MMA has basically stopped evolving in the last 10 years

Seahawks Fan said:
As the title says, I believe that MMA has basically stopped evolving in the last 10 years. I'm not saying that this is a good thing, just that fighters seem to have peaked about 10 or so years or go and have basically remained the same in terms of talent and ability.

The best evidence for this is that if you go back 10 years and look at the champions they are as good or better than the champions of today.

In 2013 the UFC had champions such as GSP, DJ, Jon Jones, Benson Henderson, Chris Weidman, Cain Velasquez etc.

The prime version of any of those fighters would be a champion in today's UFC or would be in serious contention. And if you go down the rankings the fighters from then are comparable to the fighters today.

My feeling is that we have pretty much hit the peak in terms of the evolution of fighters. The fighters we've seen in the last 10 years are pretty much as good as they'll ever be.
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Nah. Tactics have changed. You’d be really shocked when gsp gets stuffed against the cage for 5 rounds vs usman
 
The training only improves. The quality of athlete from the USA/Canada/UK seems to have regressed over time, if anything, likely because people have figured out that the pay is shit, as is the toll on your body. Heavier weight classes haven't gotten any better.

At the same time though, there are more high-level fighters from more countries than ever before: Australia, France, China, Dagestan/Chechnya, Europe, Mexico, Ecuador. And on and on.

So overall I'd say the sport has marginally progressed, it just isn't going ahead in leaps and bounds. Lots of fighters from 10 years ago would be competitive. That's the same for most sports. It isn't like Rasheed Wallace, Alonzo Mourning, Steve Nash, Scottie Pippen wouldn't be just as good in today's NBA.
 
HHJ said:
He beat chuck Lidell and Forrest griffin. Two former champs. Not that far removed from those times either
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He was instructed by his team how to defeat guys who wanted to brawl when was racking up points

once that point era fully came in he was getting put to sleep
 
The evolution of cross-training and finding what works came around a while back.

What we should start to see is an overall higher level of fighter through all divisions.
A further 5 to 10 years from now seems super exciting to me.

Except for HW.

HW always will remain the outlier.
 
orca said:
lol so u mean fedor fighting cans took alot of damage and was out of his prime?
maybe drug testing ruined him in strikeforce?
have u considerd this?

prime fedor with drug testing is a b level fighter?
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Pride was the top HW organization back then. It’s not the fights themselves that are taxing, it’s the training, sparring, and by the time fedor got to his 30’s he hardly grappled anymore, because his body wasn’t what it once was 6-0 against UFC Champions during that timeframe.

Everybody used drugs back then. GSP had syringe marks on his stomach. Who cares??? It matters now, because drug testing is the norm.
 
HavokHarmon said:
What are you basing that on? The fact that he didn’t keep fighting? By that logic a champion is required to fight until they lose the belt in order to not be afraid, which is a pretty ridiculous standard.

The fact is despite how much you may dislike the decision GSP DID in fact beat Hendricks, who was the next champion after him. He also beat a guy who beat Lawler, the next champ after that, and he beat a guy who beat Woodley, the next champ after that, so you can’t really use the MMamath argument because it cuts against you harder than it supports you.

On top of that GSP was supposed to fight Woodley in his return. It was Woodleys lackluster performance against Maia which closed the door on that, so it doesn’t make any sense to say that GSP wanted nothing to do with the champs that came after him when he was lined up to fight one of them.

All that is to say, you’re certainly entitled to your opinion. I can respect the argument that GSP was boring during the latter portion of his title reign and that he played it safe and lacked a desire to finish.

As an example I personally found his fight with Shields to be exciting at the time because of the story around it and everything that it had taken to get there. Shields had been undefeated for about 6 years and was riding a 15 fight win streak that included names like Okami, Dan Henderson, Condit, and even a guy you claim GSP wanted nothing to do with in Lawler. He was easily the best WW outside of the UFC at the time and GSP had openly campaigned to get him there because he wanted to fight him. But without the backstory and an understanding of the stylistic matchup, it was boring as fuck. I wouldn’t show it to someone I was trying to get interested in the sport. So if you found it boring, I totally get it and I respect that point of view. But you’re stating opinions about his motivation that you can’t possibly know, and frankly struggle to support, and stating them as though they’re facts.
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You only need to rewatch the first round of that fight. They each had a takedown, JH landed 4 big shots, plus a bunch hard elbows, and GSP had a head kick that grazed JH. That’s it. JH won that fight.

I need to rephrase that. He wasn’t physically scared of his opponents. Hendricks, Lawler, or Woodley. He was scared for his legacy. That’s why he quit when he did. He wanted to be the GOAT. That’s why he fought Bisping, because he was totally beatable. GSP is very smart, but he also fought like he was protecting his legacy. Meaning He didn’t any risks.
 

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HW and LHW have most certainly devolved, and I don't see much improvement in other divisions other than that the low-level fighters being better rounded. The elite fighters aren't better, and there aren't more of them.
 
when pride was at its prime, their fighters would destroy todayd Is fighters, the skills were equal, the desire was greater. it was a spectacle, it was grand, there wasnt a better show on earth,. today fighters , almost dont seem to care, its just something they have to do.

honestly, I don't watch many events today, why would I? its all meh. we are well past the heyday, this is the downward spiral. watered down trash
 
HavokHarmon said:
Woodley got beat by Shields who got beat by GSP. I think he’d be fine in the era that followed, or this one for that matter.
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So Shields beat Woodley when he was champion???? Or maybe Woodley EVOLVED, and got better, and then became champion himself.
 
WokeWarrior said:
hmmmm i say you are both right and wrong

For the exception of Anderson Jon jones DJ and Cain, alot of those champs would of gotten creamed.
For instance we all know PRIME IZZY crushes weidman. Prime anderson would of toyed with weidman.
Prime usman TYRON and Robbie takes out GSP. tyron hits too hard, robbie hits hard, and usman is gsp 2.0.
on the other side

Now prime anderson walks through weidman luke Strickland Ddp Bisping derrick brunson , the only issues
would be IZZY Rob whit Paulo AND YOEL. Oh and how could i forget KHAMZAT. Khamzat and Yoel would be a major
problem due to the take down

Francis runs through heavy weight division back then, assuming hes allowed to juice too.

and lastly i will say the 3 kings of the 205 which is Jones DC and Anthony rumble johnson
runs through and remains the top 3 in any era of the 205 division. name a person in 205
whose beating prime rumble and DC.......
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Just say you hate GSP and get it over with.
 
Woody869 said:
You only need to rewatch the first round of that fight. They each had a takedown, JH landed 4 big shots, plus a bunch hard elbows, and GSP had a head kick that grazed JH. That’s it. JH won that fight.

I need to rephrase that. He wasn’t physically scared of his opponents. Hendricks, Lawler, or Woodley. He was scared for his legacy. That’s why he quit when he did. He wanted to be the GOAT. That’s why he fought Bisping, because he was totally beatable. GSP is very smart, but he also fought like he was protecting his legacy. Meaning He didn’t any risks.
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You still can’t say that he was scared for his legacy to fight Woodley because he was set to fight him. The bout was pulled by Dana at the press conference after Woodleys fight with Maia due to Woodleys lack luster performance, at least in his eyes.
 
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