Absolutely. I think 18-0 with 18 finishes is why people think he's the terminator. Regardless of what happens prior to the finish. People look at an undefeated record and never having allowed anybody to go the distance with him.I think the hype comes from him being an all action type of fighter, like he's must watch TV no matter who he's competing against. So in that sense I believe he's properly hyped.
In terms of him as a fighter, he's a little overhyped IMO and I think people are underestimating how well dude's like Leon or JDM would do against him. His submissions are probably the most impressive part of his game I'd say so far, dude just has a way to find them altho we have seen that he has trouble taking the fight to the ground a few times now.
His defense is iffy as hell, but his chin and pressure makes up for it as shown in his Neal fight. However guys like Leon or even JDM I think will be able to negate some of that with their footwork.
Anyways he belongs in the top five for sure and I get the boogeyman status he's getting since fighters like Colby was avoiding saying his name at all costs, but Idk if I'm fully confident in him being the one to derail Leon.
Interestingly, I saw some stats a few months ago about what separates UFC champions from every other fighter. And it was the amount of decisions they win, not finishes. Fighters with super high finish rates actually don't become champ that often. Of course, we have had fighters that buck the trend, like Aspinall and Carwin for example, but it is actually quite rare.
I agree, I'm saying he's overhyped when you look at him skill for skill compared to other guys in the division. I think a guy like JDM can give him a huge headache, and I think Jack knows that and that's why he's been calling him out for 3 years. Shavkats defense is sloppy like you said, his head movement is non existent and JDM has the best boxing in the division. Shavkat's equaliser is on the ground bit I've actually not been impressed with his takedowns. He couldn't take Neal down, he had some real issues getting Wondeboy down even though WB had a broken foot. When for example Burns and Belal had way less issues taking down a younger, fully healthy WB.
I think he can beat everybody at 170, but I also think a few of the top guys can beat him as well.