I'm not sold on him, all you guys may very well be. Poirier and Alvarez actually shows skills in martial arts. Jiu Jitsu, Wrestling etc.
I didn't say beating Barboza is a fluke but like I said and mentioned many times. All I see in Gaethje is toughness and power. I keep hearing this wrestling and amazing ground game but I guess who needs it when you can just plod forward and power through to win.
i didn't mean that you thought his Barboza win was a fluke, i just meant in general, most people who think Justin Gaethje isn't that great think he just wins on power and toughness.
i don't know who said he had an amazing ground game, he has legitimate wrestling credentials but i think you're not taking into account some of the intangibles.
Gaethje has pretty good striking defense, high and tight guard, and has decent head movement while coming forward. he has very good instincts too, and contrary to what a lot of people think, he has a pretty good strategy. destroy the opponent's lead leg early and they will be at a big disadvantage in punching/kicking/and wrestling.
he also knows how to transition from striking to grappling back to striking better than most other MMA fighters. most other MMA fighters either strike, or they grapple. they don't do both at the same time like Gaethje does, and this alone makes him dangerous to anyone in my opinion.
the more i watch MMA, the less i put weight into having extremely good technique and the more weight i put into just having the balls to do what has to be done.
take Woodley vs Usman for example. Woodley is very skillful in striking and wrestling, but what good did that do him? nothing because he didn't do anything. you can have all the skill in the world and not have the balls to pull the trigger, while guys like Gaethje might not be super skillful, but they have the balls to actually USE the skills they do have. that, from my estimation, is a vastly important attribute to have that is often overlooked.
