LW champion reign look back 2012-2021

[Chael_Sonnen]

You might be right lol
For some reason I see your name and think major khabib hater

You might have said something so stupid about Khabib that maybe in someways triggered me. I doesn't help I see you discrediting the weight class because it's unbelanced in your opinion. I find that a stupid statement. For example this is not Dariush first rodeo in the top 10. Dude arrived here once and got beaten by Edson and Alex H. and was sent packing to the NR ranks lol

Hernandez as a wrestler was also sent packing away by Dober. LW strikers beat LW grapplers/wrestlers that are not named Khabib and Islam.

Al beat Lee
Barboza beat Dariush
Dober beat Hernandez
Pettis beat Chiesa
Hooker beat Burns
Poirier beat CDF
Hooker/Poirier beat Miller

Hey man, don't worry bout it, I mistake people's AV's for stuff they didn't say as well, its just human.

I'm not a Khabib fan as a person, mainly because of his religious views, but I can absolutely respect his fighting and how fucking good he is. I'm really not knocking his last 8 - or so fights, they were all against top level competition, and as you say its not his fault that grapplers couldn't win enough fights to face him.

Mainly my point is that LW was lacking in top level grapplers for a while. Its strange, WW has always been super grappling heavy, and LW has always been striking heavy. Its not Khabibs fault at all for there not being top level grapplers in the top ten, but I do think he got a relatively easy run stylistically. Imagine a WW Khabib, how many top level grapplers he would have had to face. I'm not saying he would have lost, I'm just saying it would have been far harder stylistically.

That is part of the reason I would love for him to come back against Chandler, because its a very interesting matchup. I know people point to Gaethje as a D1 wrestler that Khabib faced, but Gaethje hadn't used his wrestling for 10 years, and he admitted he didn't train BJJ. It was still a damn good win, Gaethje was on an absolute tear, but it didn't answer the stylistic questions that a matchup with Chandler or even Oliveira would for Khabib. Again, I favour Khabib over everyone in the division except Chandler, and even that is very very close. I might not like the person that Khabib is, but that doesn't impact how I view the fighter. A more extreme version of that would be for Adesanya. I fucking despise the guy, but I'm ultra realistic about how damn good he is.

Anyway, I'm not saying LW is a bad weightclass, in fact I would rate it as top 3, but I feel that the skill level and well roundedness of BW and possibly FW beat it.

 

[BusterBarry]

Hey man, don't worry bout it, I mistake people's AV's for stuff they didn't say as well, its just human.

I'm not a Khabib fan as a person, mainly because of his religious views, but I can absolutely respect his fighting and how fucking good he is. I'm really not knocking his last 8 - or so fights, they were all against top level competition, and as you say its not his fault that grapplers couldn't win enough fights to face him.

Mainly my point is that LW was lacking in top level grapplers for a while. Its strange, WW has always been super grappling heavy, and LW has always been striking heavy. Its not Khabibs fault at all for there not being top level grapplers in the top ten, but I do think he got a relatively easy run stylistically. Imagine a WW Khabib, how many top level grapplers he would have had to face. I'm not saying he would have lost, I'm just saying it would have been far harder stylistically.

That is part of the reason I would love for him to come back against Chandler, because its a very interesting matchup. I know people point to Gaethje as a D1 wrestler that Khabib faced, but Gaethje hadn't used his wrestling for 10 years, and he admitted he didn't train BJJ. It was still a damn good win, Gaethje was on an absolute tear, but it didn't answer the stylistic questions that a matchup with Chandler or even Oliveira would for Khabib. Again, I favour Khabib over everyone in the division except Chandler, and even that is very very close. I might not like the person that Khabib is, but that doesn't impact how I view the fighter. A more extreme version of that would be for Adesanya. I fucking despise the guy, but I'm ultra realistic about how damn good he is.

Anyway, I'm not saying LW is a bad weightclass, in fact I would rate it as top 3, but I feel that the skill level and well roundedness of BW and possibly FW beat it.

Good post sherbro!

Let's have that weight class discussion.

