Izzy's title reign was pretty average in hindsight

[Sincere Guy]

I agree with this take 100 percent. He gonna have to prove that Strickland fight was a fluke to overtake Anderson Silva at this point. His legacy as a great champion set in stone though . It is hard to stay on top that long I give him that.

Lol@this. In which world him beating Strickland Adesanya "overtakes" Anderson? This is delusion level 1000.

He can't overtake anyone anymore. His title defenses streak is 0 and Anderson is 10 (should be 11, just to remember; and here we are talking about "title defenses STREAK", not that nonsense "title fights wins" that doesn't mean shit close to the latter), he lost in his prime and in his own specialty by a simpleton as Strickland. This is uber embarrassing per se, worse because he was always painted as a "God striker" that could even beat Jesus of Nazareth himself, but hey said no one ever. Reality check as its finest, payroll in shambles.

Him beating Strickland is nothing more than an obligation to fulfill his own fake painting and that's it. He can overtake the loss, but that shame is already carved in stone forever.

 

[kumitechamp]

Lol@this. In which world him beating Strickland Adesanya "overtakes" Anderson? This is delusion level 1000.

He can't overtake anyone anymore. His title defenses streak is 0 and Anderson is 10 (should be 11, just to remember; and here we are talking about "title defenses STREAK", not that nonsense "title fights wins" that doesn't mean shit close to the latter), he lost in his prime and in his own specialty by a simpleton as Strickland. This is uber embarrassing per se, worse because he was always painted as a "God striker" that could even beat Jesus of Nazareth himself, but hey said no one ever. Reality check as its finest, payroll in shambles.

Him beating Strickland is nothing more than an obligation to fulfill his own fake painting and that's it. He can overtake the loss, but that shame is already carved in stone forever.

Perhaps I should have thought that part through more.

 

[RichardHarrow]

I can’t stand Izzy. I don’t like him. But half the hate here is his color. The guy had a great reign.

 

[ryun253]

he did okay in the UFC

 

[cburm]

-Goes life and death with Kelvin Gastelum to win the interim belt

-Has an impressive knockout of Whittaker to unify the title

-Has an absolute stinker against Romero that shouldn't even be counted as a win

-Runs through some weird timid version of Costa

-Gets beat by Jan Blahowich at 205

-Gets a forgettable decision over Marvin Vettori

-Wins a close decision over Whittaker

-Has another stinker for a decision against Cannonier

-Gets TKO'd by Poatan

-Pulls off a knockout over Poatan in a fight he was soundly losing

-Gets practically shut out by Sean Strickland


So in 11 fights, 3 are losses.

Of the 8 wins one is basically a draw, and 2 others are very close competitive decisions where he took no risk. 2 more are lame decisions where he also took virtually no risk.

He's got a few finishes in there that give the impression that he's more of a killer than he really is, but realistically and statistically most of his fights against the top guys are either close competitive fights, boring decisions, or him on the losing end.

People were already comparing him to Anderson after like 2 title defenses, but he's nowhere close to him or Jones, or GSP, or even Marty.

Looking back Izzy's title reign is most comparable to that of say Tyron Woodley, which is a very respectable accomplishment so no shame in that. Dude was still a very good fighter, just not that elite level type that could stand the test of time and many different types of opponents.

GSP, Anderson, Bones, Fedor.... those dudes were really special man.

8 title defences is average??? And in what 2 or 3 years
.. you're smoking crack with the bidens bud

 

[Koro_11]

8 title defences is average??? And in what 2 or 3 years
.. you're smoking crack with the bidens bud

Where did you come up with 8 title defenses?

List them for me.

 

[digitalia**]

Yes Barao, the dude was on like a 30 fight win streak at one point and the fact that he fell off a cliff after running into Dillashaw doesn’t change that.

i thought the thread is about "TITLE REIGN"

and NOT winning streak

 

[The XL]

Izzy is a great fighter. Just not Jones, GSP, Silva great. His teammate Volk is greater as well

 

[MeatWagon06]

MW Goat??

 

[Portland8242]

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

His bid for MW GOAT got put on life support after the Pereira loss, and got officially buried after the Strickland loss.

 

[akeller901]

How many other guys you think beat Gastelum, Whittaker, Romero, Costa, Whittaker again, Cannonier, and Pereira at the times he beat them? Not many, I’d wager.

That’s not that great of a resume. Whittaker for sure but an old Yoel? Pereira who’s been in the sport less than 2 years? Kelvin? Costa, Cannonier? Would have been fringe top 10 guys in 2016

 

[EnthusiastCultivator]

He’s the greatest MW ever imo. Pereira and Whittaker are better than anyone Silva faced at MW.

 

[akeller901]

Yeah, he only had seven consecutive MW title wins against six different opponents. What a bum.

Over who? Whittakers the only solid win.

This only confirms what I thought about this thread, its is quite laughable. Guys like Usman, Khabib and Max above Izzy? Based on what? Izzy made everyone stuck in the rut being unable to impose themselves for 3 years. You had all of the guys trying to land a takedown or grind him against the fence for dear life so they can maybe win a decision. After Gastellum, he never felt danger or pressure until Perreira who he KO-ed immediately in the next fight. His highlight reel is phenomenal, he did it for a long time and against a plethora of different styles. I will again repeat the part about doing it for the long time (longer than long if you count how often he fought), that is the ultimate test for any fighter ever.

And please don’t put Khabib in category of impressive title reigns. Man fought 4 serious opponents in his life, all tailor-made for his style with the weaknesses already exposed by the much smaller guys who did what Khabib does, only worse.

Conor, Justin, Dustin is a better resume than Izzy’s wins, and he never came close to losing, Izzy has lost 3 times and had some questionable wins. Khabib finished all three

 

[eddymotto]

Lmao people are wild. Considering what you just said, there are about 5 people in history who have impressive title reigns.

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.

 

[kalabula]

Hindsight tends to do that to mma records on here.

 

[sdpdude9]

That’s not that great of a resume. Whittaker for sure but an old Yoel? Pereira who’s been in the sport less than 2 years? Kelvin? Costa, Cannonier? Would have been fringe top 10 guys in 2016

Classic sherdog. You can pick apart literally anybody’s resume like that. What middleweights you think win all those fights? And funny to use 2016 as an example, that’s when Bisping held the belt. Bisping is widely regarded as a weaker champion.

 

[WokeWarrior]

at the end of the day Izzy is cemented as number 2 in middle weight history and is ONE of the GOATS.
hes in the top 10 for sure......

tell me who else in middleweight thats GOAT contender? .......

 

[pankrat]

at the end of the day Izzy is cemented as number 2 in middle weight history and is ONE of the GOATS.
hes in the top 10 for sure......

tell me who else in middleweight thats GOAT contender? .......

Far from sure Israel is top10 goat since there are 8 weightclasses and he isnt the best of any of them nor the greatest #2.

Regarding MWs, Henderson could have a claim over him for his career across weightclasses

 

[Koro_11]

He’s the greatest MW ever imo. Pereira and Whittaker are better than anyone Silva faced at MW.

 

[flektarn]

Thankfully an active champ but many fights I and no one will ever rewatch again. And his cringe personality makes things worse.