Has MMA really evolved?

LilNicky95 said:
Current WW Champ: Usman

More skilled that Prime GSP? That GSP had a much more diverse skill set.
<{hughesimpress}>
Current MW Champ: Adensanya

More skilled that Prime Andy? Laughable.

<BC1>
Current LHW Champ: Jan

Prime Randy(bad stylistic matchup for Jan) or Prime Liddell(think of the Liddell that beat Overeem in Japan) would both have a great chance at beating Jan.
<HisEye>
Current HW Champ: Francis

There are about 5 HWs (at least) from the Pride glory days I could see taking Francis down and beating him.

Rogan is fried out.

<30><30><30>
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Solid points and thread,
worth being said since we hear "shit thread" enough round here!

Like to see you expand it to the other champs as well, if you're up to it.
 
It evolved massively during the 90s. Then evolved a fair bit from 2000 to 2010. Since then we are mostly at refinement stages. The elite guys from the past would mostly still be competitive today, in some cases (GSP, Anderson) they'd still be at the top.
 
Over time it's definitely evolved but way slower than people seem to think. I agree almost all the current champs would go down to at least one former champ. Doesn't mean the sport has gotten worse, it's just that the GOATs are the GOATs until someone exceptional comes along that is convincing enough to beat them. I definitely think Adesanya is highly overrated as champ. His ground game is a glaring weakness and he's not as good of a striker as prime Anderson. I easily see 3 or more former champs beating him. Usman is probably the best of the current crop but I see GSP beating him, and Ngannou is probably the most overrated champ of them all. Another super exciting guy with basically no ground game.

Chuck Olives might be the most skilled LW champ ever but I don't think he stops the Khabib maul, and prime Edgar might get him out of there too. I see prime Aldo beating Volk but its a war. Jan most likely loses to prime Jones and DC. Hard to say what happens against Chuck or Randy - they were from an earlier era but they were rough dudes.

I don't think anyone has Moreno over Mighty Mouse or Aljo over CCC either.

Most of the GOAT champs who would beat the current crop aren't from that long ago though. If you put the current guys against the guys from the Hughes era and earlier I think they make quick work of them, with the odd exception.
 
I don't think highly gifted athletes are willing to throw other careers away and dedicate their lives to something that they might make 50k every 6 months.if they're lucky.

It's just too watered down now.
 
The top of the divisions not particularly. You take the top 3-5 guys from any point beyond 2003 and they would be top guys today. It's the depth of higher skilled fighter that is much more present today. Take guys at LW or WW ranked 15-25 and they would be more successful in earlier years.
 
The fact that Jan is champ is all the evidence I need to know about the "evolution" of MMA.

Not a knock on Jan. Just a realistic look at it.
 
Because the game has evolved it has only become much harder to be great. The general skill gap between fighters is smaller, so the margin of error is much smaller and chances of losing much higher.
 
LilNicky95 said:
Jan would have KO’d Tito with ease tho…

<{Joewithit}>
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Honestly prime Tito was an animal. Not a gimme fight for Jan at all. Even though he was a 1-dimensional wrestler he was a beast. Got the best of Bader way past his prime.
 
NoStoneUnturned said:
MMA as a whole has drastically improved. MMA at Championship/GOAT level has only marginally (if at all) improved.
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Pretty much this.

Is Usman more skilled than GSP? He probably trains better, but I think GSP was more skilled. The difference is that literally every dude Usman fights is well rounded and very skilled unlike a lot of the guys that GSP fought.

I would say that Francis is far less skilled than guys like Frank Mir or Fedor despite the fact that he'd beat the fucking dogshit out of either of them with pure physical ability. The HW division has changed the least imo.
 
JKS said:
The top of the divisions not particularly. You take the top 3-5 guys from any point beyond 2003 and they would be top guys today. It's the depth of higher skilled fighter that is much more present today. Take guys at LW or WW ranked 15-25 and they would be more successful in earlier years.
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I think this is the best way of looking at it.
 
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I keep finding myself buying into this narrative & then I watch a PPV from 2008 and change my mind.
 
Hatorade said:
Pretty much this.

Is Usman more skilled than GSP? He probably trains better, but I think GSP was more skilled. The difference is that literally every dude Usman fights is well rounded and very skilled unlike a lot of the guys that GSP fought.

I would say that Francis is far less skilled than guys like Frank Mir or Fedor despite the fact that he'd beat the fucking dogshit out of either of them with pure physical ability. The HW division has changed the least imo.
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Nope they both sub him. No way does he land a bomb on Fedor or pre-motorcycle mir without getting taken down and leg locked. Don't believe the Rogan hype, he hasn't beaten anyone nearly as good as either of them in their prime. The closest he's fought to either of them was Stipe in the first fight, and he got murked. The stipe in the second fight aged about 10 years from getting his head punched 100 times in a trilogy against DC. The stipe from the first fight still kicks Ngannou's ass.
 
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