My 145 hot takes:
- 145 is only Volk and Max
- 145 is also striker heavy and they don't even have a Islam and Gregor like LW

My 135 hot takes:
- 135 has old washed fighters like Aldo, Frankie and Cruz
- Best Wrestler is Merab. Islam >>> Merab
Merab has no control and no submissions. Still like his fights because he reminds me of early ufc Khabib
- Petr is the only real p4p talent
- Cejudo's 135 "run" (basically 2 fights and the snake at 125) is overrated


LW has 3 "pure" wrestlers (Islam, Gregor and Lee). Without looking at the rankings I would be suprised if 135 or 145 has more than 3 pure wrestlers

Let's discuss

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

Good post sherbro!

Let's have that weight class discussion.

My 145 hot takes:
- 145 is only Volk and Max
- 145 is also striker heavy and they don't even have a Islam and Gregor like LW

My 135 hot takes:
- 135 has old washed fighters like Aldo, Frankie and Cruz
- Best Wrestler is Merab. Islam >>> Merab
Merab has no control and no submissions. Still like his fights because he reminds me of early ufc Khabib
- Petr is the only real p4p talent
- Cejudo's 135 "run" (basically 2 fights and the snake at 125) is overrated


LW has 3 "pure" wrestlers (Islam, Gregor and Lee). Without looking at the rankings I would be suprised if 135 or 145 has more than 3 pure wrestlers

Let's discuss

Nice post man!

I was actually talking about LW at the time of Khabib's reign, Gregor and Islam weren't really around at the top level then. It was Khabib - Lee - ? That is all I can think of tbh for fighters with grappling as their main gameplan.

Anyway, right now its better, with Gregor, Islam, Dariush, Chandler (I know he has been striking a lot, but against someone like Gaethje or McGregor he would employ a grappling heavy gameplan).

For the sake of argument though, comparing todays FW and BW divs vs LW when Khabib was champ. (I would go and get the rankings at the time for FW and BW but I'm too lazy lol).

135: Cejudo - I think you underrate him, he had a super close fight with DJ and eviscerated TJ and Cruz. His wrestling and top control is top notch, we saw it in the DJ fight and the Marlon fight.

Aljo - his wrestling isn't the greatest, but his BJJ is absolutely ridiculous. Super top level, and he has been able to take down everyone except Yan.

Merab - I agree with your assessment, although I'm wondering if the lack of top control is a stylistic choice?

Yan - Isn't really a grappler tbh, but has elite level defensive grappling.

Only reason Frankie is there is that he got gifted a decision over Munhoz. Aldo is still top level, and he would be at FW if he had stayed, and imo he could have gone to LW and done pretty well in 3 rounders against the top 15. Cruz is still legit, his style is stupidly hard to fight, and he has great fight iq. BW right now with the return of the Snake and hopefully Cejudo coming back is the most stacked division imo. The top 10 is just crazy, and I rate it higher than the Felder - Hooker - Tony - RDA top 6-10 we have right now.

FW is a bit fucked, honestly it might be the most skilled division, but apart from Max and Volk none of them fucking fight. Nowadays their grappling is probably worse than LW, but back in the Khabib time it was way, way better. Most of the good grapplers have moved weight classes or aged out.

Ortega has crazy BJJ, Volk has great wrestling and good BJJ, Holloway has great TDD and top level get ups, Zabits ground game is damn good, Aldo has amazing TDD and BJJ, Frankie had great wrestling, Lamas had great BJJ, KZ had good BJJ ( remember he subbed Poirer). Etc. Nowadays FW's grappling has gotten much worse, but around the Khabib era it was great.

LW's TDD and BJJ was so overrated around the Khabib era, Poirer can't defend a TD to save his life, we saw that in the Hooker fight (who can barely shoot a TD, so it makes Poirers TDD look even worse). Gaethje doesn't train ANY BJJ. Conor is Conor, I personally rate his TDD and BJJ above Poirers, but his gas tank is worse, and he fatigues from TD's. This isn't a knock on Khabib, all of the guys he faced were elite strikers capable of KOing anyone, so he did a great job beating them all, but they really didn't have great grappling for the level they were at.

Sorry for the wall of text lmao.

 

[HaulParris]

I think Chandler, even if he wins, won't go on a long reign - he is experienced and tough, but past his prime. I think dudes like Oliveira, Makhachev, Gaethje, Poirier will play hot potato with the belt over the next few years until a new crop of contenders emerges.

 

[BusterBarry]

Nice post man!

I was actually talking about LW at the time of Khabib's reign, Gregor and Islam weren't really around at the top level then. It was Khabib - Lee - ? That is all I can think of tbh for fighters with grappling as their main gameplan.

