Has the window on Rory being a great closed?

He looked unmotivated and like he didn’t want to be in there with moose.

I think he’s lost it.

Sad.
 
He has taken too much damage at this point.

Still a top fighter, but probably past the peak of his career...
 
i hope he wins the tourney
 
He got his ass beat by Lima and moose...
 
Thesnake101 said:
For a long time he was hailed as the first of the new breed of MMA fighters, the guy who was going to be the next GSP or at the very least hold the belt for a bit, but unfortunately, such a thing did not happen. He ran into the wall of bricks known as Robbie Lawler on two occasions, and came up short.

At this point, I don't even think he'll be holding the Bellator belt by the end of the year. He did carve out a good career, but I think the expectations were far too great for such a young guy (no Erick Silva comments allowed). I think he was a very good, but not great, fighter.
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it was never open.
 
dipstickjimmy said:
I am curious who #2 is? GSP is #1 and Matt Hughes was always #2. Are you putting Woodley ahead of Hughes? If yes does Rory running the table in the Bellator WW Grand Prix put him past Hughes as well?

I personally would still have Hughes ahead if Tyron based on a much longer career, more defenses (I think?). Tyron still needs to rack up a few more wins IMO. It’s hard to compare different eras as Matt had so many fights where Tyron is in the era of fighting once or twice a year at most for almost all champs.
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I have it as GSP 1, Hughes 2, 3 Tyron. But I believe 3 title defenses will put Rory ahead of Tyron.
 
Slatersan said:
Im saying he was good but had the potential to be even better... thats highly questionable?
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No, I was focusing on the statement you made that he wasn't ready for the "big dogs." He was and possibly still is good enough to be competitive with any welterweight on earth. However, he hasn't looked the same since his two fights with Lawler (particularly the second).

Today I believe he is still a top 10 world talent, but quite less than his peak. I believe MacDonald of 2013 would have looked dominant versus Lima. I wasn't even convinced that the present day version even won their fight (Lima beat his ass as I dimly recall).
 
Thesnake101 said:
For a long time he was hailed as the first of the new breed of MMA fighters, the guy who was going to be the next GSP or at the very least hold the belt for a bit, but unfortunately, such a thing did not happen. He ran into the wall of bricks known as Robbie Lawler on two occasions, and came up short.

At this point, I don't even think he'll be holding the Bellator belt by the end of the year. He did carve out a good career, but I think the expectations were far too great for such a young guy (no Erick Silva comments allowed). I think he was a very good, but not great, fighter.
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Hes great. Facts
 
EXOICHO said:
I think this year will likely determine it. If Rory can win the whole tournament he'll be arguably the 3rd best WW ever.
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3rd? Wrong. He's easily behind GSP, Hughes, Lawler, Woodley, and you can make an argument that Miletich is ahead of him with 4 UFC WW title defenses.

He might have beat Woodley but he also lost to Lawler twice and Condit. Guys Woodley finished in less than 4 minutes combined
 
120wrestling said:
3rd? Wrong. He's easily behind GSP, Hughes, Lawler, Woodley, and you can make an argument that Miletich is ahead of him with 4 UFC WW title defenses.

He might have beat Woodley but he also lost to Lawler twice and Condit. Guys Woodley finished in less than 4 minutes combined
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Woodley beat a lawler that had just been through multiple wars- one of them was rory. That fight wasn't as impressive as people think.

His win over condit was also a freak injury.
 
Barring his nose being healed and him coming back to the UFC, yeah. Rory is definitely one of the biggest busts in MMA history. Now he's not like a Uriah Hall or Erik Silva "man this guy is fucking average" type bust. But as of now despite all the talent he has, the weird mystique, and ATG fight with Lawler he has no real accomplishments. His biggest accolade as of now is beating the shit out of pre-champ Woodley. For a guy who was the heir apparent, that's not a thing to hang your hat on. But Rory is and should be remembered as a great fighter.
 
That fight with Lawler took some years off his fight life. Much like Stefan Struve, Rory's age and mileage don't mesh at all.
Regardless of all that, I think he's still a good fighter.
 
Rory is 29 with a 20-5 record.

I honestly thought he would be the next big guy at 170 but I seriously believe the sheer amount of damage he took in the Lawler fights set him back years. When he fought wonderboy, he took one decent shot to the nose and the fight was basically over.

He showed tremendous heart against Lima (who would easily be top 5 in the current UFC WW division) and eeked out a close win but then got mauled by a vastly bigger Mousasi (who fought at 205) for half his career.

Now I'm not sure what happens next. Bellator has a better 170 division currently than the UFC does and he will likely retain his belt there. If he comes back to the UFC (which he will eventually), will he be recovered enough to be a champ? Maybe.
 
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