Jose Aldo Jr was 3 division UFC champion material.

[fortheo]

I do think that the current version of Max - meaning the one which is much more creative and doesn't just head hunt and limit himself to boxing only (Volkanovski II, Kattar) - would be close to 50:50 against Poirier, who imo is at the very least the best striker at 155 and who i think would beat Colby, if only he was a better defensive wrestler.
A big (although not gigantic) 145er who's already one of the best fighters we've seen (imo) versus someone who's a small 170er and a very good fighter, but definitely not GOAT material (imo) is a compelling match up, if we consider that style-wise, Max should be Colby's absolute worst nightmare:
Fantastic TDD, cardio to match Colby and much better striking.

Maybe there's something i'm not seeing, but i don't think this should be that controversial of an opinion.
I think that great fighters can - if their opponent isn't a nightmare match up style-wise - definitely be on par in a fight against very good fighters two weightclasses above.
I mean look at BJ Penn vs Lyoto Machida.

Oh, what only now crosses my mind, but might be important: if you'd stand Kattar and Colby side-by-side, i don't think Colby would be much bigger; so the size-discrepancy is imo not that huge.

Kattar never gets over 170lbs, and is even lighter on fight night. Colby is definitely bigger. Max was fading from grappling with Volk, and max doesn't have the power to really hurt people at LW, let alone at welterweight, and max wouldn't even have his usual cardio advantage. Colby would be on him all night and i don't know what max could do to possibly get him off. I doubt Max would do any better than lawler to be honest.

I do like Max's chances at LW. I just wish he'd commit to the division for a bit.

 

[Frank Edgar]

Well we had BJ, Aldo, and Barao as the 155 145 and 135 champs, all from the same camp so it was going to be a Silva/Machida type of arrangement not to fight each other

I don't believe that Penn was training with Aldo back when he was champion. I've never bothered to follow MMA closely enough to know exactly which fighters are at exactly which training camps with other specific fighters, but I have been on Sherdog long enough to know that BJ was often lambasted for only training with a personalized crew of mostly yes men

I don't think that BJ's career would have gone the way it did if he were training daily with a GOAT like Aldo

I know (cause I just googled it) that he got his black belt from Pederneiras, but I don't think that Pederneiras was known as an MMA trainer back when he and BJ worked together. It was only years later that BJ went to Nova Uniao the MMA camp (as opposed to the BJJ gym)

Or I could be way off. Some genuine MMA historians on here could probably give a way more accurate account of BJ's training history

But I'm pretty sure that BJ Penn had nothing to do with Aldo not challening for the 155 pound title. As I've heard it, it was because Dana wanted Aldo to vacate his 145 pound belt first, and also because jumping between weight classes was not nearly as common until McGregor came along

It was a very distinctive characteristic of MMA weight classes that they were separated by large weight disparities (as opposed to boxing). The narrative used to be that weight class jumps were dangerous because weight cutting made it so that you'd end up fighting relative GIANTS

 

[VinceArch]

Conor
People will hate me but he could have caught Robbie, who was shot after the back to back to back to back wars w Hendricks x2, Rory & Condit

I've never understood this really. Conor's power doesn't translate well against natural 170 lb fighters. Robbie basically welcomed Conor to fight but Conor was silent when Robbie said he'd take his soul. Almost wish the fight would happen just so people would remember why weight classes exist in the first place.

 

[JB228]

Of course GSP has a better chance of beating Silva than Silva did Jones.

- Jones is one of the biggest LHWs
- Anderson is a former WW who actually fought at WW the same year he signed by UFC and became MW champ
- GSP is a big WW, him being able to compete at LW is pure speculation

Just to add some context, Silva is 2-1 at 170 lbs.

 

[JB228]

No. He wouldn't have made 135 back then

He could’ve.

 

[JB228]

Kattar never gets over 170lbs, and is even lighter on fight night. Colby is definitely bigger. Max was fading from grappling with Volk, and max doesn't have the power to really hurt people at LW, let alone at welterweight, and max wouldn't even have his usual cardio advantage. Colby would be on him all night and i don't know what max could do to possibly get him off. I doubt Max would do any better than lawler to be honest.

