Has a fighter ever been so far ahead and then so far behind?

In such a small space of time? Cast your mind back to Ronda in her pomp and the word going around was "she's way ahead of the other girls because she was already an athlete" etc etc. And then you look at her now and it's like she didn't even belong in the cage with Holly and Nunez!!...

Has there been the male equivalent before? A male looking like he's way beyond the competition but then suddenly looking way out of his depth?

 

Anderson Silva's downfall was pretty epic

 

Royce

 

I would say Royce but it took a lot longer for him to get completely passed over.

 

The difference is he dominated for years and faced a number of styles. He lost two weird fights to Weidman when he was very old so I can't see how he was so far behind...it was simply a number of circumstances that lead to his star dimming.

 

Maybe Mark Kerr.





Never looked the same after the Igor loss/no contest.

 

KTFO, life changing injury, busted for PEDs... it was really bad

 

This happened when he got old though, not in his peak like Ronda. And even in his last three fights he's not looked "way behind" anyone like Ronda has.

 

Nope.

Good thread.

 

Pettis

 

Thats a pretty good call.

 

The thing is, she is so strong in ONE area, and so weak everywhere else.

But her weaknesses werent being exploited because she hadnt fought a single good striker, save maybe Zjngano, who fought as stupidly as anyone has ever fought in any match I have ever seen.

Basically, if Ronda can get the clinch easy enough, she is going to look really good. If she cant, she is going to get lit up by Holm, Nunes, Schevchenko, Randamie.... any tall, crisp striker with some footwork.

 

It's Mark Kerr and Royce.

Kerr seemed like a terrifying destructive force, powerful and fast enough to overwhelm and crush all opposition. But then suddenly, he's nowhere.

Royce is also a great example, from his dominance in the UFC to his strange fight with Takada, then the loss to Sakuraba (and that's before we've even thought about Matt Hughes.

To those that say Royce's journey from dominant to irrelevant was too slow for this thread, I'd argue that it's not that way at all, because events were no where neas as frequent back then.

 

Shevchenko would probably beat current Ronda, but she isn't "tall" at all... you might mean "fast".

 

Yeah that's a very good call.

 

tim sylvia?

 

only people with one trick poney like ronda, it's matter of time before everyone figured her out

 

Wanderlei, before and during Pride he was unstoppable. Certain circumstances changed the impact of his style and time and lack of good nutrients made sure he was left behind.

 

Anderson was also coming off a brutal injury and was 40 years old.

Ronda should be in her prime.

Ronda is the answer

 

Shevchenko is tiny and always clinches up, Ronda would beat her.