Isn't it crazy how the best fighters in numerous divisions aren't the actual champ?

[Iroh]

BW - Merab is the best. (Or Numagomedov?)

WW - Shavkat is the best.

MW - Khamzat is the best. (DDP not even the real champion)

LHW - Hill is the best. (Poatan gifted title shots)

HW - They have two champions, I guess?

Has it always been like this? Opportunities are everything.

And they'll attempt to derail some fighters from becoming champions.

Wonder if we'll ever see every champion actually representing the best fighter in the world.

Ankalaev is the best LHW, IMO He definitely has a better shot at defeating Poatan than Hill does, IMO. Hill just wants to meet Poatan where Poatan is the strongest, much to my dismay.

 

[Koro_11]

Hill best?

Based on what? Cause he beat a 50 year old Glover?

Who else did he beat? Johnny Walker?

 

[Pem123]

Khamzat is better.

even if you believe in that silliness, he is still the rightful MW champ until someone beat him.

 

[Pem123]

Ankalaev is better than Hill.

OMalley beats Merab.

Agreed on DDP. He isnt even close to the best MW, but Im not so sure that Khamzat is anymore either. MW is an interesting division rn.

Seems to be a popular opinion that Shavkat is the uncrowned champ at WW and I dont get it. Edwards is a very tough stylistic match up for Shavkat.

HW- Tom
LHW- Ankles
MW- Khamzat?? Usman would be a problem if he moves up to MW permanently imo.

whats with this anti DDP take, who hasn't he beat in MW division beside Adesanya.

 

[cshireman4]

BW - Unclear. Merab or Umar would be tough tests for Sean, but he is proving to be better than most thought.

WW - Shavkat might be the best. Hard to say when his best wins are fringe top 10 guys.

MW - Khamzat is not the best. At least not at this stage in his career. Very hittable, doesn't finish top tier guys and fades in 3 round fights. What happens with 5 rounders?

LHW - Say what you will about Alex's title shots, but you can't make the argument that he is undeserving when he is starching the champs he faces. Also, Hill has been out and is about to run into the Pereira buzzsaw.

HW - They could have 8 champs and I still wouldn't give a fuck.

 

[MillingMeSoftly]

Yes, it's always been this way
There's always someone more marketable in every division that's part of being champion is being marketable

Stipe should've got his shot along time before he did

Anderson Silva got a title shot off of one win in the UFC against Chris Leman of all people

Machida was the un crown champ Everybody knew he was better than Rashad.

Half of these guys, duck people instead of fighting
Colby Covington should've been champion back in 2018 but Woodley wouldn't sign the papers

When they finally fought he got his ass handed to him

Jose, Aldo 10 year reign was ended with one punch from Conor McGregor

But he did all kinds of bullshit during his title ran into avoid fighting contenders

He literally pulled out of five title fights, the week of the fight because he didn't feel quite right

Tito was afraid to fight Chuck and got his ass kicked when they finally did

Henry Cejudo retired so he didn't have to face contenders... he literally thought Dominic Cruz, and then quit

Now we get to see what would've happened if he fought them three years ago when he was champ

 

[Fight Professor]

If fighters do not promote themselves or are being inactive, it is their own fault.

 

[CJrider]

BW: Merab looks like the best
WW: Shavkat seems to be the best by a margin
HW: The interim champ is the best

Your other takes are wild.

185: Khamzat hasn't even fought a ranked 185er and hasn't gotten through a fight yet without looking absolutely gassed. He might ragdoll DDP for a round, but it'd be very interesting after. He might be the best 1 round fighter since Zabit. When he finds a big 185er that can put major pressure on in rounds 4 and 5 he will get drowned.

205: Hill? The guy who only get the belt after Jiri stepped down? Hill hasn't fought anyone of the new generation at all, he's avoided Jiri, Rakic, and Ank. Ank is possibly the best fighter but his game planning is moronic. The champ was Jiri, and Alex stopped him, what an argument. Hill has the potential to beat Alex as Alex is hittable and getting to post prime age, but when it comes to the "Jiri/Rakic/Ank" three I don't expect he would emerge as the best of that group.

 

[USMCTKD]

BW- hard to argue cause yan beat o malley, merab beat yan, but merabs style would be good for sean cause he’s so open

WW- Maybe, but leon beat a better fighter than shav kat did (usman)

MW- No, DDP is definitely the best. Khamzat has 1 round cardio and arguably drew against a short notice welterweight that he probably had a huge weight advantage over

LHW- Hill got the belt by beating a worse version of glover than jiri did, jiri was the real champ and Alex beat him officially (bad stoppage)

HW- who knows until they fight?

