Phil Davis/Ryan Bader left the UFC as top 5 fighters, and are still top 5.

[RiotWyatt]

Meanwhile, in the UFC, Oezdemir, a Bellator reject, just challenged for the title while Shogun, Latifi and Blachowicz are knocking on the doors to challenge.

 

[MikalP]

Some divisions have lots of talent depth elsewhere, others don't. The only potential #1 that isn't in the UFC, though, is Moose. Otherwise, they have the top guy in each weight class on lock

 

[Gabe]

Light heavyweight is so weak it's unreal.

 

[Bluntforce420]

Some divisions have lots of talent depth elsewhere, others don't. The only potential #1 that isn't in the UFC, though, is Moose. Otherwise, they have the top guy in each weight class on lock

Rory?

 

[xP]

Bader wouldn't be getting a title shot even if he was in the UFC this whole time. They gave Gus a title shot coming off a knockout loss over Bader who was on a streak, and it was the right decision honestly. Bader is boring and completely crumbles against the very best.

The same is mostly true for Davis but he's at least entertaining when he's rolling over people like he did Newton and he doesn't embarrass himself against elite guys.

The UFC probably doesnt really miss them.

 

[One MMA Fan]

LHW is the weakest division in the UFC.

DC gone in a year and USADA Jones.. just Gus and then a huge gap and just a bunch of names.

 

[RiotWyatt]

Rory?

FW, LW and WW are deep divisions and the best of Bellator could very likely defeat the best of UFC on any given day. Freaking animals in all 3 divisions.

 

[xP]

FW, LW and WW are deep divisions and the best of Bellator could very likely defeat the best of UFC on any given day. Freaking animals in all 3 divisions.

LW and WW I highly doubt. Who do you have in mind besides Rory? Lima and Chandler are good but they aren't beating the very best.

 

[RiotWyatt]

LW and WW I highly doubt. Who do you have in mind besides Rory? Lima and Chandler are good but they aren't beating the very best.

For LW, I use Bendo as a guage. After losing his title, he went from being robbed against Cerrone and then piecing 2-0 at WW against top contenders in the UFC. Then when he got to Bellator, he lost at WW, was losing against the FW champ before a freak injury, then lost to Chandler and Patricky at LW. Bendo is far from out of his prime. If anything, he's finally just starting to decline.

 

[TheBrownRanger]

Fighters are labeled "out of prime" once they lose outside of the UFC.

Neither guy has that label as Davis lost to Bader, another UFC guy.

If King Mo beats Ryan Bader, people will claim Bader is out of his prime. Once that happens, neither fighter will be considered top 5. Mark my words.

 

[xP]

For LW, I use Bendo as a guage. After losing his title, he went from being robbed against Cerrone and then piecing 2-0 at WW against top contenders in the UFC. Then when he got to Bellator, he lost at WW, was losing against the FW champ before a freak injury, then lost to Chandler and Patricky at LW. Bendo is far from out of his prime. If anything, he's finally just starting to decline.

I don't really think of Thatch and Masvidal as top contenders at all. Thatch was still very untested and Masvidal had only fought at UFC WW once. I kind of thought Bendo was starting to decline before he even left the UFC but he was still a very good LW. Bellators top LWs would be a great fit for sure but I don't see them at the top of the ladder.

The Bellator FW division was really elite a few years ago but I haven't been following it like i was so i don't know how those guys are doing nowadays.

 

[blingking]

Bader wouldn't be getting a title shot even if he was in the UFC this whole time. They gave Gus a title shot coming off a knockout loss over Bader who was on a streak, and it was the right decision honestly. Bader is boring and completely crumbles against the very best.

The same is mostly true for Davis but he's at least entertaining when he's rolling over people like he did Newton and he doesn't embarrass himself against elite guys.

The UFC probably doesnt really miss them.

Gus getting a shot was so weird since he got killed by rumble in the first round of their fight.

