Is Colby one of the most over-rated fighters of all time?

[1King]

No finishing ability, no damage, and no quality wins. He’s a complete after thought and only had a high ranking due to the UFC liking his politics and sitting out while other guys lost.

I doubt he even takes another fight that isn’t with someone over 40 after he felt how fighting guys that are in their prime feels.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

No more overated than anybody else. There's nothing wrong with being a step below champion level caliber. Yes I thought he beat a lot of out of prime fighters but whatever. His pace, cardio and takedown aggression was enough to give most fighters problems

 

[AstralPanda]

DHK was ranked 7 when Colby beat him, Maia was ranked 3, RDA was ranked 1, then he got stripped of an interim title for needing nasal surgery and had to fight #10 Lawler, then completely smashed #5 Woodley, and #6 Masvidal and 2 neck and neck fights with the champ, but he did lose a doctor stoppage from a cut 12 hours ago at nearly 37, so of course now that becomes a "horrendous resume" because sherdog, and the real top fighter is Ian Garry whose best wins are a split decision against #11, and a sketchy 29-28 against #15.

Not to mention his 2 extremely close fights against a fighter a lot of people were calling top 2 on the WW goat list.

This place never changes.. lol

Everyone who loses sucks and were never that good

That's why most people here suck at analysis, dumb, biased thinking.

 

[JBJ was here]

Not to mention his 2 extremely close fights against a fighter a lot of people were calling top 2 on the WW goat list.

This place never changes.. lol

Everyone who loses sucks and were never that good

That's why most people here suck at analysis, dumb, biased thinking.

Colby's first fight with Usman was close, but not as close as people think. The cards were even (39-37, 38-38, 37-39) going into the final round, which Colby was losing before being knocked out. Colby, like a few Jon Jones opponents, gets the benefit of some people scoring all close rounds in his favor in that fight just because no one was used to seeing close rounds in an Usman fight. The second Usman fight was a good performance by Colby but wasn't really close.

Colby was never, contrary to the opinion of some, almost as good as Usman. He was a legitimate challenger and a reasonable but not clear choice for #2 WW who was gifted two more title shots than he plausibly earned. That makes him overrated but pretty far from the discussion about most overrated ever.

 

[BearVictim]

Terrible comparison. Koscheck was very athletic and explosive. He could put anyone on their back with the right shot (either his double leg or overhand right).
Even at his absolute peak, Colby was weak, slow, and could only win fights with pitterpatter strikes and the occasional takedown once his opponent had already gassed.

And yes, Colby is one of the most overrated fighters in recent memory.

No, it's not a terrible comparison, they both come from a wrestling base and developed their striking throughout their career, both were title contenders, and were excellent gatekeepers.

Sherdog is full of retards like you who just want to disagree.

 

[BearVictim]

Koscheck had legitimate KO power and was may more explosive than Colby. But Colby had better cardio and I'd argue chin/defense/grappling. In terms of career accomplishments I'd rank them about the same, slight edge to Colby.

I'd have Colby around the same as Demian Maia or Jake Shields, although I'd argue they had a much tougher strength of schedule.

Koscheck knocked out a 40 year old Matt Hughes at the very end of his career, outside of this he was never known as a legitimate knockout threat, colby is absolutely more similar to josh koscheck in both accomplishments and fighting style than he is to demian maia or Jake Shields.

 

[RichardHarrow]

He just lost, so of course you retarded fools were going to call him overrated.

Duh

 

[cheesus]

Nah he just wasted his prime, he was too selective with opponents, swallowed too much of his own hype & wasted his prime with inactivity. A guy with endless cardio and a durable chin is tough matchup for anybody.

 

[egk]

He's the modern day josh koscheck, his grappling is above average and his striking is serviceable, plus knows how to lean into his shtick to sell tickets.

He's an excellent "b+ fighter" but his personality will be remembered beyond his actual fighting.

I think that's an excellent analogy. Kos was very good but never the best. Usman was to Colby what GSP was to Kos.

 

[mkt]

Like, would a prime Colby be able to beat Buckley?

I think so. He had great cardio, a great chin, high volume striking and a pace that wore down opponents and set up TD opportunities.

Since the long layoff and Masvidal incident, he came back at age 35 and hasn't looked the same. I think a 30-year old Colby (same age as current Mitchell) might lose a round or two, but would get a lot more TDs and eventually wear Mitchell down and win a 5-round UD. As Mitchell moves up into higher competition (no more old guys), I think we'll see he's not built for 5-round fights or spending too much time on his back or clinching against the cage.

