Was UFC better 10 years ago?

[Fjord]

I enjoy watching UFC so much more than I did 10 years ago. Nobody’s ever going to replace Anderson Silva though. Closest thing to Ali MMA will ever have probably.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

You understand that's like saying Silva avoided Jones, right?

Ah yeah, I remember how Silva said for nearly ten years that he was definitely moving up to LHW

 

[swarrrm]

GSP dominates Edwards.
Pettis vs Islam is interesting, Pettis was tricky off his back and could kick your head off.
Agreed on the rest of your picks.

 

[Deleted member 504083]

Jones is not a good matchup for Cain. Sure Cain is more physically powerful but it's pretty much impossible to wear down Jones and he would be sure to exploit Cain's awful knees. Also Jones dominated DC twice who is the closest opponent stylistically to Cain. DC is not that much worse than Cain. With the understanding though that Jones is not the fighter he used to be (we really haven't seen enough of him to know how much he's declined) it's probably a very close fight.

A prime Jon Jones wouldn't even move up to HW to fight prime Cain, and you think this washed version of Jones who arguably lost to Reyes and Santos 4 years ago would beat a prime Cain? And there's a reason why Jones didn't want to fight DC at HW too.

Aspinall vs. Cain is a tossup. Either Aspinall can finish Cain early or we see Tom get his cardio tested. Aspinall hits at least as hard as JDS, is faster than JDS, and is a better grappler than JDS.

Prime JDS had elite TDD, cardio and chin. Cain was an elite MMA wrestler, and along with DC the best ever at HW in that area. We don't know much at all about Aspinall's TDD and cardio, though he did take that one shot from Pav which was impressive.

I have a hard time seeing anybody able to stop Cain's wrestling, especially a Brit!

 

[Rationality]

Ah yeah, I remember how Silva said for nearly ten years that he was definitely moving up to LHW

Why stop there? He was ducking Cain and JDS too.
Ridiculous all the way around.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

Why stop there? He was ducking Cain and JDS too.
Ridiculous all the way around.

Again, agreed. It was really upsetting how Silva made all those empty promises

 

[Neck&Neck]

I liked it better back when guys still got caught in triangles, and Gogo’s

 

[Copper Burner]

Aspinall beats Cain

Strickland beats prime Silva and prime Weidman

 

[StonedLemur]

Pants vs Mouse
Suga vs Barao since Cruz was forever-injured
Volk vs Aldo (this should be just off the Zombie win Aldo)
Islam vs Pettis
Edwards vs GSP (technically, he stepped away in Nov 2013)
Upon reflection, MW would be Strickland vs Weidman, not Silva, but I'm still going 2013
Poatan vs Jones, which seems like a pretty easy guess, considering their strengths
Jon vs Cain, which is easy to pick considering how long Jones purposefully avoided it


Wong coming in with his usual gimmick of ruining every thread he joins

Bottom 3 all time that guy sir lol.

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

How about coliseum fights to the death, with animals. yes, way better. hurry up and bring that shit back. at least fights to the death. Real gladiators, not just moron fighters who care about their instagram. ffs.

I’d pay $70 to see it

 

[blaseblase]

WW - GSP. V Edward's GSP wins but close.

I dont think that's true at all, GSP would have a field day against Leon's style.

 

[StonedLemur]

The typical nostalgic feeling of the sherdogger. If he is not nostalgic about Pride Fc is about 10 years ago UFC. Or is nostalgic about the past of MMA just because it is in the past. "Ohhh the good old days of steroids, corruption, ridiculous matchups and lunatics assassins...those were the days of our lives.".

The fact that you believe steroids, corruption, ridiculous matchups are a thing of the past says a little bit about your naivety sir.

 

[blaseblase]

First Andy fight Anderson looked like he legit just didn't care. 2nd fight was kinda a fluke (not saying Weidman winning was fluke just how he won)

Except Weidman was winning every moment of both fights. Did you forget Weidman dropping him with strikes in the first round?