That being said, Bader vs DC was a hard sell. I believe prior to DC getting plugged in vs Rumble that he was like a -800 favorite vs Bader in their scheduled fight.

 

[DS66]

Whenever Bader was getting close to a UFC title shot, he got finished by a better fighter. He was never gonna be a UFC champ. Yeah he's still probably a top 5 LHW (due to Rumble and Jon being out of the picture for now), but so what. Losing him to Bellator isn't a huge loss for the UFC at all. And Phil Davis is a notch below him.

 

[xP]

Gus getting a shot was so weird since he got killed by rumble in the first round of their fight.

That being said, Bader vs DC was a hard sell. I believe prior to DC getting plugged in vs Rumble that he was like a -800 favorite vs Bader in their scheduled fight.

Yeah, it was weird but there was nobody else at the time and it ended up being a very competitive FOTY candidate. Whereas DC would have probably ran through Bader. Bader managed to look much worse against Rumble than Gus did when they fought later on, as well.

 

[chinarice]

Although Davis lost to Bader twice, he would probably put up a better fight against DC than Bader would.

 

[RiotWyatt]

Bader wouldn't be getting a title shot even if he was in the UFC this whole time. They gave Gus a title shot coming off a knockout loss over Bader who was on a streak, and it was the right decision honestly. Bader is boring and completely crumbles against the very best.

The same is mostly true for Davis but he's at least entertaining when he's rolling over people like he did Newton and he doesn't embarrass himself against elite guys.

The UFC probably doesnt really miss them.

Thatch was all the rage at the time. Just about everyone thought he was too big for Bendo and would run through him. Masvidal was tearing things up at LW before moving to WW so if anything, that meant Bendo was still capable of beating top LWs. Then Masvidal went on a good run at WW afterwards, so there's that.

 

[RiotWyatt]

Yeah, it was weird but there was nobody else at the time and it ended up being a very competitive FOTY candidate. Whereas DC would have probably ran through Bader. Bader managed to look much worse against Rumble than Gus did when they fought later on, as well.

You can't say that with absolute certainty though. Bader has some good wins: Lil Nog, Rampage, OSP, Phil Davis, Evans, Latifi. DC got a title shot with wins over Cummins and Hendo. Gus got a shot after getting KTFO.

Also, Gus and Bader both looked equally miserable against Rumble. So did Teixera, Lil Nog and Manuwa. That kind of KO power is no joke.

 

[JayE]

LW and WW I highly doubt. Who do you have in mind besides Rory? Lima and Chandler are good but they aren't beating the very best.

Koreshkov would be a threat to anyone in the UFC.

 

[xP]

Thatch was all the rage at the time. Just about everyone thought he was too big for Bendo and would run through him. Masvidal was tearing things up at LW before moving to WW so if anything, that meant Bendo was still capable of beating top LWs. Then Masvidal went on a good run at WW afterwards, so there's that.

Oh yeah, I was all over the Thatch hype train. Thought he'd be a contender or do a lot better than he did. You can't go by just the perception though. He was totally untested at a high level and ended up going 0-3 since losing to Bendo. Masvidal is a good win, yeah.

You can't say that with absolute certainty though. Bader has some good wins: Lil Nog, Rampage, OSP, Phil Davis, Evans, Latifi. DC got a title shot with wins over Cummins and Hendo. Gus got a shot after getting KTFO.

Also, Gus and Bader both looked equally miserable against Rumble. So did Teixera, Lil Nog and Manuwa. That kind of KO power is no joke.

Yeah, Gus got completely crushed but there was just something about the Bader loss, I don't know. Bader had a great case for a title shot on paper for sure.

Unrelated but I really wish we saw more Rumble at LHW. He could get some money in Bellator, maybe.

 

[xP]

Koreshkov would be a threat to anyone in the UFC.

For sure. I forgot about him. Haven't really been keeping up with bellator.