Anyway, right now its better, with Gregor, Islam, Dariush, Chandler (I know he has been striking a lot, but against someone like Gaethje or McGregor he would employ a grappling heavy gameplan).

For the sake of argument though, comparing todays FW and BW divs vs LW when Khabib was champ. (I would go and get the rankings at the time for FW and BW but I'm too lazy lol).

135: Cejudo - I think you underrate him, he had a super close fight with DJ and eviscerated TJ and Cruz. His wrestling and top control is top notch, we saw it in the DJ fight and the Marlon fight.

Aljo - his wrestling isn't the greatest, but his BJJ is absolutely ridiculous. Super top level, and he has been able to take down everyone except Yan.

Merab - I agree with your assessment, although I'm wondering if the lack of top control is a stylistic choice?

Yan - Isn't really a grappler tbh, but has elite level defensive grappling.

Only reason Frankie is there is that he got gifted a decision over Munhoz. Aldo is still top level, and he would be at FW if he had stayed, and imo he could have gone to LW and done pretty well in 3 rounders against the top 15. Cruz is still legit, his style is stupidly hard to fight, and he has great fight iq. BW right now with the return of the Snake and hopefully Cejudo coming back is the most stacked division imo. The top 10 is just crazy, and I rate it higher than the Felder - Hooker - Tony - RDA top 6-10 we have right now.

FW is a bit fucked, honestly it might be the most skilled division, but apart from Max and Volk none of them fucking fight. Nowadays their grappling is probably worse than LW, but back in the Khabib time it was way, way better. Most of the good grapplers have moved weight classes or aged out.

Ortega has crazy BJJ, Volk has great wrestling and good BJJ, Holloway has great TDD and top level get ups, Zabits ground game is damn good, Aldo has amazing TDD and BJJ, Frankie had great wrestling, Lamas had great BJJ, KZ had good BJJ ( remember he subbed Poirer). Etc. Nowadays FW's grappling has gotten much worse, but around the Khabib era it was great.

LW's TDD and BJJ was so overrated around the Khabib era, Poirer can't defend a TD to save his life, we saw that in the Hooker fight (who can barely shoot a TD, so it makes Poirers TDD look even worse). Gaethje doesn't train ANY BJJ. Conor is Conor, I personally rate his TDD and BJJ above Poirers, but his gas tank is worse, and he fatigues from TD's. This isn't a knock on Khabib, all of the guys he faced were elite strikers capable of KOing anyone, so he did a great job beating them all, but they really didn't have great grappling for the level they were at.

Sorry for the wall of text lmao.

First that was a great read. But because LW is my favorite division ever (especially the Khabib era LW) and Khabib is my favorite fighter and personal GOAT I can't help but feel your comments are slanderous lmao

155 is the for me the best blend of KO power, speed, size and athleticism. That's why I am 100% comfortable saying cejudo, Aldo and MM at 155 (size parity) would get absolutely MAULED by Khabib I can't say the same for GSP and Jones against those 3 I mentioned

https://www.mma-stats.com/rankings/2019-10-07

Here's the rankings of October 7, 2019
I picked this date because it's a fair judgement of not too long ago and not too recent.

Bantamweight

ChampionHenry Cejudo
1Marlon Moraes
2Aljamain Sterling
3Cory Sandhagen
4Petr Yan
5Raphael Assuncao
6Pedro Munhoz
7Dominick Cruz
8Jimmie Rivera
9Cody Garbrandt
10Cody Stamann
11Rob Font
12John Dodson
13Song Yadong
14Urijah Faber
15Thomas Almeida

Featherweight
ChampionMax Holloway
1Alexander Volkanovski
2Brian Ortega
3Jose Aldo
4Frankie Edgar
5Zabit Magomedsharipov
6Chan Sung Jung
7Yair Rodriguez
8Jeremy Stephens
9Renato Moicano
10Josh Emmett
11Calvin Kattar
12Shane Burgos
13Mirsad Bektic
14Ryan Hall
15Arnold Allen

Lightweight
ChampionKhabib Nurmagomedov
1Tony Ferguson
2Dustin Poirier
3Conor McGregor
4Justin Gaethje
5Donald Cerrone
6Al Iaquinta
7Paul Felder
8Kevin Lee
9Edson Barboza
10Anthony Pettis
11Gregor Gillespie
12Charles Oliveira
13Alexander Hernandez
14Islam Makhachev
15Dan Hooker


First thoughts

135: 12-15 are now gone. Tail end of 135 was pretty weak back in then

145: Alot of fighters in the top moved to other divisions. Those that went down like Frankie and Aldo have mixed results but are ranked in the divisions the went down to. Renato went up but is not ranked at 155. Lamas is not ranked here. Have to look when he stopped being ranked.