I do like Max's chances at LW. I just wish he'd commit to the division for a bit.

Source for Kattar? Just wondering.

 

[JB228]

Source for Kattar? Just wondering.

Kattar never gets over 170lbs, and is even lighter on fight night. Colby is definitely bigger. Max was fading from grappling with Volk, and max doesn't have the power to really hurt people at LW, let alone at welterweight, and max wouldn't even have his usual cardio advantage. Colby would be on him all night and i don't know what max could do to possibly get him off. I doubt Max would do any better than lawler to be honest.

I do like Max's chances at LW. I just wish he'd commit to the division for a bit.

I think that’s a bit disingenuous, Max only has one fight against ranked opposition at 155 lbs.

Colby would beat him though.

I don’t believe the size difference is actually that big but Colby’s physicality would be evident.

 

[fortheo]

Source for Kattar? Just wondering.

He's said it himself on some interviews in the past. I'm not invested enough to go through all his past interviews to find it, so you can believe what you want sherbro. He said he never lets his weight get over 170lb because he likes to stay ready.

 

[fortheo]

I think that’s a bit disingenuous, Max only has one fight against ranked opposition at 155 lbs.

Colby would beat him though.

I don’t believe the size difference is actually that big but Colby’s physicality would be evident.

I'm not implying that the size difference would be huge, although colby would certainly be bigger and with more functional weight. What would be huge is the fact that max is used to dealing with 160-165lb guys that he has height over. Now imagine him against someone as tall, with an extra 20-25lbs, and a smothering wrestling style and a pace that can match max's own.

I just don't see max winning against colby.

 

[JB228]

He's said it himself on some interviews in the past. I'm not invested enough to go through all his past interviews to find it, so you can believe what you want sherbro. He said he never lets his weight get over 170lb because he likes to stay ready.

Cool.

 

[fortheo]

Cool.

Speaking of kattar, expect a fight announcement any day now. Probably Arnold Allen in October.

 

[ThunderStruck]

I mean, in case of Aldo - or Silva - we dont have to especulate about whether if they can compete or not at BW and MW respectively. They have proved it, at the highest level.
Whether if they would be willing to fight at LW and LHW respectively, I'd say we can affirm they were. If the money is right, obviously.

GSP would need to make a tougher cut than them to make 155, that's for sure. If he could still be competitive, its especulation

Silva has not proven he could make WW in the UFC. If he had he would have to be back to his skinny old self where he lost to small fighters in pride. Easy pray for Hughes and GSP.

 

[pick999]

Henry?

 

[JB228]

Speaking of kattar, expect a fight announcement any day now. Probably Arnold Allen in October.

I’m giddy.

 

[pankrat]

takes a bit of luck to be a 3 weight champ.... gotta have small enough frame to drop down and the division above you needs to be weak ( GSP fighting bisping for instance )

GSP probably had the best chance if he would have dropped to 155 pre-khabib.

Cejudo has a possibility. no way he beats max but i think there's a possibility he could beat volk.

Has anyone mentioned Machida?

He actually has wins over UFC champs at 5 weight classes I believe

HW - Randy
LHW- Rashad
MW- Franklin
WW- BJ
LW- BJ


I have to believe Lyoto could have beaten Randy during Randy's final HW title run.

And he smoked Rich Franklin who really never did great against southpaw strikers, if they fought during Rich's title reign I think it goes pretty much the same way.

Cejudo - FLW, BW, FW - and Machida - MW, LHW, HW - are legit picks imo.

 

[ThunderStruck]

Silva competed at WW the same year he signed by UFC and became MW champ.

I dont expect a moron, pathologic fanboy to grasp it, so please just keep walking.

Just because he "beat" Okami (You do know its a loss right?) doesn't mean he would beat Hughes or GSP. Silva was subbed by Chonan 2 years before that and by Takase 3 years 1 year before. These guys aren't on the level of Hughes and GSP. But im not surprised by your ignorance.

