Is luke rockhold the fighter with the most overrated skills ever?

[Bangkok ready d1]

Im not talking about being a overrated fighter cause luke was indeed a very good one, but there is a belief on sherdog that "prime" rockhold had one of the best skillsets at mw history which is just baffling, rockhold always had bad defence he didn't get chinny overnight, he was basically fighting guys that knew his weakness. I think striking defence is the most underrated aspect of fighting on sherdog, this is why so many people bought into the jhonny walker hype train, back to luke he had good kicks and a really good ground game, but his wrestling was maybe average and his boxing was pretty bad.

Do you agree? If not who has the most overrated skills in mma?

 

[ColbyCovChamp]

Book has been out on him for a while

Great top game but shitty takedowns

Great kicks but shitty boxing

 

[TheLinguist]

His arrogance is awesome

 

[Ivancho]

his boxing is trash but is very skilled overall

 

[robbie]

Rockhold was great until he wasn't. When fighters decline the end is often not pretty. Some fighters can hold off Father Time longer than others, but some drop off quickly, lose confidence and take damage. He won a MW championship in both Strikeforce and the UFC against some pretty solid competition. Rockhold was kind of a male model type douche bag, so it was easy for people to root against him. I have to admit I got a big laugh out of Bisping taking his belt on short notice via KO. Rockhold being extra salty made it even more fun. I expected Rockhold to beat Bisping rather easily, but he was never really the same fighter after that loss. I think its true that his close range defense isn't great, but for a long time that didn't matter because Rockhold was a monster on offense.

 

[JKS]

Luke was an excellent fighter and among the best MW fighters skills wise, I've always believed that Luke was that good. Very well rounded game, incredibly offensive grappling. What was Lukes downfall is like everyone says, his defense. It was his defense that let him down in 3 big fights, Vitor, Bisping and Romero. All fights that he got caught with a big shot that ended his night. Besides those 3 moments, Luke never really showed too much weakness. He was pretty dominant.

 

[Noveltymortar]

Rockhold is a great fighter with a glass chin who underestimates his opponents because he is unbelievably arrogant. Look how disdainful he was of Bisping. Same thing with Blachowicz. Kind of crazy that his arrogance seems to render him unable to learn from his mistakes.

 

[aerius]

Not even close. I guess you weren't around for Ronda-mania or the Holly Holm hype shortly after she KO'd Ronda.

 

[sss133]

Im not talking about being a overrated fighter cause luke was indeed a very good one, but there is a belief on sherdog that "prime" rockhold had one of the best skillsets at mw history which is just baffling, rockhold always had bad defence he didn't get chinny overnight, he was basically fighting guys that knew his weakness. I think striking defence is the most underrated aspect of fighting on sherdog, this is why so many people bought into the jhonny walker hype train, back to luke he had good kicks and a really good ground game, but his wrestling was maybe average and his boxing was pretty bad.

Do you agree? If not who has the most overrated skills in mma?

Offensive he was almost complete (not great hands) defensively was poor. There’s a misconception he had a bad chin but all his losses were defence oriented and would have knocked out 90% of other middleweights

 

[NikLuk]

Rockhold is a great fighter with a glass chin who underestimates his opponents because he is unbelievably arrogant. Look how disdainful he was of Bisping. Same thing with Blachowicz. Kind of crazy that his arrogance seems to render him unable to learn from his mistakes.

This above minus the glass chin part.

I'm a massive Rockhold fan and I think Rockhold would beat Adesanya if he put effort into fixing his boxing defence and stopped underestimating his opponents. I hope Rockhold has worked on these things during his period away from the sport.

 

[Noveltymortar]

This above minus the glass chin part.

I'm a massive Rockhold fan and I think Rockhold would beat Adesanya if he put effort into fixing his boxing defence and stopped underestimating his opponents. I hope Rockhold has worked on these things during his period away from the sport.

He's been knocked out 5 times in only 21 fights. That's pretty solid evidence that he doesn't take a punch well. Having said that, if he tightened up his defense and stopped underestimating his opponents like you said, he could minimize that problem as he is a strong and skilled fighter. From a learning standpoint he's like the opposite of Wlad Klitschko, a fighter who overcame durability issues to become almost unbeatable, partly because he was open minded and honest about what his weaknesses were.

