GSP, Cruz, and Jones were all champions and all three lost their title without losing a fight. Of these three which is the most likely to comeback and beat the current champion? I rank them as Cruz because his is just staying healthy, Jones depending on if he has jail time or not, and GSP because he seems to be happy retired and is the only of the three to vacate not be stripped.
While I agree that his loses are out of arrogance and a freak injury he did actually lose his belt after a fight not like GSP (retirement), Cruz (inactivity), and Jones (Substance abuse issues)
omg. anderson knew he was fucked. that showboating was to make weidman second guess himelf. weidman is just the better striker, grappler, sub artist than silva.
All three have a good chance to win the belt back if they returned, although Jones and Cruz were dominating guys in their last fights and GSP can't remember his last fight. I think Jones has the best chance both to return and to beat the guy with the strap now, who he already beat. Cruz may or may not be back, and for how long is anyone's guess. I think he would have beaten Dillashaw when he was 100%, but who knows what kind of shape he'll be in. It's hard to bet against GSP at WW. The time off may have helped him clear his head a bit, and he could have a stretch of fights where he looks reinvigorated. I think it is unlikely he ever returns.
I say Jones because he's actually beaten the guy who is holding the belt right now. Then gsp if he came back I believe he would beat lawler. Cruz while atm is the most likely to get a title fight, I feel it's a tossup and he's 50% chance at best to win it back
So many qestions though. Will GSP even come back? Is Jones still on Archie Bunker? Will Cruz ever recover? Assuming best case scenario and all three come back in good health, and looking at the state of their respective divisions I'd say GSP has the best chance.
Jones by far. Cruz without fucked up knees and the ring rust vs TJ is a tough pick though. Lawler would sprawl and brawl GSP and beat him up worst than Hendricks, GSP was getting takedowns stuffed by Diaz.
Jones is the only one that would make sense. He's basically Tysoning his life right now and Tyson never looked the same after prison so it's hard to say if he'll be his world beating self. He's good enough to still wreck whoever has been warming the belt for him though. Cruz, fuck man. I've always liked Dom but I don't think he'll ever win a title again. Same thing with Georges, who clearly lost a step after his surgery. I mean c'mon guys, they've both had double knee surgeries and been away a long time. I'm fine with GSP staying retired, the man has nothing left to prove. Dom on the other hand, I feel like we've been denied a stellar undefeated run since he whipped MM because of his issues.
