Hot Take Is Chad Gable really that good?

there are other aspects of MMA other than wrestling. I have no idea why people think that because a division lacks wrestling it must mean that wrestling is the key to beating everyone. Could it be that MAYBE wrestling isn't that dominant at the higher weight classes? Which historically speaking...is true? Striking has always comparatively done better at upper classes than lower ones.

Thinking that he is top 5 off of what hes done is really stupid. Like, it just is stupid. You could pick anyone from the top 15, and match them against Gable's opponents and they would do exactly what he did. Almost everyone in the UFC has done what Gable has done at the local level.

If his third fight was against someone like Volkov he would get absolutely wrecked. It wouldn't even be funny.

We dont even know anything about his ground game, so who even cares if he can wrestle? What is he going to do if he takes someone down, we literally do not know. Some fat guy like Lewis could possibly just get up and knock him out.
Yeah reminds me of how A-Level D1 NFL athlete Greg Hardy ran through his first 6 opponents (amateur and pro) in quick knockouts and everyone said he was gonna be too much for the HW division.

I know Gable is different with the wrestling background but he's still completely untested.
 
Nah, Volkov got held down by Jailton for the entire fight.

If Jailton could do that I'm sure an Olympic gold medalist could too.

This is similar to the brock situation. He didn't have much MMA experience either but due to timing and divisional weakness coupled with his wrestling skill he was able to win the belt.

So given that Gable is an even more accomplished wrestler than Brock, and the division is even weaker than in brock's era, I didn't think it's out of the question for gable to be in the top 5 very quickly

meh, accolades are accolades. Yoel Romero is a Silver Medalist and couldn't even take Adesanya down once. 1 year later Jan the kickboxer Blachowicz ragdolls Adesanya to a UD.
 
Way lower bar for MMA. Fans will put up with a lot as long you’re kicking the shit out of people. Chama don’t even speak English and we absolutely adore him. Gable just needs to be himself and he’ll be OK in UFC.
Whatever language he's speaking, Poatan has charisma. Steveson, by all accounts, really, really doesn't. He's anti-charisma. He's Colby Covington reading the phone book (remember phone books?).

You can certainly make a career of it in MMA without charisma if you're elite enough, but charisma does help.
 
Whatever language he's speaking, Poatan has charisma. Steveson, by all accounts, really, really doesn't. He's anti-charisma. He's Colby Covington reading the phone book (remember phone books?).

You can certainly make a career of it in MMA without charisma if you're elite enough, but charisma does help.

He has "aura", mainly because he has that strong silent image set, which most can't emulate. I think some of his fans got angry when it was rumored he was dating Tracey Cortez because it brought him down to earth too much.
 
It is hard to say how it will all work out for him.

But he does have elite wrestling skills and seems to have at least an average striking game. He is very athletic for his size also. This all bares very well for a HW success.

Reality is HW is thin as shit and with his basic skill set he should find decent success pretty quickly. I'm not shocked by the outcome of his first few matches in the C leagues HW isn't much more than a bar fight.
 
He will be a good addition to heavyweight, they desperately need new talent.

I don't see him ever beating Tom though, not everyone can be as elusive as Gane.
 
I really hope Steveson’s nickname doesn’t actually become “Chad” Gable when he joins the UFC.
 
He likely beats every HW except Blaydes, Volkov, Tom right now, if his wrestling is conducive to MMA. Yoel's for examples was not

In a few years he'd likely beat all of them too.

It also comes down in large part to how he reacts to getting hit. HW hits are no joke.

Brock didnt react well but was able to avoid that due to his size, strength and speed.

Gable is probably a better pure wrestler but he doesn't seem as big as Brock. I also don't know how his explosiveness is.
Derrick Lewis?

I know WWE didnt work out for him. Well MMA is a "show me" sport. What business does he have fighting these two people he killed. I mean what's next for him, a slightly bigger organization?

His fights may have been under the Zuffa umbrella, idk. He may be babied or fostered

Lesnar's second opponent was Frank Mir with a horseshoe up his ass
 
TIL Olympic wrestler DC wasn't successful at HW
HW GOAT, Sambo with good striking
LHW GOAT, Wrestler with good striking

So what makes them the GOAT, is it the striking, which several people on here think dominates the upper weight classes, or is it the constant threat of grappling (which ultimately makes their strikes even better)? It seems to me that the distinguishing factor is grappling.
 
the answer is no one knows. he hasn't done anything yet. but hes american and an olympian, so people would like to use hyperbole that he could beat any hw because hws are that bad, which quite frankly is silly.

its nearly as silly as people thinking bo nickal would run over everyone when he was beating up nobodies. its a different sport.

Thinking HW is really bad isnt silly. The sport is insanely shallow at HW, considerably shallow at 205 and 185 as well. If guys are going to do what Cormier or Yoel did, in the modern era, it will be at those weights.
 
if he turns out to be the real deal, what then though? he'll be in the same predicament that Aspinall is in. you need a rival in order to make money and become famous. i think it's going to be hard to rule a dead division for years and make any kind of real money, just look at Rico Verhoeven.
 
As soon as Lesnar ran into a real HW fighter and adversity, he learned his place. Same thing will happen to Gable.
It's possible. I have a lot of criticism for Jon Jones, but he didn't have any quit him.
 
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