Great point for LHW, something that doesn't get brought up enough. Hill gets a lot of credit for beating Glover, but not many take into account that Glover was coming off a war with Jiri. The Glover that Hill faced was likely not the same Glover that Jiri faced if you take into account age and the wear and tear from that fight.

 

[OldBoy91]

Really don't understand the "Shavkat is the uncrowned champ" stuff.

His best win is Geoff Neal who Ian Garry made FAR easier work of.

No, it definitely isn't 41 year old Wonderboy with a broken foot and had lost 2 of his last 3 fights.

Don't get me wrong, I've been keeping tabs on him since before episode UFC debut. He's legit, but there a few top guys that give him fits. JDM, Belal, Usman if he goes back to 170, and yes, Leon absolutely is a hard fight for him. Even Ian Garry might beat him assuming he can fend off the grappling.

 

[djason1988]

BW - Merab is the best. (Or Numagomedov?)

WW - Shavkat is the best.

MW - Khamzat is the best. (DDP not even the real champion)

LHW - Hill is the best. (Poatan gifted title shots)

HW - They have two champions, I guess?

Has it always been like this? Opportunities are everything.

And they'll attempt to derail some fighters from becoming champions.

Wonder if we'll ever see every champion actually representing the best fighter in the world.

BW and WW, I'm inclined to agree but they still have to fight the champ.

MW, you're nuts. Khamzat barely got past off the couch usman, who himself is a career 170.

LHW, you're still nuts. Hill is widely considered the weakest male champ in recent history, and didn't have to fight any of the actual major players to get there.

HW, Tom is the champ. Jones is great, and would probably beat him if they fought, but it's clear at this point Jon just wants his big payday and he's done.

 

[Dorkman]

Classic thread of subjective opinion being passed as an objective truth. Some I would kind of agree with, other completely preposterous

 

[cmw43]

Khamzat best MW? I think Bobby Knuckles would piece him up.

 

[ipowerslapmywife]

lol at hill being the best

 

[usernamee]

Just wait for O'malley to beat Merab then Sherdoggers will say Merab always sucked. All he did was decision old ass Aldo in a fight where nothing happened, almost get brutally KOed against Moraes and rocked by tiny old Cejudo

 

[TempleoftheDog]

As long as there are fresh challengers. A person could say this about every single champion.

Weili has Yan coming up. And possibly Tatiana in the future.. if she gets healthy again. I bet there are people that will say Weili will lose at least one of those fights. But I would pick Weili to beat both of them. Tatiana has had REALLY shitty luck with health, and injuries. So I just can’t pick her to beat the Weili of right now.

Alexa.. There’s still Shevchenko to deal with because of the UFC’s morbid fascination with instant rematches. Then there’s Erin, and Manon. I think Erin beats them all, but I could be wrong.

Rocky hasn’t defended yet. I bet some people will pick Pena, or Aldana to beat her. GDR is supposed to be coming back. And Holly has a big fight with Harrison coming up.

That’s only the three women’s divisions. And I guarantee I can do it with the male titles as well. Yet, it’s all just supposition, and hoodoo voodoo, and doesn’t mean shit.

Normally the champ is the best until she/he gets beat. But in a situation like O’Malley, and Jones where they pick and choose who they fight. Then there is legit reasons to doubt whether the champ is the best or not.

And the UFC doesn’t make it any easier by allowing cherry picking, and ducking. Sometimes even encouraging it.

But I do know the champ is the champ. That’s the only thing that is factual no matter what fuckery may be involved.

 

[Ghostoftheville]

Nah, it's not that the champ isn't the best of their division, it's that none of them have had the time to prove themselves. None of the champs, male or female have more than 1 defense aside from Islam.

It's been a long time since all the champs were new

 

[sdpdude9]

None of those mentioned even have common opponents so it’s pure conjecture to say they’re better than the current champions.

 

[wolffanghameha]

WW - wouldn't say Shavkat is definitely the best. It might still be Leon.

MW - wouldn't say there's a clear best. DDP, Strickland, Adesanya, Cannonier, Whittaker - I'd say all of those guys would both win and lose in a round robin.

BW - I agree, Merab. Shoutout to Patchy Mix too.

LHW - similar to WW. Shoutout to Nemkov.

HW - Aspinall is the most proven and looks great, but Jones might be the best.

 

[ferrisjso]

I have noticed "gatekeeper champs" have became way more common than they used to be. This is what happens when a promotion has favorites, fighters are playing musical chairs and rematches and injuries common. When things are more stable the best fighter usually flows to the top. But when you throw these other elements into it that can be prevented.