Izzy's title reign was pretty average in hindsight

[Emjay]

People trying to shit on his title reign are somehow forgetting to acknowledge the fact that he had a title reign.

Shit aint easy folks.

 

[Fergelmince]

He was pretty good when he fought Christopher Walken

 

[krelianx]

I would have picked prime Mousasi over him.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

I appreciate how active he was.

I wonder if he will still be active as a contender.

 

[Young Calf Kick]

MMA “fans” like TS are legit the dumbest, most ungrateful fucking souls on planet earth.

Thou shalt take damage and bleed for my entertainment! HOW DARE YOU follow the general “hit and not get hit” combat sports strategy and get away with it!!! You exist FOR MY ENTERAINMENT ONLY! Herp derp just bleed!!

 

[TempleoftheDog]

People love shitting on Izzy and Khabib. They need to understand that both of these fighters defended their title multiple times.

So if you defend your title, several times when you predicted a massacre. But you only intended to point fight?

They actually share that character defect. But Strickland seems much more genuine to me. And if his talk is a little over the top. At least he’s not creepy as fuck.

Strickland said it was time for a higher level of champion.

He was right.

 

[pankrat]

It's just an opinion on the guy. The cage was still being used as a major weapon at that point in MMA. These days it's used by guys like Izzy to stay up against better grappler. 2013 was during the wall and stall era dude. How is it an uneducated opinion? That was still during a time when strikers were avoiding the cage, now it's the main strategy to return to your feet as MMA evolved.

Who else does Weidman have on his resume besides those guys pre belt?
Alessio Sakara who was 6-4 in the UFC at the time. Great win on debut but not worth a major mention and a pre UFC Hall.
Tom Lalwer who hung around for quite a while also.

You say I am trolling but that's what made Weidman win over Silva so impressive. He was a 9-0 pro who beat some great grapplers in Maia and Munhoz, but was thrown in there to be highlight reeled by Silva. He instead highlight reeled Silva and then won via a legit technique with the leg check. He beat the ghost of Belfort, great win over Machida before getting destroyed by Rockhold after throwing the worst spinning kick in history (maybe Schevchenko's is worse) against a guy who is great at them and lost his title. He then went 2-7 with his only wins being Gastelum (good win) and Omari (Easily could have gone the other way).

Weidman is now 15-7. He has nearly more ranked losses than his has wins now.

Izzy win over KG wasn't great either. KG is a great fighter that couldn't be bothered to train hard and make 170. It makes sense though after his performance vs Strickland. Both have great boxing and Izzy has a hole there if he can't use his leg kicks to keep you away.

"The wall and stall era" is a rather sherbro concept but saying it was in 2013 is indeed uneducated.
If such "era" existed, it was when the cage circuit became the principal in MMA right after Pride folded.
By 2013, Bisping or Machida to name a couple MW strikers very well knew to use the cage to their advantage. So did Anderson Silva btw.
Is Gastelum a fighter from wall and stall era too?

Israel's career has been greater than Weidman's, sure.
To say Weidman fought "absolutely nobody" before fighting for the tittle is false. He was 5-0 with two ranked wins, jus like Israel.
Only that Israel struggled with 43 years old Silva way more than Weidman did with a 5 years younger Silva, twice. Same vs Gastelum, who gave Izzy the tittle.
Even vs Romero, looked better until a crazy flying knee.

Weidman could be a live underdog vs an Israel who has been taken down by Vettori, Whittker or Jan several times. To suggest they had superior wrestling/ground game than Weidman for being from "evolved era" of mma is indeed pretty uneducated and sherbro-like to me

 

[johnkilo]

"Sucked, was never good, should retire" - every time a top fighter loses

 

[pankrat]

I would have picked prime Mousasi over him.

I think Mousasi would do better than most Israel tittle challengers but I dont favour him in that match up.
Whats prime Mousasi anyways? The one who lost to Machida or Shlemenko I dont think gets it done

 

[Thick_Strong_Tight]

The story on Izzy hasn't been told yet. If he comes back, regains his belt and gets back on track, there's an argument he may still become the MW GOAT.
If he has a meandering record from this day forward, he's second fiddle to Silva

It's definitely asking a lot, but I find it hard to imagine he can become the best ever, his record already has losses on it and to not spectacular other fighters; Jan is not exceptional, Strickland is not exceptional and it's possible in MMA Pereira will go down as solid but not great. What is interesting is that Adesanya has lost to fighters of varying styles, not just one kryptonite type of athlete.

 

[WallNStallToeStomper]

what I have absolutely and unequivocally learned from Sherdog over the years is that all fighters are actually pretty bad. it is a core belief here.

you are almost entirely correct except for khabib. he is without equal and his legacy shall stand for all times along side Elon Musk and Randy Savage as the greatest fighters to ever do it