Has any fighter propelled more with losses than Gus?

[bjpenngoat]

His losses to bones and DC kept him in the top 5 because they were such competitive fights.

Has any other fighter ever gained so much momentum in ranking or in public perception as much as Gus garnered in those two losses?

 

[sdpdude9]

It is funny his biggest accomplishments are almost beating the 2 best in his weight class. Best close example I can think of is Chael Sonnen. His career took off by almost beating Anderson Silva.

 

[G10]

Urijah Faber, maybe? The only other examples I can think of are former champions with big names like Frankie Edgar, JDS, and Holly Holm. For someone who never won the title, Gus is probably the best example of failing upwards in MMA I can think of.

 

[Luvhawky]

Valentina going toe to toe with Nunes didn't necessarily propel her but that for me is one of the biggest feathers in her cap.

 

[Shocktagon]

Edgar got two free title shots for losing to Henderson.

 

[Joseph Alfano]

Darren till dude his still riding the coat tails of his 2017 win over cowboy

Kelvin Gastelum 1-4 in his last 5 with his only win being over a non ranked Ian Heinsch but still manages to keep his number 8 ranking and is in talks to fight winners of fights like weidman hall

Nate Diaz lives off the reputation of his brother and beat a mcgregor who went from 145 to 170 and with mcgregors recent form its ageing less gracefully

And obligatory Aljo got knocked out so hard he won a belt

 

[rjmbrd]

He beat the current champion Jan and the #1 contender fighting for the title next in Glover back to back.

Anyhow, light heavyweight is a paper thin division. When there is no depth on your roster, being a clear top 5 talent means you kick around the top for a long while.

 

[Slatersan]

Shang Tsung took his soul after Rumble flawless victory and fatality.

 

[John Cena]

SEXYAMA

 

[gaffbyknees2]

Damn sure not Askren

 

[Jose Beehive]

Yoel got 3 title fights(1 interim) 1 came after 2 losses.

 

[Lucas Motta]

Chael against Silva

 

[textwarrior]

It is funny his biggest accomplishments are almost beating the 2 best in his weight class. Best close example I can think of is Chael Sonnen. His career took off by almost beating Anderson Silva.

Chael was entertaining to listen to too which made him even more popular.

 

[Huligani]

It is funny his biggest accomplishments are almost beating the 2 best in his weight class. Best close example I can think of is Chael Sonnen. His career took off by almost beating Anderson Silva.

Yeah but unlike Gus, Chael beat many top contenders even after the first Silva loss.

 

[Snazyrazy]

Not that I can think of. But then again it was a rather unique situation with Gus being the first to come close to beating (or arguably beating) an undefeated Jones. Jones had obliterated everybody prior and Gus was a fairly unknown Swedish fighter. For years he was the only viable threat to Jones which of course intrigues people, makes sense that it would proppell him. He basically vanished after the second loss to Jones since the perception of him being a serious threat to Jones changed.

Apart from random threads here on sherdog with keyboard warriors trying to discredit his accomplishments and gifs of his finish against texiera on random forums, he's hardly mentioned nowadays.

 

[drbolony]

Conor McGregor?

 

[mashonkeyboard]

Joanna is 2-4 in the last 6 but because her fight with weili is so epic they were going to immediately run it back and she is still in title shot conversation today.

 

[John St.Pierre]

Gamebred loses to Usman 50-43

Usman wins a fight in order to get a rematch with Gamebred even though he is the champion.

Gamebred gets an immediate rematch.

 

[Szwok]

Gamebred loses to Usman 50-43

it was 50-45with 1 judge giving mas a round

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Urijah Faber, maybe? The only other examples I can think of are former champions with big names like Frankie Edgar, JDS, and Holly Holm. For someone who never won the title, Gus is probably the best example of failing upwards in MMA I can think of.

Faber kept getting so many title shots because he was already a draw. I don't think it was those losses that made him famous. Faber had already established his fan base in the WEC by winning and defending the title.