 

[mkt]

I think that's an excellent analogy. Kos was very good but never the best. Usman was to Colby what GSP was to Kos.

Yeah, except Colby didn't get dominated in either Usman fight the way Kos was in the GSP rematch. I think that was mostly due to poor gameplanning, though. Kos went head hunting, hoping to have a Matt Serra-type win, and abandoned any attempt to wrestle (he was one of very few who took GSP down) or fight intelligently.

 

[HatKick]

No he was very good in his prime. He was the 2nd best WW of the Usman generation. You could argue 3rd best after Leon but their primes didn't exactly coincide. Colby was starting to decline when Leon peaked.

His performances vs Usman should not be dismissed. Some fighters have their best performances in losses like Gastelum, Gustaffson, Gilbert Burns, arguably Volkanovski etc. It's a cruel fate because haters will simply chalk it up as losses but honest fans don't ignore the performances and context.

 

[mkt]

Terrible comparison. Koscheck was very athletic and explosive. He could put anyone on their back with the right shot (either his double leg or overhand right).
Even at his absolute peak, Colby was weak, slow, and could only win fights with pitterpatter strikes and the occasional takedown once his opponent had already gassed.

And yes, Colby is one of the most overrated fighters in recent memory.

Colby gave Usman about all he could handle...twice. He was arguably winning the first match until his jaw was broken very late in the fight. This was during a time when Usman dominated Woodley, finished Burns in two rounds, dominated Masvidal twice, etc. Colby was the only guy who was competitive with Usman until Edwards fought for the title.

Kos had a lot of physical tools, but sometimes made bad mental errors or didn't gameplan well. See the Alves fight which he took on short notice and lost by getting leg kicked too much. Or the GSP rematch I just mentioned. Prime Colby at least knew his strenghts and didn't deviate from them.

 

[filthybliss]

Who is a fan of his still?

He peaked at #2 at his prime. He was never that guy in the division imo.

 

[mkt]

If we're honest, it wasn't just Colby fighting old guys when he was in his prime. Burns, Edwards, Belal, etc. did the same. They managed to avoid each other with a few exceptions and build resumes on guys like Maia, Wonderboy, Masvidal, Nate Diaz, Lawler, RDA, etc. who were past their primes.

With that said, Colby's best accomplishments were 2 competitive losses to WW champ Usman, which is never the best kind of resume. But he's never been highly regarded around here so "overrated" doesn't fit him.

 

[Bouboumaster]

I don't think so, he was a beast in his prime

However, he wasted most of it waiting for opportunities, and once he had them, he choked

Colby was a lot better than his resume, but because of said resume, he'll never be considered as one of the Greats

 

[Bret 'The Hitman' Hart]

Losing at 36 when you're past your prime doesn't mean you were overrated and never good

 

[jk7707]

100%. Whenever people talk about Colby's best performance what is it? Getting KO'd by Usman. Grapplefucking a bunch of old guys to get to a title shot doesn't make you elite.

 

[1King]

Now compare the fight mileage, age, and career relevance of those "ranked" guys he beat, vs Colby at the time.

A pattern emerges, and not one favorable to Cuckby.

I’d say the RDA one was the only semi decent one. He was older and coming from 155, but at least he had some good showings going into the fight.

 

[PaddyO'malley]

When you say run for the title I assume you mean his first run, right? That being said you are correct about the time he spent not fighting but taking everything into consideration even prime Covington was overrated. He doesn't have a single win against anyone in their prime. He also hasn't had a win against anyone in the top 10 in WW in probably 5 to 6 years.

But when he did have top 10 victories, he beat #3 Maia, #1 RDA, Woodley who had lost the belt 18mos prior, and #7 DHK. I understand that Maia, RDA and Woodley weren't in their primes, but I do feel it's a bit unfair to dismiss those wins given their rankings at the time. He fought who he needed to in order to get to the title and did well. And if we're to judge the tail end of his career, then there's a ton of fighters who can be considered overrated, like Fedor, which is of course a silly thing to say.

I don't believe anyone thought he was a world beater given his limited skillset, and if they did, they are/were likely trolling (myself included once upon a time). He was shat on a lot for being a pillow-fisted wall-n-stall fighter who both punched and shot takedowns like a high school girl. Weighing public opinion against what he actually accomplished, I'd say he was accurately rated.

I do understand the argument for him being overrated though when taking into account the third title shot. That was retarded af fam.