Go ask Dos Anjos...
Josh Thomson's UFC title shot
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Go ask Dos Anjos...
JonSnitchPhones
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Few guys being able to go on extended win streaks against the better guys in the division, is not a valid criteria for the weakness of a division. In fact, it could demonstrate strength. In a true strong division with depth, naturally it's going to be tough to win consistently.
Really, how fighters do when changing divisions is the only way to objectively gauge strength. It's mostly got to be by the subjective eye test though. My eyes tell me lw is a deep division. It may not be the best, but it's one of them.
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If its not Grant(just yet),im ok with Thomson getting a shot......It will be an excited fight no doubt.
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How many deserving title challengers are there in any other division?
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Josh had a great display of fighting against Diaz.
This will be a good fight.
This will be a good fight.
JonSnitchPhones
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People who ever put much stock in the Guida fight, aren't very bright. People who still do, are even less so.
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Not saying it's weak just saying some people hype it for being much more deep than it is it's no where near the depth of WW and is quite similar in terms of depth with LHW.
Swear some of you look up fights on fight finder and don't actually watch them. Rda is a solid fighter but come on. What Thomson did to nate diaz is unheard of. When Thomson is fully fit there is no doubt he is one of the top lightweights. He has been unlucky with injuries but seems to be sweet now. He's tough as fuck and a hard out for anybody, I can see him beating pettis. As for dos anjos and khalib, they are still a ways off a title shot. Rda lost to Dunham I don't care what anyone says and beat a very out of sorts cowboy. Thomson knocking out diaz trumps any other contender, bar maybe tj grant but he is injured apparently.
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Well, if Hendricks was hurt and couldn't fight GSP, how many deserving title challengers would there be at WW? Condit who has lost 2 of 3 including one to GSP? Kampmann who just lost? Rory MacDonald who has one top 10 win?
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Josh's bread and butter is his grappling. And his grappling is the equivalent of the LW version of Jon Fitch. He's very methodical and very effective. Benson, Guida, and Roller are literally the only grappling based fighters, to date, that Anthony has fought in any Zuffa promotion that incorporate any form of decent takedown ability in their repertoire. And Benson's style of wrestling is very scramble heavy. It's entirely different than Thomson's. We have seen absolutely nothing from Pettis to suggest he's immune to getting Guida'd again. Nothing at all. He hasn't fought anybody with a similar skill set.
FYI I'm not here saying Josh is a carbon copy of Guida, 'cause he's not. Not even close. However he's much closer to that form of grappling style then Benson's is.
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Josh isn't going to win but I think he'll make it competitive. I really like the fight.
JonSnitchPhones
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I'll give you the ww division, but lhw?!?! C'mon man, get serious. I mean logically that wouldn't be true because 170 lbs is about standard for a healthy, athletic male. LHW's are running around at 225. There's a naturally smaller talent pool to draw from. LHW is a really archaic division, as evidenced by so many old guys having success there. 7 of the top 10 per Fight Matrix are 31 or older. That's not your athletic prime. At LW, everybody but the aforementioned Thomson is in or around their athletic prime. You gotta be skilled, savvy, and athletic to have big success at lw. You just have to be skilled and savvy at lhw, outside of beating a couple guys.
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At WW behind Hendricks there would be Condit and Brown. Then there's Rory who refuses to fight GSP. Then there's the Maia v Shields winner. Then you've got your so so fighters in Ellenburger and Kampmann. There was also Nick Diaz before he retired.
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I'd have given the shot to dos Anjos, or Khabib before Thomson; but I'm really not that upset that Josh is getting a shot. If he's so unworthy, Pettis will posterize him, and move onto facing TJ.
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What makes Condit more deserving/legitimate than Bendo? Brown than RDA? Rory (who won't take the fight) than Melendez? Maia/Shields winner than Khabib (now having beaten Healy)? Then you've got your so so fighters in Gray Maynard and Jim Miller. There was also Edgar before he went to FW.
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Condit doesn't win all his fights by razor thin decision like Bendo does and he's never been finished in the UFC. Condit also won a round against GSP which is very tough to do. I think Brown is overrated and will be exposed when he fights a top contender the same as RDA. Rory might be champ right now if not for his friendship with GSP. Melendez is pretty deserving I guess as he basically fought Bendo to a draw. Maia and Shields only losses are to MMA legends.
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Bendo was LW champion and won 2 rounds from Pettis in their first fight. I agree about Brown, but RDA has already picked up wins over better competition. Rory got finished the only time he fought elite competition (Condit) and won a boring decision in his only top 10 win. I agree on Melendez. Maia got KTFO by Marquardt who couldn't even hold onto the SF WW title, and Shields got KTFO by Ellenberger, both in the first round - neither of them are MMA legends.
I don't mean to diminish WW or those guys, as I don't really believe too much of that (i.e., Condit, Rory, Maia are all awesome, and while I think Brown has peaked I really like him) - my point is just that your statement that LW isn't that deep because there's only like 4 or 5 potentially-deserving title challengers was a little silly. WW doesn't have any more guys who would be considered legitimate title challenges right now if Hendricks got hurt. Hell, the last guy to get a title shot (Diaz) was coming off a loss and a year-long suspension. At least JT is coming off a win.
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And even then, I thought Pettis won the Guida fight.
JonSnitchPhones
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He's far from the lw Fitch. He really doesn't have a standout ability. He's more a jack of all trades, master of none. He's lost the grappling in a few matches, as well as the striking, over the years. He got out-wrestled by Gil, especially b4 Gil gassed, in their last fight. He was controlled by Kawajiri a couple matches b4. Plus, back in the day, Thomson got Guida'd more than Pettis did. And that actually wasn't Thomson's choice to stay on his back. He kept trying to get up b4 being forced down. Pettis was just lying on his back, not making any motion to get up, over-confident in his subs, which he stated after the fight.
That's not true either. Castillo is a grapple-fucking much of the lw division.
Thomson's wrestling style isn't that similar to Bendo's, it's because it's distance vs. clinch, respectively, but not because Bendo doesn't have good td's. Ask Jim Miller or Nate Diaz about that. Speaking of Diaz, Thomson surprisingly couldn't take him down and control him much to speak of. He got taken down once and popped up soon after. Same as Thomson himself in that fight. If you can't takedown and control Diaz, you certainly won't do it to Pettis. Pettis has a slick array of sweeps and stand-up techniques, which he's displayed against the several grapplers he's faced who've taken him down outside Guida, against whom he was creating space to do the same with sub threats but like I said didn't try to get up. This is why I say the people who continue to reference the Guida fight and project it to future match-ups for Pettis are fools. Pettis could have gotten up repeatedly the next day if he fought Guida. He didn't know guys like that existed in UFC because in WEC everybody fought.