 

[drbolony]

It's a shame he doesn't have better takedowns, he's a fucking great white on the mat.

That said, someone already pointed out, his boxing and defense in general is trash. Henri Hooft seems to think he's the most technical kickboxer he has trained. Should tell you a lot about why boxing is superior to kickboxing for MMA.

A guy like Calvin Kattar has a great skill set. He knows how to defend all the kicks, elbows, and knees (and throw his own), but he's primarily boxing focused. Of course the shersheep will give me shit because they'd rather watch Anthony Pettis jump off a cage and hold their breath until he does it again, than appreciate sound striking.

 

[Cagecide]

Rockhold is a great fighter with a glass chin who underestimates his opponents because he is unbelievably arrogant. Look how disdainful he was of Bisping. Same thing with Blachowicz. Kind of crazy that his arrogance seems to render him unable to learn from his mistakes.

Okay with me, I relish every single time he gets flatlined.

 

[NikLuk]

He's been knocked out 5 times in only 21 fights. That's pretty solid evidence that he doesn't take a punch well. Having said that, if he tightened up his defense and stopped underestimating his opponents like you said, he could minimize that problem as he is a strong and skilled fighter. From a learning standpoint he's like the opposite of Wlad Klitschko, a fighter who overcame durability issues to become almost unbeatable, partly because he was open minded and honest about what he needed to improve.

He has. But considering the way he has gotten knocked out I think it has to do more with his defence than having a "glass chin". Those shots would KO most guys.
When Luke sees the punches he can take some hard shots. Also the problem can be fixed to some degree. Both Reem and Andrei have gone from being so called "chinny" to be able to take big shots again. But best again is to fix the defensive part so that one does not even have to eat big shots.
I fully agree with the last part - error correction is key to improvement.

 

[blaseblah]

Offensive he was almost complete (not great hands) defensively was poor. There’s a misconception he had a bad chin but all his losses were defence oriented and would have knocked out 90% of other middleweights

He also has poor wrestling offense. If he could consiste get the fight to the ground he would pose a much bigger threat and defense wouldn't be as necessary.

 

[Rorschachxx]

Not the best wrestling offense, not the best boxing defense. Most other things he has proven against elite-competition. Good, powerful kicks, solid punches and combos, obv. great submission game and top-pressure and underrated clinch-fighting. If he'd just keep his hands up and move his head and feet more...

 

[sss133]

He has. But considering the way he has gotten knocked out I think it has to do more with his defence than having a "glass chin". Those shots would KO most guys.
When Luke sees the punches he can take some hard shots. Also the problem can be fixed to some degree. Both Reem and Andrei have gone from being so called "chinny" to be able to take big shots again. But best again is to fix the defensive part so that one does not even have to eat big shots.
I fully agree with the last part - error correction is key to improvement.

His KOs all look the same. Takes a massive shot (that to be honest should’ve put him directly to sleep) but he lands on his butt and elbows with a shocked look on his face and gets murdered with follow up punches

 

[tuckermaclain]

I would consider Bisping the luckiest fighter that ever lived. Rockhold had some good skill in his day. When Luke clowned Bisping it made Mikes career!

 

[robbie]

Rockhold was great until he wasn't. When fighters decline the end is often not pretty. Some fighters can hold off Father Time longer than others, but some drop off quickly, lose confidence and take damage. He won a MW championship in both Strikeforce and the UFC against some pretty solid competition. Rockhold was kind of a male model type douche bag, so it was easy for people to root against him. I have to admit I got a big laugh out of Bisping taking his belt on short notice via KO. Rockhold being extra salty made it even more fun. I expected Rockhold to beat Bisping rather easily, but he was never really the same fighter after that loss. I think its true that his close range defense isn't great, but for a long time that didn't matter because Rockhold was a monster on offense.

https://www.sherdog.com/events/Strikeforce-Barnett-vs-Kharitonov-17411
I was a big fan of Strikeforce. They definitely had a great roster and solid fight cards. I looked up the Rockhold - Jacare Souza event as I did not see that on TV at the time and I wanted to review the round by round scoring and I was super impressed by the card. Give it spin, I think you will be surprised by HOW MANY high level fighters were on that card.