UFC194: When was the last time we saw the best 4 fighters of a division in one night?

This event essentially features the opening round of a four-man tournament between the consensus best middleweights in the world. What's even more exciting is that there is no one fighter who is clearly a head above the rest. Who's going to win it?

My take on the Champ's chances:

Spoiler

Chris has it toughest in his first match as it appears that Rockhold is a more versatile fighter. What the champ does have going for him is his mental and physically durability. I feel that he should be able to handle whatever Rockhold throws his way and give it back just as hard or harder.

He'll have a tougher time if he meets Yoel in the finals. I think he'll be able to handle Jacare's pace but he might not be able to handle Yoel's bursts of pure explosiveness and athleticism as easily.

To me, it's a tossup.

 

GSP/Hendricks
Lawler/MacDonald

 

Middleweight got so epic. Too bad Anderson is gone

 

Are you high on drugs? UFC 189 Middleweight Chris?

 

I don't think Lawler was even considered top 4 at the time. I remember arguing against someone who was saying that he was going to lose to Rory because he was a lesser version of Jake Ellenberger, whom Rory dominated.

In retrospect, sure. Not at the time though. Especially since he was only on a 2 fight win streak against a washed up Koscheck and an unranked Voelker.

 

Oops. Wrong event. I'm still thinking Aldo vs McGregor was UFC 189. Fixed.

Needless to say, the MW tournament being topped off with that superfight makes for a ridiculously stacked card.

 

lol what
Chris has it the EASIEST among them, by a wide margin. Rockhold has nothing for Chris, and he will look like a helpless schoolchild in this fight. I swear, Rockhold is the most overrated fighter on sherdog just because he beat a #dadbod Machida.

I'd favor Yoel and Romero over him too.

 

You must've meant Souza and Romero. Well, he already has a win over Jacare, and has gotten leaps and bounds better since then, whereas Souza, although still elite, has not added as much to his game.

 

yeah, I meant Jacare. And while both Rockhold and Jacare have improved since their fight [which was very close], I feel Jacare has improved more. His dominance over Okami and Mousasi was quite shocking. I accept that Machida is a bigger win than either of those, but something was very wrong about him that night. I feel that fight said more about Machida's decline than Rockhold's improvements. or maybe I'm just a biased hater.

 

Don't get me wrong. I never thought much of Rockhold going back as far as his early Strikeforce days. I underestimated him in his first match with Jacare and continued to do so up until the Machida fight.

Gotta give a man his dues.

 

UFC 158

St Pierre vs Diaz
Condit vs Hendricks

 

Koscheck wasn't washed up at that point. It was the beating Robby out on him that made his downward slide apparent.

 

Actually Kos was a pretty big favor in that fight and coming off a pretty close fight with Hendricks

 

I think Jacare has gotten way better than Rockhold. His grappling speaks for itself, but the way he outstruck and hurt Mousasi while standing was impressive. Rockhold's striking doesn't seem to have gotten any better. He's been knocked out by Vitor since then and Machida was punching him in the face at will before it went to the ground.

I see Weidman also punching Rockhold in the face at will, except Rockhold can't take it to the ground this time.

 

To each his own.

How do you see Jacare vs Romero going? How does the winner hold up against the champ?

 

I'm going with Jacare. Romero has looked very impressive, but he still had some trouble in the Kennedy fight.

I think Weidman is the best guy in the division, though I see Jacare giving him the toughest fight out of everyone else.

If I had to rank these guys I'd go Weidman, Jacare, Romero, Rockhold.

 

Alot of you sleep on Jacare, dont forget that this is the guy who outgrappled Werdum in the mundials
and even beat Maia in pure grappling, he is the #1 grappler in all of MMA no doubt.

 

That weekend the 4 best MW and 4 best FW will fight, Edgar/Mendes, Aldo/McGregor and Chris/Luke and Jacare/Yoel.

 

I have Jacare beating Yoel. He can certainly control him and negate his athleticism.

However, I think Yoel is slightly more dangerous for Chris because Chris is very willing to take punches to try and land his own. That could open up some opportunities for a guy like Yoel.

I believe that Chris can keep it on the feet against Jacare and get a competitive but clear win.

 

Rare situation!