Most Underrated by Division (Zuffa Only)

JonSnitchPhones

JonSnitchPhones

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135 - Viana - Handed Macapa his only loss at 145 in spite of a substantial size disadvantage. Dropped down to his natural weight, faced another big guy in Duran, who was coming off an impressive win over Rivera, and Viana knocked him the f out. Everybody is talking about Perez, but there may be more substance there with Viana.

145 - Holloway - I didn't think the win over Leonard was all that disputable. Holloway landed about 3 to 1 in crisp shots it seemed. He was winning the exchanges. That's kind of how everybody fares in a stand-up fight vs. Leonard. Leonard has his moments. And I thought Max showed some evolution in his ground game. His guard looked semi dangerous. First time against Poirier he was winning on the feet, and this time might have a better chance to at least get the fight back to the feet.

155 - Tibau - Almost all the media cards had him beating both Guillard and Nurmagomedov. That would have given him one loss (Miller) in his last 11 fights in a stacked division. Beat RDA and Drinaldo, who many were high on. And if you go back earlier in his career in Brazil, he racked up numerous notable wins: Thiago Alves, Adriano Martins, Carlos Indio, Camoes, Romario, etc.

170 - Patrick (not Lucky) - Well-Rounded guy and good athlete. Coming off a long layoff and technical loss he's a forgotten man. But I don't see how Ebersole even beat him. He wall and stalled, while Patrick mounted offense. That fight separates Patrick from a 14-fight win streak.

185 - Jacare - he should have gotten the Rockhold decision. Lit up Brunson who just upset Leben. Has win over Shlemenko. Only legit loss in last 18 has been Mousasi. Can say a similar thing about Lombard.

205 - Mousasi - That Jardine decision was a joke. Won 30-26 IMO. Beat him up, threatened with subs, surrounding nothing TD's. As aforementioned only guy to legitimately beat Lombard and Jacare in their 185 runs. Beat Hunt, Babalu, and OSP above 185. Only loss to King Mo. Another guy who has been forgotten about because of recent inactivity.

HW - Browne - I think you got to throw out the Big Foot loss due to injury. Before that he's the last guy to beat Struve, and if the nod should have gone to anyone in the Kongo fight it was him.
 
Jacare and Mousasi are definitely not underrated
 
Jacare lost to Rockhold quite clearly.

Pierce at 170. Wiman at 155.
 
JayElectra said:
Jacare lost to Rockhold quite clearly.

Pierce at 170. Wiman at 155.
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Jacare didn't lose quite clearly according to most media. Most media had him winning, actually. Not that they're gospel, but that's an indicator it was hardly clear. Actually, a bunch had Jacare by more than 1 round. From my perspective, he landed the harder shots, and won the grappling as well. Rockhold was pitter pattering. That doesn't work for me, nor the unified rules.

Pierce is a fine shout at 155. He's the close decision loss king, against top comp. But you could make a case that Baczynski beat him in his last fight, and he was in major danger against A-Train. He's a gatekeeper. Not quite good enough to beat top tier, not quite bad enough to lose to the mid tier.
 
Really wouldn't say Mousasi was underrated. Holloway, also not underrated just a little green.
 
JonSnitchPhones said:
Jacare didn't lose quite clearly according to most media. Most media had him winning, actually. Not that they're gospel, but that's an indicator it was hardly clear. Actually, a bunch had Jacare by more than 1 round. From my perspective, he landed the harder shots, and won the grappling as well. Rockhold was pitter pattering. That doesn't work for me, nor the unified rules.

Pierce is a fine shout at 155. He's the close decision loss king, against top comp. But you could make a case that Baczynski beat him in his last fight, and he was in major danger against A-Train. He's a gatekeeper. Not quite good enough to beat top tier, not quite bad enough to lose to the mid tier.
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The cases that could be made for Pierce beating Koscheck (who I thought he clearly beat) and Hendricks (which I have to rewatch) are far more compelling than the one that you can make for Baczynski.

The media was relatively split from what I remember (regarding Jacare v. Rockhold). My memory is a little hazy on the fight but I remember giving a fairly confident 48-47 for Rockhold. I'll rewatch it, though.
 
Holloway was a heavy favorite over Garcia, and barely won. How is he underrated?

Mousasi? He may be the most overrated guy in MMA for the past few years.

Both are actually overrated.
 
been saying this for years....joe lauzon.
 
JonesBones said:
Holloway was a heavy favorite over Garcia, and barely won. How is he underrated?

Mousasi? He may be the most overrated guy in MMA for the past few years.

Both are actually overrated.
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Holloway is underrated TODAY because of what that fight did to his rep, unfairly IMO. Holloway landed the cleaner shots all night, and deserved to win a hard fought decision. He beat Garcia in a stand-up battle similarly to how KZ, Hominick, and Roop did or deserved to beat him. Those are solid FW's. Even Roop beat KZ and IMO should have gotten the nod against Hioki. Nothing wrong with being in that class at 21 years old. With natural evolution, he should have a really bright future.

As for Mousasi, you didn't really back up why he's overrated. He was ground out by an elite wrestler in King Mo. No damage was really done to him. Outside of that, he should be spotless since 2006. The Jardine mockery and recent inactivity, plus infrequent fighting in the States, is why he's underrated in point of fact. Lombard and Jacare?!?! Those a good grapplers with striking ability. He'd be the biggest threat to Andy at 185 along with Weidman.
 
I can't think of a single underrated fighter. Not one on a consistent basis.
 
Mike Pyle has 3 straight wins at 170. Stefan Struve has 4 straight at HW.
 
I agree on Tibau. He's a monster. I think sometimes the fact that he's so big and strong for his division plays against him sometimes when he's fighting a faster, smaller guy and his striking defense just isn't that good. If he lost some muscle and gained some speed he'd easily be the most underrated fighter in UFC right now.
 
Stefan Struve is not underrated. I frequently hear about how he has a legitimate chance at contending at HW. He doesn't.
 
beastman said:
Mike Pyle has 3 straight wins at 170. Stefan Struve has 4 straight at HW.
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That's the opposite of what makes you underrated. You put together win streaks, you gain hype. For example Matt Brown has built some momentum with a win streak and now people say he's underrated. Well that's easy to say now, and the more it's said, by nature the less it remains true. It used to be true.

In MMA you get underrated by recent losses/bad performances caused by misfortune or a mental lapse, or by inactivity so as people start to deem you irrelevant. Most jump on hype trains as they're rolling but then jump off at first wobble.
 
LW: Diaz
WW: Diaz, Bj Penn
MW: Bisping
LHW: Shogun
HW: Fedor
 
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