Was UFC better 10 years ago?

[King in the North]

Islam has problems with Benson

 

[Hellowhosthat]

DJ Vs Pantoja - Lean DJ 48-47. I certainly don't think it'd be a wash out, prime DJ did drop rounds to some of the more elite fighters he fought in his prime and Pantoja is certainly elite enough to make it competitive.

Barao Vs Sugar - Huge size difference here, think Barao has a very tough time getting inside and Sean hits hard as fuck for the weight. Lean Sean by KO.

Aldo Vs Volk - Lean Volk by late stoppage. Aldo's TDD was incredible but Volk will be happy to cage push and wear him down and Aldo always had cardio issues. In a 5 rounder I think Volkanovski gets him out of there late.

Bendo Vs Islam - Islam via dominant decision. I think Bendo is tricky enough to sub to be able to survive though.

Pettis Vs Islam - Walk in the park for Islam, pressure turned out to be Anthony's Achilles heel and his TDD isn't good enough, aggressive off his back but good luck trying that with Islam.

GSP Vs Leon - I think this fight would be absolutely horrific to watch and barely anything would happen. Probably lean GSP.

Silva Vs Strickland - I think this is an interesting one. The only time Anderson faced someone similarish to Sean was when he was past prime and fought Bisping . I get that he was past prime but I also think that style of volume boxing looked like it was giving him a tough time. I've still got to back Anderson to catch something at some point but I don't think this is going to be easy.

Weidman Vs Strickland - Tough one to call, prime Chris was good but Sean seems tough to take down. Volume wise Sean has the advantage but Chris is a decent striker himself and has the power advantage. 50/50 imo.

Jones Vs Poatan - Jon is smart enough to take Alex down and sub him I would imagine. Only slight question is prime Jon sometimes liked.to prove he was better than his opponent at their strength which could be dangerous here.

Cain Vs Jones - Bit of a stylistic nightmare for Cain imo. Jones is bigger, just as strong, very hard to take down, longer on the feet, has a chin and hasn't really shown too many cardio issues. Jon by decision.

 

[pnchdrnk]

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.".

Probably true to some extent that nostalgia plays a part. But for me it is definitely true that I used to be extremely pumped for every event, watched them religiously and was thoroughly entertained. I still watch every event but often find myself quite bored.
I may just have lost interest - but when I re-watch old events with fighters like Penn, Condit, GSP, Rory etc. I still feel entertained to a level I now only very rarely feel.

Also: Don't know if all of the problems you list are completely gone from the current product!

 

[Streeter]

???
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.

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. Aspinall absolutely has the tools to beat Cain in either striking or grappling considering that we've never seen Aspinall do anything but be able to finish his opponent anywhere the fight goes.

I don't see how you think Cain stomps either Jones or Aspinall.

Cain circa 2013. Stomps living shit outta current Bones or Aspinal imo

 

[corrupted]

It was more enjoyable for sure

 

[World eater]

Doh. 10 years ago me vs. Current me? 10 years ago me by right high kick.

 

[Goatenstein]

2003 BJ Penn who got screwed out of the LW belt vs Islam is the best fight.
2003 Matt Hughes smashes Leon
Most recent MW champ in 2003 Bustamante embarrasses Strickland in every way imaginable
2003 Couture smashes Alex
2003 Roided Tim Sylvia gets subbed by Jones or Aspinall

 

[Frank Kain]

???
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.

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. Aspinall absolutely has the tools to beat Cain in either striking or grappling considering that we've never seen Aspinall do anything but be able to finish his opponent anywhere the fight goes.

I don't see how you think Cain stomps either Jones or Aspinall.

There’s a reason Bones avoided HW for quite a while. Cain, Werdum, and Stipe were it.

 

[HuskySamoan]

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?

People can call double fluke on the Silva fights, but he followed it up with a great fight with Machida and a thorough dismantling of Vitor, and those were really solid wins

Prime Weidman outclasses the shit out of Strickland. He's underrated, much better than basically all the MWs right now. Weidman had a rough fall off post Rockhold loss but Weidman was way better than your Vettoris, Stricklands, Cannoniers etc. He'd have been a nightmare matchup for Izzy or Pereira too.

 

[chinarice]

Cain circa 2013. Stomps living shit outta current Bones or Aspinal imo

No version of Cain does a damn thing to Jon.

DC was better than Cain.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Yes, much better.

 

[NicholasJBasile]

My excitement of the sport has gone down a bit, but that's because of personal reasons outside the sport. Honestly, I tend to feel the product has gotten better with age. I love how often we see MMA these days and the techniques are constantly evolving. Nothing beats watching a good MMA card and chatting it up in a play-by-play thread on Sherdog for my money. I can't take all the shit wrestlers get a public places so I always watch at home, but I feel fans have become a bit more respectful of ground fighters at least. Each division is very competitive right now which makes things pretty exciting too. I'm pretty high on the general landscape of things at the moment.

 

[Rationality]

I’d pay $70 to see it

Don't give him any ideas

 

[Streeter]

No version of Cain does a damn thing to Jon.

DC was better than Cain.

Any version of Prime Cain would beat current 2023 Bones. And no DC was not better thsn Cain at HW.

 

[Mike]

Everything was better ten years ago my guy.

 

[chinarice]

Any version of Prime Cain would beat current 2023 Bones. And no DC was not better thsn Cain at HW.

There is literally 0 proof Cain is better. DC had a much better MMA career and overall has the better wins at HW

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

No version of Cain does a damn thing to Jon.

DC was better than Cain.

Not according to DC.

And don't forget that as per Jon himself, he didn't want to fight DC at HW anyway, and recognized what a bigger challenge that would be than he did at LHW, so that point is kinda washed before it started

 

[chinarice]

Not according to DC.

And don't forget that as per Jon himself, he didn't want to fight DC at HW anyway, and recognized what a bigger challenge that would be than he did at LHW, so that point is kinda washed before it started

I watched both of them fight. DC was clearly better. I don't give a shit what DC says. He is dishonest all the time and is just being respectful to the guy who he calls his mentor.

I would have 100% picked DC if him and Cain had ever fought.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

I watched both of them fight. DC was clearly better. I don't give a shit what DC says. He is dishonest all the time and is just being respectful to the guy who he calls his mentor.

I would have 100% picked DC if him and Cain had ever fought.

That's cool, I might have too in retrospect, but Cain vs DC and DC vs Jon isn't Cain vs Jon. And you'd still not be addressing the fact that Jon himself drew the line in the sand about the difference between LHW and HW, even specifically referencing DC when doing it.

 

[west42]

Yes