This is some serious cope.
Aldo was absolutely in his prime when he fought Max the first time, as shown when he had a career best win in his rematch against a prime FW Frankie Edgar right before (outclassing Edgar even worse than the first time).
Pretending he wasn't "anywhere near his prime" is a laughable statement not grounded in the reality of his actual performances.
Nah, bro. Aldo's prime was way earlier than that. His real prime was back slightly before even the first Edgar or Chad fight. You gotta remember Aldo had a lot of fights early. He peaked and started falling off a lot younger than most do.
What would be laughable is thinking that the Aldo that was going 5 rounds no problem with Faber, Hominick, and Florian is the same as the one that was slowing right down after a round in both fights against Max almost 5 years later. That literally isn't grounded in the reality of his actual performances.
What? Aldo did better in his second Frankie fight than the first one, and that was a Frankie at the peak of his FW win streak and in top form.
"Having a lot of fights early" isn't an argument. He was very clearly a better fighter in the UFC than he was in the WEC in technique while fighting better competition (including better versions of his WEC competition, like post-Ludwig Mendes).
LOL at desctibing the Hominick fight as going "5 rounds no problem". Aldo could barely move in Round 5.
Aldo's highest pace before Max was 100 strikes over 5 rounds with Mendes where he exhausted himself, and he was averaging 60 to 70 strikes in his 5 round decisions.
What makes you say Frankie was in his peak for the second win? His win streak was great, but look at some of the wins there. Faber was 35 or something and on the decline. Cub had lost a step and was at the start of a big skid. BJ was tippy toes Penn that night and had lost his last two and would go on to lose his next 4. Chad was chinny at this point and on his way out.
Of course having a lot of fights early is an argument. How isn't it?
He outlanded Hominick in every other round and was clearly up, or at least he thought he was. He took the safe route and coasted to a dec win instead of emptying his tank and potentially setting himself up to get finished late by a game and always fit Hominick.
Uh, he landed over 130 strikes against both Faber and Hominick, which were before the Mendes fight.
The Aldo that fought Faber was the best version of Aldo. Never tired out, chewed up Faber's leg, completely dominated Faber. Especially the way he mixed his kicks with his 1-2.Ortega would have been eaten alive by prime Aldo. They couldn't have dragged him back to his stool. He would have been hobbled. If you think Volk's leg kicks were landing at will, what do you think Aldo would have done? He's got a better jab than Volk and he's faster.
Prime Aldo and Volk is a great fight. I think Aldo could out point him. Only issue would be cardio.
Happy New year, man! Hope you’ll have great one!Oh I agree that the simplistic understanding of prime needs to change. You and I just don’t quite agree on what that means. I’ve thought about doing a big study on this, like making a spreadsheet and seeing what the general pattern is—the problem is that primes aren’t simple, and there are so many other factors that come into play.
Our comparison of Arlovski’s win streaks before the Fedor and Stipe fights are a good example. Fans have been calling on Arlovski to retire literally before you were even a fan of the sport, I think. People wanted him to retire in like 2010-2011.
A fighter can (and Arlovski did) change camps and alter his fighting style to his age and weaknesses, and with some favorable matchmaking, a fighter can do well. Kyle and Kraniotakes are nothing special, Schaub was one fight away from retiring, Browne was in the midst of a 2-6 stretch which ended in 4 losses and then retirement, etc.
That does not mean Arlovski was in his prime. In fact, he was years past it.
Fedor was likewise not in prime form in Strikeforce. He was just starting his 11th year as a pro (May 2000-May 2010 = 10 years; he fought Werdum in June ‘10) was accumulating injuries like crazy, and his grappling suffered. Was he completely and totally shot? Definitely not. But he was declining noticeably.
I can tell you that names on your list like Max, Whittaker, Glover, and Chandler are not fighters I consider still in their primes. They’re in varying degrees of decline (still fairly slight for Max, more noticeable for Chandler for example).
Faber also let Aldo dictate the pace the entire fight …..The Aldo that fought Faber was the best version of Aldo. Never tired out, chewed up Faber's leg, completely dominated Faber. Especially the way he mixed his kicks with his 1-2.
When did he beat Ortega?Conor is obv the FW GOAT hes beat everyone Volk has and made it look much easier
Wow, great points! I agree to every word you wrote, good job!Cub had not lost a step. He lost to a FW GOAT in Holloway after Frankie (no version of Cub beats a prime Max), and then went on to win 4 straight, including a career altering beating of Korean Superboy (Cub. He won 6 straight before Frankie. Come on.
Chad was in his prime; Frankie caught him right on the button with a perfect placed shot, and then Mendes got busted for PEDs.
After Aldo, Frankie dominated Stephens and DESTROYED Yair worse than anyone before or since.
Absolutely no one was under the impression Frankie wasn't in top form, to the point where fans were accusing Conor of ducking him.
It's not an argument becauae everyone declines at different rates based on their own physiology, training methods, etc.
All that matters is how they perform in the cage, and whether there's an observabke decline there.
In Aldo's case, the Frankie fights clearly show he didn't.
Come on dude, this is intellectually dishonest.
Aldo completely gassed himself out fighting that way in rounds 1 - 4. Aldo didn't take the "safe route" by being immobile on the ground and getting the dog shit beat out of him to the point of losing the round 10 - 8 (back when that score was much more rare).
I'm talking significant strikes, which take up the most energy.
If you want to do total strikes, then the stats for Max and Volk go up, too, and the massive gap between their pace remains.
Aldo has never in his entire career proved capable of fighting at Volk's or Max's pace, nor did he ever face opponents that could put it on him that way before them.
How about being the first one to KO Frankie, showing incredible skill subbing Cub, outclassing Korean Zombie? Or surviving 5 rounds with Volk and almost finishing him? Ortega has better cardio than Aldo and he’s extremely durable. He would most likely lose 2-3 rounds on the feet and then finish Aldo off in 4th or 5th round. Ortega is famous for late finishes, when his opponents start to fade. Aldo is famous for fading in championship rounds. So it’s a likely outcome if they ever fought.Volk maybe, Ortega no fucking way. What has Ortega ever done to lead you to believe he would beat prime Aldo?