Was Gabriel Gonzaga an overachiever?

[MMACroatia]

So i was thinking about this,how really good was he?
Had a solid run in UFC at start and before that has lost only to Werdum.
And then his defining moment of career,shocking KO win over Cro Cop that got him a title shot.
An older and smaller Randy Couture put a beating on him and showed excellent display of dirty boxing before stopping Gonzaga in the third by GNP as soon as they went to the ground(watch the fight again btw).
After that really no significant results for Gonzaga and has went on to suffer some serious and many KO's while imo getting one really good win over Ben Rothwell.
So i wonder,was that win over Cro Cop an overachievment that made him look/seem better then he really was?

 

[Grijswaarde]

Yes.

Or more likely: Cro-Cop was overrated at that point in his career. That seems to be the most legit explanation to me.

 

[VAfan]

he was a buster douglas of sorts. one huge win and not much else. not enough chin and / or heart.

 

[mma_genius]

Huge heavyweight, with skills, but not the best jaw.

He should have focused on defensive striking and getting fights to the ground where he could have been excellent.

 

[mahlbawlz]

Gonzaga was a great fighter. The Cro Cop win was one of the most shocking in history but he also has a bunch of stoppage victories in the UFC. Sure, he is a bit chinny, but so is Frank Mir. I always wanted to see Mir vs Gonzaga.

 

[DarkneT]

I always liked watching him fight to be honest
He was a guilty pleasure of mine

 

[superpunch]

Really though.


Is a 255+ lb agile strong fast tall BJJ world champion guy an overchiever??

No. Gonzaga is an underachiever. He should have snapped Old Man Randy's back on one knee like Bat Man.

 

[Alpha_T83]

Yes.

Or more likely: Cro-Cop was overrated at that point in his career. That seems to be the most legit explanation to me.

Cro Cop 100% wasn't overrated. I think it's more likely that Cro Cop wasn't in great shape, and severely under-estimated Gonzaga. I mean, Cro Cop was hella gassed from being on the bottom for one round... that's not the same Cro Cop that fought Fedor for 25 minutes.

 

[FedorFanBoy]

I think Gabriel was a legit HW top tier fighter at some point.

 

[Grijswaarde]

Cro Cop 100% wasn't overrated. I think it's more likely that Cro Cop wasn't in great shape, and severely under-estimated Gonzaga. I mean, Cro Cop was hella gassed from being on the bottom for one round... that's not the same Cro Cop that fought Fedor for 25 minutes.

Isn't that the overrated part? Where people thought he would be the same Cro Cop that fought Fedor?

 

[neverwas]

i think the crocop fight was lightning in a bottle for gabe, it was crocops second fight in the ufc cage,everyone had wrote gonzaga off and i honestly think crocop took him lightly.

 

[AP_RESURRECTION]

He had some skills for sure, I just didnt feel like he had the insane toughness of other elite HWs like JDS, Werdum etc. - People underrate that in their endless discussions about athletic prowess and talent. So when he'd fight someone like that, I'd assume that Gabriel might have a bit of success, but would ultimately get clipped or get overwhelmed at some point and lose - his striking was pretty good, but it def wasnt as good as other elite HWs, minus the cro cop kick of course - his grappling was excellent, but never seemed to play into his fights too much

I was a fan of his, seemed like a big teddy bear

 

[Bork Neslar]

He was an underachiever.

 

[in the liver]

Yes.

Or more likely: Cro-Cop was overrated at that point in his career. That seems to be the most legit explanation to me.

Cro cop sucked in the ufc, period. Gonzaga knocking him out in ufc was fine, schaub also knocked him out in the ufc

 

[Black Helicopters]

not enough chin and / or heart.

Yeah, I watched the Randy fight with my dad and as soon as it hit the floor my dad said "it's over, he quit!" and I asked why he said that and he noted how Gonzaga immediately covered up before Randy even lifted his hands to punch him. I'm pretty sure that was before a lot of people knew he was a front runner.

Gonzaga was very fortunate to get Cro Cop at a point where he was technically coming off of his crowning achievement but was actually past his prime and did not adapt to the cage.

 

[mkt]

Really though.


Is a 255+ lb agile strong fast tall BJJ world champion guy an overchiever??

No. Gonzaga is an underachiever. He should have snapped Old Man Randy's back on one knee like Bat Man.

Yeah, you could argue either way (over or underachiever). I think he was more of an underachiever. He had very good BJJ, power in his hands and feet, pretty good leg kicks and a killer instinct. But he was a fast burner who declined rapidly if he didn't get a quick finish. And his striking defense, chin and wrestling (especially for a guy his size) were weaknesses.

He reminds me of Sokoudjou (who was powerful, had good judo and was a dangerous striker, especially early in the fight) and Erick Silva. All were (are) dangerous early in the fight and have some legit skills, but also have clear weaknesses and never put their skillsets together in a helpful way.

 

[Headkicktoleg]

Huge underachiever IMO. Very big and strong, world class jiu jitsu in a weight class/time where people were susceptible to jiu jitsu.

 

[mkt]

Cro cop sucked in the ufc, period. Gonzaga knocking him out in ufc was fine, schaub also knocked him out in the ufc

And don't forget, Cro-Cop came to the UFC just a year after winning Pride Absolute with some saying he was even better than Fedor at that point. The idea that he had a huge decline in 12-24 months (when he was not even fighting or taking damage) simply doesn't work.

 

[tenniswhiz]

Is a 255+ lb agile strong fast tall BJJ world champion guy an overchiever??

No. Gonzaga is an underachiever. He should have snapped Old Man Randy's back on one knee like Bat Man.

Back in Pride, there was this absolutely monstrous BJJ fighter named Ricardo “the Mutant” Morais.
He was very tall, strong, and weighed some tree fiddy (for real).
He should have been the most dominant fighter ever. No excuse for him to be as lame as he was.
He had 2 fights in Pride, and was owned in both of them.

 

[mma_genius]

Cro Cop 100% wasn't overrated. I think it's more likely that Cro Cop wasn't in great shape, and severely under-estimated Gonzaga. I mean, Cro Cop was hella gassed from being on the bottom for one round... that's not the same Cro Cop that fought Fedor for 25 minutes.

I think Cro Cop wasn't ready for elbows in the UFC. Gonzaga was just raining them down on him in the first round.

 

[Grijswaarde]

Cro cop sucked in the ufc, period. Gonzaga knocking him out in ufc was fine, schaub also knocked him out in the ufc

Yes he did, my point is: at THAT TIME he was overrated since it turned out he sucked in the ufc later on.

So where do we disagree?

 

[mma_genius]

Yeah, I watched the Randy fight with my dad and as soon as it hit the floor my dad said "it's over, he quit!" and I asked why he said that and he noted how Gonzaga immediately covered up before Randy even lifted his hands to punch him. I'm pretty sure that was before a lot of people knew he was a front runner.

Gonzaga was very fortunate to get Cro Cop at a point where he was technically coming off of his crowning achievement but was actually past his prime and did not adapt to the cage.

I seem to remember Gonzaga had a broken nose and could not breathe in the Randy fight. I remember it was a mess.

I couldn't imagine getting punched again and again on my broken nose. Can't breathe, can't see, time to turtle.

EDIT: I knew I remembered. His nose got broken from a headbutt from a takedown by Randy.

https://ok.ru/video/21346192032

 

[MMACroatia]

he was a buster douglas of sorts. one huge win and not much else. not enough chin and / or heart.

Pretty much this,i agree.