Rodolfo Viera, can he dethrone Israel Adesanya??

yea but safarov is absolutely terrible

if he can catch him like that I don’t think it boads well for him against izzy

Well, hopefully other guys have less dangerous toe nails. I'm not worried too much about rodolfo's striking progression yet, but I guess we'll see. It's too bad he pulled out of his fight that was supposed happen in two weeks
 
Come on man, Costa has absolutely nothing on Rodolfo in terms of BJJ. Idk even think Costa can submit Izzy if he had him on his back and there’s absolute no doubt in my mind that Rodolfo would. The man has a crushing top game, his knee slice is amazing.

Look bro, I know about Rodolfo, yes he’s a legend, he’s the pride of GFT, he wrecked everyone in jiu Jitsu competition except for Buchecha, but man, he’s not the only wicked jiu Jitsu player to enter MMA.

Galvao, Roger, Kron, Burns are elite AF, and even they get slowed down on the ground because strikes and no gi + people at least purple belt level = a tough puzzle to solve.

I like Rodolfo, I just am not sold on ANY jiu Jitsu medalist wrecking people in MMA, Damian was more an exception. It just takes a ridiculous effort to learn wrestling and striking when your base is BJJ. So much easier if you’re a wrestler or striker to learn BJJ IMO.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love for Rodolfo to dominate. The fact he isn’t Gracie lineage makes it more cool.
 
Look bro, I know about Rodolfo, yes he’s a legend, he’s the pride of GFT, he wrecked everyone in jiu Jitsu competition except for Buchecha, but man, he’s not the only wicked jiu Jitsu player to enter MMA.

Galvao, Roger, Kron, Burns are elite AF, and even they get slowed down on the ground because strikes and no gi + people at least purple belt level = a tough puzzle to solve.

I like Rodolfo, I just am not sold on ANY jiu Jitsu medalist wrecking people in MMA, Damian was more an exception. It just takes a ridiculous effort to learn wrestling and striking when your base is BJJ. So much easier if you’re a wrestler or striker to learn BJJ IMO.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love for Rodolfo to dominate. The fact he isn’t Gracie lineage makes it more cool.
I agree, but I still think he can beat Israel if he gets him to the ground man. Granted, that’s a big if and he still needs to win many more fights to even be considered title fight worthy.
 
If his wrestling is good enough. Not a lot of BJJ guys have the wrestling and pressure though.
 
He'll probably end up like most high level BJJ guys do. Face someone who forces them to stand then they get f'd up. I think that will happen before he can even get to Izzy. Off the top of my head Jacare is one of the few very high level BJJ guys to become decent strikers but his was mostly from his power, not really technique.
 
Would rather see Rodolfo vs Khamzat at this point. I think it's a decent matchup and a good step up for Khamzat in terms of quality of opponent.
 
Also, don’t underestimate what a Jiujiteiro can do nowadays, look at what Lovato did to Mousasi, completely controlled him and he was extremely new to the sport and even had a medical condition.
 
Its not really a stretch to say an absolute BJJ beast like Rodolfo would sub Izzy if it got to the ground, its common sense.

Hes young and I cant see many guys wanting to fight him, hes high risk low reward at this stage in his career.

Weve seen enough BJJ guys who are world renowned try and cut it in MMA but they've come up short, he needs a few more wins but I do enjoy seeing him compete.
 
If we could pull prime Rockhold from 2015 and put him in there with Izzy I think he would have the best chance to beat Izzy, based on that crushing, crushing top game. I fully expect Cannonier to beat Bobby and get next title shot, but I don't see him beating Izzy at this point. I hate Adesanya but the dude is a monster striker in a division full of them.
 
I think Rafael Lovato Jr would have a better chance. He's actually proven himself against high level competition. Such a shame that he's dealing with the brain condition, would love to see him in the UFC before it's too late.
 
I made a thread a while back bout him beeing the dark horse at mw. I stand by it but improvments must be made, and quickly of he is the one to dethrone izzy
 
I think Rafael Lovato Jr would have a better chance. He's actually proven himself against high level competition. Such a shame that he's dealing with the brain condition, would love to see him in the UFC before it's too late.
It’s a shame indeed man, it’s incredible how he was able to beat Mousasi early into his career and with that medical condition.
 
I made a thread a while back bout him beeing the dark horse at mw. I stand by it but improvments must be made, and quickly of he is the one to dethrone izzy
Yup, I’m excited for his next few fights. Sucks that he pulled out though.
 
Rodolfos bjj is off the charts. But I still think he has A TON to improve in his stand up.
 
He needs to get busy if he ever wants to fight for the belt. Getting injured and pulling out of the fight he had scheduled on a couple weeks is not doing him any favors. He needs to fight (and win) at least 3 times a year over the next couple years for a title shot.
 
I totally forgot about him, no doubt, if Rodolfo gets him to the ground, he can submit Izzy. The dude is world class and one of the all time greats on the ground. He’s only 31 too! With not a lot of miles.

I know, still very green, but with a couple of more wins I’d be intrigued to see this match.

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Nope. I'm a bjj black belt too. Rodolfo is to slow with bad striking and striking defense.
 
Nope. I'm a bjj black belt too. Rodolfo is to slow with bad striking and striking defense.
Yea, I’m a brown belt myself. Been grappling for 14 years. Agreed, he needs to work on his transitioning and do a better job of using his striking for takedowns. However, with his pedigree anyone has a chance.
 
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