- Joined
- Jan 20, 2014
- Messages
- 39,921
- Reaction score
- 19,804
Thatch, McFedies, Sokoudjou, Vanatta, Erik Silva, Anthony Johnson
He was on the cover of sports illustrated, it was Pettis who got on the wheeties box.There’s almost too many to count let alone list. Roger Huerta, had tons of hype and was on the Wheaties Box.
Tiki Ghosen was one of the first winningest fighters to lose everytime he competed in the UFC.Gilbert Melendez came to the UFC at 31 years old and was ranked by Sherdog as the #8 p4p fighter in the world, ahead of Demetrious Johnson: https://www.sherdog.com/news/rankings/Sherdogcoms-PoundforPound-Top-10-48151
He proceeded to go 1-6, with his only win coming against Diego Sanchez.
Biggest bust in UFC history.
Thought Thomas was going to be decent top 3-5 fighter, but damn that shitty defense & chin failed him too youngGuy is a journeyman in a shallow division, imo.
Thomas Almeida though...
Conor McGregor.
Had the size + ability + power to reign unchallenged in the FW division (beat Aldo, Holloway, Poirier, beat everyone, could've continued at that lower weight).
As soon as he became FW Champion, Conor vacated the FW, fell in love with himself, gained weight, and proceeded on an unprecedented losing streak ... failing to live up to his potential as a serious martial artist and FW Champ.
Completely changed his style from free-floating karateka, where he was his most dangerous, to a flat-footed, "wannabe boxer" ... where not only has he failed to get a KO ever since, but has been KO'd 3x since.
Total waste of talent.
A guy who had a similar bust, but plenty of time on his hands was Will Brooks.he had a decade long career prior which is usually the time up for guys at lower weight classes. Ironically his best performance in the UFC was a close fight he lost against Bendo.
Something funny about a Strikeforce guy coming in only to lose to WEC/Bellator/Dream vets (Bendo, Pettis and Eddie)
Keith Johnson - The Dohnson of MohnsonKeith Jardine - The Dean of Mean
He was a MW journeyman who moved up and KOed legends like Rashad and Shogun(even if they were completely shot and on the way out), got a title fight against the GOAT, and has coasted as a top 10 fighter(even if its in one of the weakest divisions) so I'd say he overperformed.Honestly I think he did fulfill what you can reasonably expect of him. He doesn't have any giga explosive movement or striking, not elite grappling either. Decent skills all around but nothing that really screams champion. In a division with Jones and Glover though, definitely no surprise he didn't get a title (though he could've gotten the Jones DQ ironically). Getting top-5 fights and a title fight imo is fulfilling expectations
Saffiedine was weird. Nobody expected him to be a top contender when he came to the UFC due to his boring style and didn't stand out much from the other point fighters in that 2013 era.Some already mentioned:
Crocop, unfortunately, but the years were behind him
Huerta, even had marketing behind him
Struve, just a personal one I thought he could string things together. In a division where everyone just had power, he had heart for days, slick submissions, and the foundation for technical striking. But it just never all clicked
Not mentioned yet:
Gunnar Nelson. Had the right skills everywhere he needed them. Except there just seemed to be a lot of missing variables, like a better weight class, better luck staying uninjured, the right opponents or a higher willingness towards violence? Idk
Tarec Saffedeine. I thought he just had the striking. Maybe not WB levels, but made up for with enough defensive grappling that Stephen didn't have.
overreem was supposed to just walk in and become hw championSaki had like 3 career ending injuries in K-1 already. Plus he had been chinny for years. Saw Roundtree sleep him live. Dude looks frail as glass.
Overeem did well I'd argue. A lot of big wins in big fights. Jury and Brooks being busts was always crazy to me. Both looked fantastic. I guess jury beating old Gomi wasn't that impressive in hindsight lolol.