Is Sean Strickland the worst male fighter to win a title in the TUF era (2005-present)?

[Masturbin]

Hard to argue that Strickland is worse than Bisping.

 

[tritestill]

Definetly not Strickland. The way he stuck to the gameplay and stalked patiently until he got into the pocket was impressive, he was doing that while staying defensively almost flawless while in Izzys kicking range etc, the focus he showed this fight was impressive. I also think stylistically he matches well with Izzy. His mix of Muay Thai stance with Philly shell is weird but you can't deny that it worked very effectively in this fight.

The game plan was grapple, he abandoned it completely actually lol

 

[Lateralus]

Brock Lesnar????

 

[Brit_Brawler]

Jesus christ. You don't get to that level and son adesanya without skill. Don't mistake non flashiness for no skill. That is high level boxing fundamentals for an mma fighter. Great defence. Great crisp one-two

 

[Sivo The Ram]

he's up there. but i'd say serra, bisping, and forest were less skilled

 

[Deleted member 592659]

bisping

Exactly, one eyed Bisping knocked out cold unbeatable at the time Rockhold

 

[Dorkman]

No, but you're certainly competing for worst sherdog poster of that era.

 

[Goatenstein]

One of the worst people but not one of the worst fighters.

 

[Deleted member 592659]

He may not be the best UFC champion but he's very good. You're just ignorant.

I think Paulo Costa is exceptional, but Izzy kicked him straight in the head. MMA is crazy sport

 

[mmadeewana]

Conor is a douche but he beat Aldo, Alvarez, Mendes, and Dustin. He isnt the worst champ we have had. Not by a long shot.

He didn't even move up the rankings to face the champions.

 

[pankrat]

As of now, the answer is Evan Tanner clearly. He was MW champ when the TUF 1 Finale happened.

Griffin, while a limited fighter, has far too strong a resume to be compared to Tanner. Same applies to Bisping.

The only elite historical name Tanner has on his record is Lawler outside his natural weight class. Serra's best win far outweighs Tanner's best win, as does his second (Yves Edwards far outweighs David Terrell who only had 8 total fights).

The "historical elite name" tag is a pretty sherbro point to make.
But to discredit beating Lawler for being "outside his natural weightclass", when Tanner himself was barely any bigger than him, is next level of shertardism.

That said, I agree Tanner is probably the least skilled UFC champ in the last 20 years or so. Which is logical considering is the oldest and from back when UFC wasnt the premier org at the time.
I dont think Sean Sherk was many levels above though, Evan and him actually shared similarities.
Tim Sylvia could be a legit pick too

 

[ComfortablyNumb55]

Sean has world class cardio and pressure.

A world class MMA jab.

World class defense.

He's really effing good.

 

[pankrat]

From over all actual skill and just looking at skill I'd say him or Forrest. Both very similar guys. Hard workers, not afraid to mix it up with anyone, in your face style, and average skills overall but not even close to being very proficient in any discipline.

Strickand is very profficient in boxing, definitely by mma standards. If not in terms of power, but definitely skill wise.

If you still dont realize even after yesterday I suggest to leave sherdog forum and go educate yourself on the matter.

 

[Pharenheit]

Cope harder TS

 

[skylolow]

Strickand is very profficient in boxing, definitely by mma standards. If not in terms of power, but definitely skill wise.

If you still dont realize even after yesterday I suggest to leave sherdog forum and go educate yourself on the matter.

I don't think any MMA fighter has shown to be proficient in boxing. Within the walls of cage sure there are some much better than others in boxing. But in boxing ring against a proficient boxer, nope.

There is no doubt striking is Strickland's biggest and best weapon. But he is far from a feared striker in MMA to other fighters.

 

[pankrat]

I don't think any MMA fighter has shown to be proficient in boxing. Within the walls of cage sure there are some much better than others in boxing. But in boxing ring against a proficient boxer, nope.

There is no doubt striking is Strickland's biggest and best weapon. But he is far from a feared striker in MMA to other fighters.

Strickland is a very respected striker. If not power wise, he is in terms of skill.
Thats why I replied that he isn "average" in that sense.
He is definitely among the best strikers skill-wise

 

[wlu.29]

No, I'm still old enough to remember when forrest griffin became champion

Prior to becoming champion Forrest beat shogun, who was Sean's best win before yesterday?

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Sean fought a picture perfect fight

Stifled Izzy offense all night

He might be able to do it again too, looked comfortable in there

 

[Oscar Madison]

That was one of the best Points Fight I've ever se

Sean has world class cardio and pressure.

A world class MMA jab.

World class defense.

He's really effing good.

True.

Sean looked like a true professional, demonstrating Champ level high Fight IQ -- patience, pressure, skill, and timing.

 

[Dr Fong]

The "historical elite name" tag is a pretty sherbro point to make.
But to discredit beating Lawler for being "outside his natural weightclass", when Tanner himself was barely any bigger than him, is next level of shertardism.

That said, I agree Tanner is probably the least skilled UFC champ in the last 20 years or so. Which is logical considering is the oldest and from back when UFC wasnt the premier org at the time.
I dont think Sean Sherk was many levels above though, Evan and him actually shared similarities.
Tim Sylvia could be a legit pick too

Lawler would eventually be pretty good at MW (but not as good as at WW) but Lawler was 22 and in his MW debut. He was coming into that fight having lost 2 of his last 3. That context matters.

We don't go around heaping praise on some guy called Corey Nelson who knocked out Volk at WW in his 4th fight for a reason.

Tanner never beat a current, past or future UFC champion in the division they were champion in.

The only other guy I can think of with the same anomaly is Jan Blachowicz. But Jan obviously did a lot more work than Tanner.