comes out and drops silva 1 or 2 times before getting mounted and pounded out)
drew mcfedries vs. martin kampmann (drops kampmann in the 1st round before getting choked out moments later)
alessio sakara vs. patrick cote (first person to ever rock and KO patrick cote; despite him not being above mid tier, cote wasnt wobbled by mcfedries, anderson silva, .etc)
thales leites vs. nate marquardt (with the deduction too)
keith jardine vs. chuck liddell
paul daley vs. martin kampmann
murilo bustamante vs. dan henderson (pride)
chris lytle vs. thiago alves
cyrille diabate vs. mauricio shogun (took fight on short notice as a sheep to be slaughtered; battered shogun on the feet for a few minutes, landing over 85% of his strikes i believe; and forced shogun to take him down. first and only time shogun got hit like that besides nog dropping him, up until the jones fight)
travis lutter vs. anderson silva (took down anderson 1st and 2nd rounds)
jason miller vs. jake shields (almost subbed shields but time ran out- even though i consider shields shit)
shane carwin vs. brock lesnar - pounded him out for 5 minutes before gassing
gabriel gonzaga vs. cro cop (knocked cro cop the fuck out)
gabriel gonzaga vs. werdum 2 (was winning fight til he quit)
jason day vs. alan belcher (alan belcher isnt that good but jason day tko'd him, belcher going 6-2 since)
stephan bonnar vs. jon jones (just in perspective of whats happened since; won 3rd round in their fight)
james irvin vs. thiago silva (drops silva early then blows knee)
evan dunham vs. sean sherk (arguably beat the former champ; multiple sub attempts and near finishes, flurries landed)
clay guida vs. anthony pettis (guida is shit)
matt serra vs. bj penn ( i consider serra to be mid tier)
 
ironball said:
thanks man. heres a few more

antonio mendes vs. thiago silva (comes out and drops silva 1 or 2 times before getting mounted and pounded out)
drew mcfedries vs. martin kampmann (drops kampmann in the 1st round before getting choked out moments later)
alessio sakara vs. patrick cote (first person to ever rock and KO patrick cote; despite him not being above mid tier, cote wasnt wobbled by mcfedries, anderson silva, .etc)
thales leites vs. nate marquardt (with the deduction too)
keith jardine vs. chuck liddell
paul daley vs. martin kampmann
murilo bustamante vs. dan henderson (pride)
chris lytle vs. thiago alves
cyrille diabate vs. mauricio shogun (took fight on short notice as a sheep to be slaughtered; battered shogun on the feet for a few minutes, landing over 85% of his strikes i believe; and forced shogun to take him down. first and only time shogun got hit like that besides nog dropping him, up until the jones fight)
travis lutter vs. anderson silva (took down anderson 1st and 2nd rounds)
jason miller vs. jake shields (almost subbed shields but time ran out- even though i consider shields shit)
shane carwin vs. brock lesnar - pounded him out for 5 minutes before gassing
gabriel gonzaga vs. cro cop (knocked cro cop the fuck out)
gabriel gonzaga vs. werdum 2 (was winning fight til he quit)
jason day vs. alan belcher (alan belcher isnt that good but jason day tko'd him, belcher going 6-2 since)
stephan bonnar vs. jon jones (just in perspective of whats happened since; won 3rd round in their fight)
james irvin vs. thiago silva (drops silva early then blows knee)
evan dunham vs. sean sherk (arguably beat the former champ; multiple sub attempts and near finishes, flurries landed)
clay guida vs. anthony pettis (guida is shit)
matt serra vs. bj penn ( i consider serra to be mid tier)
Click to expand...

You consider Sheilds to be low-tier yet consider Matt to be mid-tier ?
 
Nam Phan usually looks like one of the best strikers at FW in his wins. Sakara and Palharis also look good whenever they win.
 
memling said:
Forrest Griffin legitimately rising to being the #1 LHW in the world for a little bit pretty much solely off heart.

Herschel Walker transitioning into the sport at near 50 and after a full NFL career.

Scott Smith knocking Cung Le right the fuck out after absorbing a massive beating most of the fight.

Brock Lesnar becoming UFC champ and managing to submit Carwin after five minutes of first degree murder.
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The myth of Griffin not being that great of a fighter continues.... sigh
 
One of my favorite finishes.

142-Funch-Pyle-1.gif
 
ironball said:
thanks man. heres a few more

antonio mendes vs. thiago silva (comes out and drops silva 1 or 2 times before getting mounted and pounded out)
drew mcfedries vs. martin kampmann (drops kampmann in the 1st round before getting choked out moments later)
alessio sakara vs. patrick cote (first person to ever rock and KO patrick cote; despite him not being above mid tier, cote wasnt wobbled by mcfedries, anderson silva, .etc)
thales leites vs. nate marquardt (with the deduction too)
keith jardine vs. chuck liddell
paul daley vs. martin kampmann
murilo bustamante vs. dan henderson (pride)
chris lytle vs. thiago alves
cyrille diabate vs. mauricio shogun (took fight on short notice as a sheep to be slaughtered; battered shogun on the feet for a few minutes, landing over 85% of his strikes i believe; and forced shogun to take him down. first and only time shogun got hit like that besides nog dropping him, up until the jones fight)
travis lutter vs. anderson silva (took down anderson 1st and 2nd rounds)
jason miller vs. jake shields (almost subbed shields but time ran out- even though i consider shields shit)
shane carwin vs. brock lesnar - pounded him out for 5 minutes before gassing
gabriel gonzaga vs. cro cop (knocked cro cop the fuck out)
gabriel gonzaga vs. werdum 2 (was winning fight til he quit)
jason day vs. alan belcher (alan belcher isnt that good but jason day tko'd him, belcher going 6-2 since)
stephan bonnar vs. jon jones (just in perspective of whats happened since; won 3rd round in their fight)
james irvin vs. thiago silva (drops silva early then blows knee)
evan dunham vs. sean sherk (arguably beat the former champ; multiple sub attempts and near finishes, flurries landed)
clay guida vs. anthony pettis (guida is shit)
matt serra vs. bj penn ( i consider serra to be mid tier)
Click to expand...

The Diabate/Shogun fight is a great example. Cyrille is an awesome striker. Can't wait for the Manuwa fight.
 
codymo said:
The #1 is probably Matt Serra. Not an elite fighter by any means but still managed to make the greatest WW of all time tap to strikes.

Another one is George Roop against KZ and Grispi. Probably his two best performances, and they were both under the Zuffa banner.

What are some others?
Click to expand...

hate to point this out yet again, but gsp did not tap to strikes. it was a ref stoppage tko. The tapping motion people go on about is matt serra hitting his arm as he turns over.
 
Judoxing said:
Bisping against Sonnen.
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I think Bisping's fights against Stann and Sonnen proved that he is in the upper level of the MW division. We'll see what happens with Vitor, though.
 
codymo said:
These would definitely be in the top 15 if there was a legitimate list. Chonan/Silva could be #2 after Serra/GSP.
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Silva was edging out a close fight with Chonan when he hit the submission in the THIRD round. GSP tapped to strikes in the first round to Serra and didn't even get anything going beforehand. Not close. Takase was worse.
 
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