 

[pankrat]

Just because he "beat" Okami (You do know its a loss right?) doesn't mean he would beat Hughes or GSP. Silva was subbed by Chonan 2 years before that and by Takase 3 years 1 year before. These guys aren't on the level of Hughes and GSP. But im not surprised by your ignorance.

Silva put a clinic on Horn not long before that fight you mention in which he was outclassing Okami at WW, a guy who 3 months later gave Shields not much easier fight than GSP did.

Horn weighted in at 200lbs. It was an openweight bout. Silva weighted in at 185. His walk around weight back then was lighter than most WWs.
Horn - who fought Chuck Liddell for the LHW belt around that time - was indeed a comparable test to Hughes and to a lesser extent GSP. Silva would of course be a massive favourite over Matt Serra who held the belt around the time Silva signed by UFC.

Silva unquestionably had more 3 division champion potential than GSP ever had. Hype your goat if you wish but stop being a fanboy and take it as a man

 

[ThunderStruck]

Silva put a clinic on Horn not long before that fight you mention in which he was outclassing Okami at WW, a guy who 3 months later gave Shields not much easier fight than GSP did.

Horn weighted in at 200lbs. It was an openweight bout. Silva weighted in at 185. His walk around weight back then was lighter than most WWs.
Horn - who fought Chuck Liddell for the LHW belt around that time - was indeed a comparable test to Hughes and to a lesser extent GSP. Silva would of course be a massive favourite over Matt Serra who held the belt around the time Silva signed by UFC.

Silva unquestionably had more 3 division champion potential than GSP ever had. Hype your goat if you wish but stop being a fanboy and take it as a man

Welp thats official, Horn confirmed on the level of Hughes and GSP lol.

You son sure loves to use mmath. Questionnable mma math on top of that.

"Silva unquestionably had more 3 division champion potential than GSP ever had"

ROFL. Too bad he's just a one division champ. GSP is an actual 2 division champ and he'd be the heavy favourite against any LW champ in history except Khabib and even then prime GSP would be the favourite against him.

You're so biased its not even funny anymore.

 

[Gambit MMA]

aldo and the ufc didnt have the best relationship, thats why they were assholes about telling him he has to give up his FW title. then new ownership came in and they let these fools go for champ champ status without even defending (or barely defending) the belt they just got lol

thats why i dont put much weight on having 2 belts. guys like aldo and silva could have possibly done it years ago, but the old management didnt like the weight divisions being jammed. total opposite of what we see now. once WME came in, someone wins the title and they get to go up in weight before even defending the title they just won lol.

jumping up in weight and skipping the line over a ton of guys, all while not defending the belt in your own weight class, takes a lot of the aura of the accomplishment away. you didn't grind and defend in your own weight class for 2-3 years and rack up title defenses before moving up. its literally skipping years worth of hard work and grinding trying to stay on the top of the mountain, which is much harder than climbing up

 

[pankrat]

Welp thats official, Horn confirmed on the level of Hughes and GSP lol.

You son sure loves to use mmath. Questionnable mma math on top of that.

"Silva unquestionably had more 3 division champion potential than GSP ever had"

ROFL. Too bad he's just a one division champ. GSP is an actual 2 division champ and he'd be the heavy favourite against any LW champ in history except Khabib and even then prime GSP would be the favourite against him.

You're so biased its not even funny anymore.

GSP would not be favoured in any LW bout for the simple reason that he would be in the hospital trying to cut down to 155.

Yeah, Horn back then was a legitimate challenger for a guy who walks around as a WW. It's indeed official: Horn fought for the UFC LHW belt around that time for a reason.

Yes, Silva had more 3 division champ potential than GSP ever had. I mean, there is absolutely no discussion about it. You can see how plenty of people agree on that in this thread and regardless of what anybody says, the fact is Silva is the only man who has wins over UFC tittle challengers in three different weightclasses