i always had high respect for rich. even when he was walking with the douche brigade, him/hughes/and sylvia, i still respected him.Rich Franklin is the correct answer.
Both great answers.
I really think the fans of that type are more likely to be hardcore mma fans. They've seen the same spinning wheel kicks and Gogoplatas and head kicks as others, but after watching the sport for so long, they begin to appreciate the workhorses with amazing records but relatively shitty HL reels.
I don't want to sell them short by referring to them as "workhorses." They are both very skilled, two of the best grapplers ever. But it's always methodical. The advantage is always there, but they gradually work toward exploiting it.
I really enjoy watching Elkins fight. If you had told me ten years that someone like him would be one of my favorite fighters to watch, I wouldn't have believed you. He doesn't apply to this thread because he doesn't have enough fans to really have a presence here, but he's just a gritty SOB.
When you root for a guy like that, you're rooting for the most boring fight. I'm not saying his wins are necessarily boring. I really enjoyed his victory over Pepey, but I know if Pepey won, it would've made for better TV.
I must admit I never really appreciated maias ground game until he fought gunni... I was honestly in aww when I saw maia treat Nelson like a child in the grappling exchanges. It was more impressive considering Nelson isn't a white belt on the ground. I remember in the prefight hype, Nelson was saying something along the lines of wanting to find out whose jitz is better, only to have Damian completely demolish him on th mat..man.... watching maia work a dude is very entertaining.... once he latches on to someone, he sticks to them like TAR.
Its pretty cool to watch the opponent try to get out of it. Its almost like a game inside a game.
I know the feel man. I also started appreciating the ground game much more from watching maia.I must admit I never really appreciated maias ground game until he fought gunni... I was honestly in aww when I saw maia treat Nelson like a child in the grappling exchanges. It was more impressive considering Nelson isn't a white belt on the ground. I remember in the prefight hype, Nelson was saying something along the lines of wanting to find out whose jitz is better, only to have Damian completely demolish him on th mat..
Need to rewatch that fight