he's already better than Anderson in his prime.
I'm really having trouble recalling anyone going back and forth on the feet with prime Anderson, like Kelvin (who is with all due respect a good, but fat WW) did with Israel.
Also, Israel went to decision with Tavares and Vettori...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I remember some people claiming Woodley was better than GSP. Also Usman went from being called a bum right before winning the belt to a GOAT contender after becoming champ lol. Also I love how people like to claim fighters who were dominant champs a few years ago would lose to everybody in the top 10 of their division now. A lot of it has to do with how dominant the champ is. People think the divisions got way better because nobody is able to hold the belt for as long as Silva or GSP. Divisions look way more stacked when there isn't 1 guy dominating everybody.Not even close. Recency bias is insane around here.
well it’s about what you do in actual fight, not what you have on paper.
costa doesn’t use his bjj much
yoel is 40 and lost 2 in a row before Israel’s fight
Whittaker was getting peiced up in ww division
Gastelum is just a fat ww fighting at mw
And Anderson was 45 when they fought...
Again it’s a solid list, but let’s not act it’s much better than Anderson’s
....
i dont think his mma resume is better than silvas but this is a good point. isreals activity shouldnt be over looked or scoffed at. reminds me of when jon jones was younger. that dude was fighting 3-4 times a year for like 5 years.Oh yeah, absolutely. 100%.
I'm solely discussing where these guys make/made their mark... 185.... Adesanya is closing in real quick on Silva due to being a more active fighter than Silva was.
costa is one dimesional. he cant grapple or at least hasnt desplayed this. not even a clinch inside the ufc. yes askren annd maia are one dimensional too but what does costa bring to the table outside of punches and kicks?Still Costa is far from one dimensional. Guys like Askren and Maia are one dimensional.
Some argue Yoel won both of those and that was against best guys in the division.
Rumble was getting pieced up at WW as well. Does it mean he sucks as a LHW?
DC is a fat LHW fighting at HW. One of the best HWs of all time though.
Anderson was 43, no need to exaggerate.
Anderson has more good wins, but Adesanya definitely has fought better opponents than Anderson
Again, I really am having trouble remembering when prime Silva ever had a back and forth striking match with anyone in the UFC, like Kelvin vs Israel. Please remind me what match this was.
its a bit crazy right?. im not argueing who is more skilled, but wins alone anderson has the better wins. someone in this thread made it seem like trt vitor is a lesser win than costa. thats down right insane.Sure, a guy who has defended his belt twice has surpassed the record holder (Lutter should count)? I’m guessing you haven’t watched MMA for that long.
i know all fighters play dirty pool(peds). but chael was 16 times over the limit, and broke the record for amount of things to pop for. chael never replicated that performance again.True, it wasn't back and forth, he flat out was outstruck (and outgrappled) by Chael lmao:
http://ufcstats.com/fight-details/bcab3ebdc21b0b64
Not better than Andersons legacy but hes already better than Anderson in his prime.
Still Costa is far from one dimensional. Guys like Askren and Maia are one dimensional.
Some argue Yoel won both of those and that was against best guys in the division.
Rumble was getting pieced up at WW as well. Does it mean he sucks as a LHW?
DC is a fat LHW fighting at HW. One of the best HWs of all time though.
Anderson was 43, no need to exaggerate.
Anderson has more good wins, but Adesanya definitely has fought better opponents than Anderson
this is something thats gonna be debated with these 2 alot. anderson has the better bjj no doubt about that. but isreal has far better tdd. this is the reason for some of his lack luster fights. he cant get the pop in his strikes like anderson could because he is worried about the takedown. take away the takedown threat, isreal starts dropping fools. anderson never had to worry about that because he has great bjj.Chael dropped Anderson.
And a lot of people controlled prime Anderson on the ground, something Izzy has yet to show such a weakness to.
Yes, Israel had a couple decision wins, Anderson straight up lost to cans in the first half of his career.
Fighters also get worse over time too... why does this fact elude so many ppl?
Again Whittaker has a solid tdd and ability to get back up if taken down, however he got overrated in last 5 years cause he was mostly facing grapplers.
How many good strikers did he face?
also it’s comically you mentioned all those wins for Gastelum. Most of those guys were near retirement or were old and battle worn.
NopePrime Okami was strong as fuck and couod Adesanya some problems in the clinch. Prime Sonnen was a beast too.
Prime Sonnen wasn't a beast?Nope