Looking back how exactly did Elias do so well?

[Hellowhosthat]

Mostly on his opponents IMO, a lot of guys played his game for some reason.
He isn’t very good at anything except making you fight his fight and looking active whilst doing nothing, guys who actually went out there and didn’t fight his game beat his ass.

Noone has beaten his ass, he's lost fights but only in two round to one decisions.

 

[Poirierfan]

He did well because he was either running or grabbing, but not too much fighting.

 

[BjPenn2017]

Noone has beaten his ass, he's lost fights but only in two round to one decisions.

I remember him hanging on to santos leg for dear life that entire fight when he wasn’t getting smashed lol

Anders beat him up good too it’s okay Elias we all wanna see you get beat up again in the ufc one day your fights were fucking hilarious

 

[Sweater of AV]

I can see you have to get the last word in so we'll leave it there. You can reply to this and I'll leave you a like so you can see I've read it and then life can continue.

Oh, no need to be upset bud. Take care. I don't care about likes but feel free to leave one if you appreciate me helping you out.

 

[Sweater of AV]

I remember him hanging on to santos leg for dear life that entire fight when he wasn’t getting smashed lol

Anders beat him up good too it’s okay Elias we all wanna see you get beat up again in the ufc one day your fights were fucking hilarious

Yes Elias was fortunate to survive against Santos. Anders was arguably his best win and he barely squeezed out a decision but took much more damage. It's weird people think he's an extremely high-level fighter.

 

[Grr]

He has good kicks...

Hmm...

 

[Paolo Delutis]

Now, the commenter might prefer the company of gentlemen, but what he says around 21:40 and out is very true. He really understands Elias' style. Maybe there's a connection.

Its true...im glad he got the finish here and i hope he can continue with this type of momentum its clear he was better then his opponent on this level of show.. should be fighting in the big 4 UFC PFL , One FC , Bellator.


Hope that happens sooner rather then later

 

[Bork Neslar]

GSP taught him a few things

 

[pankrat]

Vanderford doesn't have particularly good standup, he has good wrestling, but Elias hasn't shown to be susceptible to being taken down. Austin also isn't particularly quick with his feet to work Elias against the fence and take him down from there. How do you think he wins with his fairly rudimentary striking?

Man I respect you as a poster but you are overrating this guy badly, and doing so with not much argument whatsoever.

Vanderford has good wrestling, but Elias hasn't shown to be susceptible to being taken down

Elias has been taken down by more than 50% of the guys he has faced in UFC. He has been taken down repeteadly by Brunson, Carioca, Kelly, Trevor Smith, Westcot, Mutante who also took his back...
Apart from Brunson, none of those guys were ever established top15 MWs in UFC for a reason and for the most part Elias only managed to squeeze flip coin decisions on them often giving up rounds. And btw none of them are better wrestlers than Vanderfoord.

Not saying Vanderfoord would beat Elias as we've not seen enough from him imo but you are giving way too much credit to Elias. To assume Elias Thedorou would "toy" with the likes of John Salter or Yushin Okami - even at this stage - is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Papa Shaun]

Well, Since you asked.... He was above average on the mic, can actually play the guitar well, and had a good catch phrase, just not a great wrestler overall...

 

[KramerFtw]

because he used strategy. Didnt try to get hit on purpose, had great conditioning.
took thiago santos to decision lol

 

[pankrat]

I'm thrilled you watch 20 organizations but to think he definitely beats everyone outside of a couple of guys including Moose is hilarious. There's nothing special about him relative to the better fighters in other organizations. Him versus 300 year old Okami would be interesting.

I don't think MW is an especially strong division worldwide and I watch most shows of probably around 20 organisations, but I'm open to names of people you think beat him.

I favour Khalidov, Ismailov, Shlemenko and Mineev to beat him. Not sure if Branch is in the game but he is definitely the better fighter. Salter and even 40 y.o. Okami could outgrapple him imo, let alone Lovato a year ago. Aung La and De Ridder could give him problems too.
I do think Elias would be a legit contender in any org out of UFC. Mosasi outclasses him though. Lima probably too. Romero tools him, and Spider Silva could still do it at 50.