Usman is still elite

[TerraRayzing]

His problem seems mental more than anything, as he himself said in the post fight interview. He has been at it for a while and his knees are shot but when he really commits, he does look like the Usman of old. You could see it in the third Leon fight as well, when he wanted to press the action, he was able to but most of the time, the dude looked wary. In the Khamzat fight, he looked hesitant in the first but you could see him build confidence as the fight went on.
That said, mental block aside, dude is still legit. His last two losses were razor close and even at 36, idk, I think he's a top 5 MW.

 

[Koya]

of course he is

 

[Gamboal]

His problem seems mental more than anything, as he himself said in the post fight interview. He has been at it for a while and his knees are shot but when he really commits, he does look like the Usman of old. You could see it in the third Leon fight as well, when he wanted to press the action, he was able to but most of the time, the dude looked wary. In the Khamzat fight, he looked hesitant in the first but you could see him build confidence as the fight went on.
That said, mental block aside, dude is still legit. His last two losses were razor close and even at 36, idk, I think he's a top 5 MW.

His last two fights were not razor close, please.

 

[TerraRayzing]

His last two fights were not razor close, please.

They were. Small bursts of offense and a few switches and you're looking at Usman as the victor, no?

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

usman is still there 100%. a proper fight camp, no more USADA, he's right there at either WW or MW IMO. he went the distance with full fight camp kamzhat, and IMO won rounds 2 and 3.

 

[IncreaseDanaPay]

They were. Small bursts of offense and a few switches and you're looking at Usman as the victor, no?

The khamzat fight was not close

 

[IncreaseDanaPay]

He should fight Belal

 

[Noraaq]

Yea. The pre fight narrative that he’s washed made no sense. Usman would beat a lot of ranked MWs. He’s good size, has elite cardio, elite grappling, and a championship pedigree.

 

[Objectively Correct]

usman is still there 100%. a proper fight camp, no more USADA, he's right there at either WW or MW IMO. he went the distance with full fight camp kamzhat, and IMO won rounds 2 and 3.

hes still there but i dont think theres even room for any of the post-usada stuff in his body. he's obviously filled to the brim with that stuff

 

[gentel]

The khamzat fight was not close

Yes it was, and the fact that it was scored for Khamzat instead of as a draw was a robbery

Usman did more damage R2 and R3

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

hes still there but i dont think theres even room for any of the post-usada stuff in his body. he's obviously filled to the brim with that stuff

i think you'd be surprised..... jk. who knows right? i think with the new testing protocols, we might see faster turn around times, quicker healing, more usage of different proteins. but yea, he definiely already looks like he's as near in perfect form as he can get.

 

[randomg1t]

he went up a weight class on 10 days notice. i was rooting for him, but i expected him to get finished. he did alright, all things considered.

it was a stupid fight to make, though. i hope he's cashing out.

 

[Eric Silva 2.0]

His problem seems mental more than anything, as he himself said in the post fight interview. He has been at it for a while and his knees are shot but when he really commits, he does look like the Usman of old. You could see it in the third Leon fight as well, when he wanted to press the action, he was able to but most of the time, the dude looked wary. In the Khamzat fight, he looked hesitant in the first but you could see him build confidence as the fight went on.
That said, mental block aside, dude is still legit. His last two losses were razor close and even at 36, idk, I think he's a top 5 MW.

Of course he's still elite. I would say he's slipping little by little. It's age, wear and tear and now 3 losses in a row. I don't like him at MW. I like him fighting at WW. I think he could possibly be a top 5 MW. I think it's a weak division. I think he gets mauled by DDP. That's the one fight I don't see him having a chance at winning.

 

[Fight Professor]

How many fighters can beat Usman? Leon, Khamzat and maybe Shavkat. Of course, he is elite.

 

[MEAN357]

Yea. The pre fight narrative that he’s washed made no sense. Usman would beat a lot of ranked MWs. He’s good size, has elite cardio, elite grappling, and a championship pedigree.

Coming of a career altering KO and a total routing in the rematch as an aging champ with highly suspect knees... shit fighters get written off for less in MMA.

I think he's still elite and would likely have made a better showing for himself with a full camp, he still made it competitive in r3.

Unfortunately I think Usman is barreling down the hill from here on out. He'll bounce between wins and losses with title contenders before hanging it up dude to his shot knees imo

 

[GiganticMeat]

he went up a weight class on 10 days notice. i was rooting for him, but i expected him to get finished. he did alright, all things considered.

it was a stupid fight to make, though. i hope he's cashing out.

It was a great fight to make. Stupid for Volk, who was still on top of the world. Good for Usman, who's on the decline (objectively speaking, 2 loss streak and lost belt). And missed his chance to fight superstar when they were both 170.

 

[randomg1t]

It was a great fight to make. Stupid for Volk, who was still on top of the world. Good for Usman, who's on the decline (objectively speaking, 2 loss streak and lost belt). And missed his chance to fight superstar when they were both 170.

usman is a WW, having lost his last 2 fights, moving up to 185 on 10 days notice. how on earth is that a great fight?

usman vs chimaev would've been a great fight at 170, a year ago, with a full camp for both.

what, they couldn't find a middleweight that would fight khamzat? in their entire roster, no 185er was there to step up? they needed a welterweight on a losing streak? get the fuck outta here.

and it didn't turn out to be a particularly great fight, either.

 

[TerraRayzing]

The khamzat fight was not close

Lots of people scored it a draw... so yeah.

 

[HHJ]

Doy

 

[Mmmmmmma1234]

usman is a WW, having lost his last 2 fights, moving up to 185 on 10 days notice. how on earth is that a great fight?

usman vs chimaev would've been a great fight at 170, a year ago, with a full camp for both.

what, they couldn't find a middleweight that would fight khamzat? in their entire roster, no 185er was there to step up? they needed a welterweight on a losing streak? get the fuck outta here.

and it didn't turn out to be a particularly great fight, either.

Hilariously they also needed someone for aliskerov to fight they could have easily put him vs khamzat. Costa was deemed the perfect opponent for both.

But then they don't get to see both win in highly favored matchmaking for the home crowd.