First fight even before the KO Weidman was catching him clean on the chin multiple tines. The reason Silva looked like he was goofing off is because nothing else was working. He was trying to win the mental game.

 

[orca]

silva has more tools than izzy
he has flying knees spinning elbows
dangerous knees
hes also a legit bjj blackbelt that izzy doesnt have

and lol at jones vs pereira
people forgot how scary his gnp those elbows
i wont be surprised if jones outstrikes pereira on the feet because
of the threat of takedowns

 

[Poirierfan]

For me it was 100% better as far as entertainment goes. Especially further back during the Strikeforce days.

 

[BOTTICELLI]

I think Weidman vs Strickland is the most intriguing
Its always fun to compare eras in competition

 

[IneedSometop]

DJ vs Pantoja I think DJ wins but it's a little closer than most would predict 48-47 or 49-46 DJ steadily outpaces Pants.
Barao vs O'malley' O'malley demolishes Barao imo gets a stoppage before the championship rounds
Prime Aldo vs Volk- Probably looks fairly similar to their fight, Volk wears him down presses him against the cage and wins a decision 49-46 with a lot of rounds being debatable
Bendo vs Islam- Pretty interesting fight think Islam gets a W here might even get submission finish
GSP vs Leon- Competitive fight GSP wins most likely by UD 49-46
Anderson/Weidman vs Strickland Andy by TKO...Think Strickland might box weidman up and UD him
Jones vs AP- Absolute demolition by Jones. Hellbows reigning down RIP AP
Cain vs Jones/Aspinall- Jones could fight the terminator and I wouldn't pick against him. Aspinall- Jury is still out on him overall but he's athletic, quick, has power and seemingly can grapple. Think he might be able to give Cain the business but that's a toss up for me.

Overall I read it 5-5 but I think the class of 2013 has more "locks" in Andy, Jones, GSP, and DJ.

I'd say O'malley and Islam are locks for current day

All the others feel like toss ups

 

[Stick upkid]

DJ vs Pantoja: Think DJ wins UD pretty clearly
Barao bs O’Malley: O’Malley finds a sniper shot and ends it
Volk vs Aldo: that’s a tough one but in a 5 round fight I have to think Volk starts to pull ahead maybe a 48-47 UD
Islam vs Bendo: think Islam takes a clear UD with control. Bendo could have moments though
GSP vs Leon: GSP 50-45
Strickland vs weidman/silva: think weidman can win with the wrestling. Who’s the last great wrestler Sean fought? Hermanson, Allen, I guess imavov has some okay wrestling but those guys aren’t great really. Usman controlled him pretty easily but at 170. Silva KOs him I think
Jones vs Alex: jones by hellbow
Cain vs jones/aspinall: another tough one I can see both fights going either way, but gun to my head I think Cain beats 2023 Jon and gets clipped on the feet by Tom

 

[Levi_]

Champ vs Champ

Fly - DJ v Pantoja DJ 50 45s
BW - Barao v Omalley - Good fight
FW - Prime Aldo v current Volk - great fight
LW - Islam v Bendo/Pettis. Islam 50 45s
WW - GSP. V Edward's GSP wins but close.
MW - Weidman/Anderson v Strickland. Weidman but close Anderson 1-2rd ko
LHW - Bones v Alex Bones sub rd 1
HW - Cain v Aspinal/Bones. Cain anyway way he wants vs either.

I got it 5 definitely for 2013 with 2-3 toss ups. 1 definitely for 2023.

Has the UFC gone down this much the last 10 years in talent level or is this not an accurate comparison?

You are mostly correct.

That's sort of my whole theory of MMA- the general pool of MMA fighters definitely gets more athletic and well-rounded with time, but the elites absolutely do not. That is wishful thinking that the elite fighters of today are better; if anything, the opposite is true. You have a lot of highly rated contenders that would get beat by anyone with a ground game (Gane, Dustin, Justin, etc.). I don't know how anyone can call those guys elite. There are just a handful of elites as was always the case.

 

[ryun253]

The real question is how many of these could beat Jake Paul in a boxing match?