155: That's a damn scary Champion + top 4 lol. 4 Wrestlers are ranked (Lee, Gregor, Hernandez and Islam) + Aloe Vera.
Overrated Hooker is finally at his real place at 15

Looking at these rankings LW indeed had more wrestlers than 135 and 145 even in before Khabib retired.

Your thoughts bro?

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

First that was a great read. But because LW is my favorite division ever (especially the Khabib era LW) and Khabib is my favorite fighter and personal GOAT I can't help but feel your comments are slanderous lmao

155 is the for me the best blend of KO power, speed, size and athleticism. That's why I am 100% comfortable saying cejudo, Aldo and MM at 155 (size parity) would get absolutely MAULED by Khabib I can't say the same for GSP and Jones against those 3 I mentioned

https://www.mma-stats.com/rankings/2019-10-07

Here's the rankings of October 7, 2019
I picked this date because it's a fair judgement of not too long ago and not too recent.

Bantamweight

ChampionHenry Cejudo
1Marlon Moraes
2Aljamain Sterling
3Cory Sandhagen
4Petr Yan
5Raphael Assuncao
6Pedro Munhoz
7Dominick Cruz
8Jimmie Rivera
9Cody Garbrandt
10Cody Stamann
11Rob Font
12John Dodson
13Song Yadong
14Urijah Faber
15Thomas Almeida

Featherweight
ChampionMax Holloway
1Alexander Volkanovski
2Brian Ortega
3Jose Aldo
4Frankie Edgar
5Zabit Magomedsharipov
6Chan Sung Jung
7Yair Rodriguez
8Jeremy Stephens
9Renato Moicano
10Josh Emmett
11Calvin Kattar
12Shane Burgos
13Mirsad Bektic
14Ryan Hall
15Arnold Allen

Lightweight
ChampionKhabib Nurmagomedov
1Tony Ferguson
2Dustin Poirier
3Conor McGregor
4Justin Gaethje
5Donald Cerrone
6Al Iaquinta
7Paul Felder
8Kevin Lee
9Edson Barboza
10Anthony Pettis
11Gregor Gillespie
12Charles Oliveira
13Alexander Hernandez
14Islam Makhachev
15Dan Hooker


First thoughts

135: 12-15 are now gone. Tail end of 135 was pretty weak back in then

145: Alot of fighters in the top moved to other divisions. Those that went down like Frankie and Aldo have mixed results but are ranked in the divisions the went down to. Renato went up but is not ranked at 155. Lamas is not ranked here. Have to look when he stopped being ranked.

155: That's a damn scary Champion + top 4 lol. 4 Wrestlers are ranked (Lee, Gregor, Hernandez and Islam) + Aloe Vera.
Overrated Hooker is finally at his real place at 15

Looking at these rankings LW indeed had more wrestlers than 135 and 145 even in before Khabib retired.

Your thoughts bro?

I'll get back to you in a couple of days bro, that was a great read also, I'm just pretty busy right now with IRL stuff.

 

[DestinedAussie]

LW champion reign look back 2012-2021 in reverse order (interim not included):

• Khabib Nurmagomedov - 3 defenses
• Conor McGregor - 0 defenses
• Eddie Alvarez - 0 defenses
• Rafael dos Anjos - 1 defense
• Anthony Pettis - 1 defense
• Benson Henderson - 3 defenses

What do you think the future looks like?

Kind of amazing to think Henderson has as defenses as Khabib. Shows you how nobody has really been able to dominate the division long term.

 

[DebtCollectorMMA]

McGregor 4 defenses before he wraps it up

 

[bbandito925]

I think eventually we'll see a champ beat the record for more than 3 defenses.
I could see it being Charles if he wins, since he's so young.
I don't think Chandler would fight long enough to beat it.

Charles isn't young anymore though.
Plus he is in the lightweight division, guys go downhill at around 31-33 years old in that division.

I bet you Charles is at his peak right now, he only gets worse from here.