You hear it all the time, that people later in their careers claim they are a different fighter than the past. He says he has vastly improved since he lost @ 79 to Eddie Sanchez. Maybe so. He does hold wins over Henry Miller, Bob Sapp and Sean McCorkle, but losses to Sanchez, Mu Bae Cho (or similar, won't look it up for correction in Pride) and Daniel Cormier. Where would he fit in the UFC if he was invited to compete again and how would he fare against (in or out of it): Mitrione Del Rosario Kongo Duffee Hague Barry Rothwell Yorke Graham Arlovski (was meant to fight but got cancelled) Sylvia Wain Grove Tuscherer Schaub McSweeney James Thompson Monson Gonzaga Cro Cop Staring etc I think his wins are available online to view...
I'm just not sure how much Palelei has improved since the loss to Sanchez. Sorry to say, but wins over Miller, Sapp, or McCorkle are hardly impressive. If he wants to gain the UFC's attention, he's going to have to step up and face a bigger name...Arlovski, Kharitonov, Sylvia, Monson, Grabowski, Hayes, etc.
To clarify though, I'm all about the UFC expanding their heavyweight roster and I hope they sign Palelei for one of their Australian cards.
Hulk does not want that fight. That would probably be the worst possible matchup for him out of all the available heavyweight free agents.
I think UFC should sign more heavyweight fighters, I think they should lower the bar for them to join as well. The Heavyweight division is a major cash flow, and I think UFC should look to have at least 1 HW fight in each event. Other suitable signings http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Kenny-Garner-40802 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_East http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Ruan-Potts-75842 http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Smealinho-Rama-93351 http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Vitaly-Minakov-63046 http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Damian-Grabowski-30320 http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Ante-Delija-75487
Garner is signed to an exclusive deal with M-1. Tyler East is in jail last I read. Vitaly Minakov is signed to an exclusive deal with Bellator. I would like to see Grabowski sign with the UFC, but it seems as if the UFC won't sign anyone from Poland!
He clearly must have read Chef Overeems nutrition and dieting book. This guy is a fringe top 10 at best. Big, strong, slow, poor cardio, will be 40 in 5 years.
He could be useful for an australian card. I say give him another crack at it, and give him someone like Duffee or some shit, and see how it goes.
I'd stay away from Barnett for now, although props if Soa takes that fight. Duffee, Volkov, Mitrione, Monson etc would be legit challenges and respectable decisions. Not sure if he'd win any of them, but he'd be in the fight and I'd probably take him over Monson at this stage.
Hulk is great at hyping himself up and connecting with fans. Plus he's mates with Hunt. I think he'd be a nice addition to a weak HW division.
