Where is Poatan all time at 205 now?

[Local Plata]

Meanwhile I bet you're going to call for Ank to get a title shot if he equally beats Rakic in 3 weeks.

I'm not talking about who gets title shots, I'm saying LHW is at a historic low as far as talent is concerned, and Alex throttling a couple of them is not some all-time feat.

 

[BFoe]

I mean, it's all subjective. We all pick and choose what to ignore. I choose to believe than Andy didn't use PEDs until after his leg break, but he was almost certainly on something before that.

Shogun and Rampage didn't really have the consistency once they hit the top. I mean as a massive Shogun fan, he had one run before blowing his knees apart. Rampage just didn't have the discipline, it seemed. I don't think Chuck and Randy had styles that would have done well in today's climate. Same with Tito.

Yeah, it’s for sure subjective. My view is, if someone had a resume equivalent to Jones (or at least close, like arguably equivalent), I’d rank them ahead of him if they weren’t career PED cheats. But I can’t do like some people and just DQ him totally from my ranking, because that feels like a cop-out— and I can’t rank someone whose resume is nowhere near his above him either because that feels like a cop-out. Pereira (or whomever) would have to have a body of work close to his for me to make that call.

Regarding someone like Rampage, I rank based on resume and accomplishments. Pereira has more title defenses, but let’s be honest: he was basically hot-shotted into the title picture. So just for argument’s sake, let’s look at both.

Pereira wins: Blachowicz, Jiri x2, Hill, and Rountree. That is his entire LHW resume. 3 title defenses.

Rampage: Igor Vovchanchyn, Randleman, Chuck Liddell x2, Matt Lindland, Hendo, Wanderlei x 2, Machida, King Mo, plus dudes like Jardine, Hammill, Eastman, Beltran, and so on. 1 title defense.

Rampage may only have one defense, but his body of work at LHW way outshines Pereira’s. For me, I rank Rampage ahead.

 

[PurpleStorm]

Who is he expected to fight next?

 

[muaythaibeast]

Jones
Shogun

Still guys like Rampage, Cormier, Wanderlei, Machida and even Chuck after the top few that Poatan hasn't matched yet.

 

[Conor Strickland]

Idk man. Maybe I having some nostalgia bias going on here, but the LHW div during Jon Jones/DC era was so talent rich. So many different styles. You couldnt get away with just purely striking.

Alex has maxed out his striking stat and even the guy who Sherdog think can beat him is probably going to dumbass strike with him too

Could you put Alex Pereira above guys like Jon Jones and Daniel? I don't know man

Exactly. Prime DC seems like a nightmare matchup for Pereria besides Jones obviously

 

[Skarsgard]

Yeah, it’s for sure subjective. My view is, if someone had a resume equivalent to Jones (or at least close, like arguably equivalent), I’d rank them ahead of him if they weren’t career PED cheats. But I can’t do like some people and just DQ him totally from my ranking, because that feels like a cop-out— and I can’t rank someone whose resume is nowhere near his above him either because that feels like a cop-out. Pereira (or whomever) would have to have a body of work close to his for me to make that call.

Regarding someone like Rampage, I rank based on resume and accomplishments. Pereira has more title defenses, but let’s be honest: he was basically hot-shotted into the title picture. So just for argument’s sake, let’s look at both.

Pereira wins: Blachowicz, Jiri x2, Hill, and Rountree. That is his entire LHW resume. 3 title defenses.

Rampage: Igor Vovchanchyn, Randleman, Chuck Liddell x2, Matt Lindland, Hendo, Wanderlei x 2, Machida, King Mo, plus dudes like Jardine, Hammill, Eastman, Beltran, and so on. 1 title defense.

Rampage may only have one defense, but his body of work at LHW way outshines Pereira’s. For me, I rank Rampage ahead.

That's a completely fair assessment. To be honest, if Jones weren't so unapologetically dirty and such a fucking psychopath, I'd probably take the view I do with guys like Anderson and Cigano. We all pick our favorites and exceptions though.

I was a massive Rampage fan, so I find myself being overly critical of his career. It's hard for me to remember the times he looked amazing when most of the tail end, he was so goddamned lazy and clearly there to collect a check and cry about the result.

 

[Local Plata]

was nearly finished/lost another 3x in 5/9 of his LHW fights

Lmao....the fuck....

 

[Westbrick]

I’ll just make these quick points and leave it at that.

DC did fight Hendo of course, at LHW. Obviously he never fought Fedor, as Fedor was retiring the same month that DC fought Barnett.
DC fought Bigfoot right after Bigfoot beat Fedor, Bigfoot was ranked #5; DC fought Barnett when Barnett was on an 8 fight win streak and had just beaten Sergei; DC fought Mir in Mir’s next fight after having challenged JDS for the belt. These are not fights against weak competition, they’re fights against top-ranked guys.

I can agree that a Werdum fight would’ve been nice. But you gotta remember that DC really came on the scene when he won the Strikeforce HWGP, in May 2012. Nog was not a top heavyweight at that time, and Fedor’s time at the top was done too.

As for Rumble, I agree that ground game was weak. Let’s see how Pereira’s is, if the UFC ever makes him fight someone who can threaten him there.

I'm just comparing their competition bro, look at Hendo, Werdum and Big Nog competition for all their careers, and there's plenty of guys with similar level of competition at LHW/HW.


Cormier never fought top dogs from his era like Werdum, JDS, Cain, Browne, etc, etc...

 

[markg171]

Lmao....the fuck....

Jones 1 - Decision loss
Rumble 1 - Dropped
Gus - Dropped + arguably lost the decision
Silva - Hurt by bodykick
Jones 2 - KO'd

DC factually did lose or nearly lose 5/9 of his LHW fights. He was never some unstoppable LHW like his fans try and pretend he was.

Not sure what so confused you pal, but hope that helped.

 

[fedorthegoat777]

Top 5 for sure.

 

[M.A.G.A.]

He’s one of the most entertaining 205ers ever, but he needs to do more to be the 205 GOAT

He one of my favorite fighters no doubt

 

[SSJ16]

As many have said, it would be great for Poatan to be some grapplers to help cement his legacy.

All I know that he's easily my favourite fighter in the UFC right now. He embodies the true warrior spirit and it's always a joy to watch this dude fight.

 

[Minnja]

It’s hard to rank him because his peak is ridiculously high but he does not have the longevity that a couple of guys have. Definitely Jones above him, I’d have Rampage and Shogun too. Maybe Wanderlei. After that though he’s interchangeable depending on how much you value peak over longevity.

I don’t think assuming he’ll just lose to every wrestler should really calculate into it. Everyone thought Anderson would lose to wrestlers and it took 11 title defenses until it happened and he got KOd in a striking exchange. After that, most of his losses were in striking battles. People get so caught up with thinking a striker that gets taken down sometimes will just automatically lose to any wrestler it’s mindblowing. Especially when we’ve seen plenty of good and great wrestlers getting KOd or not able to enforce enough of their wrestling

 

[mkt]

That was his third title defense, same as DC iirc.
Has wins over Jan, Jiri twice, Hill and Khalil.
He destroys most people.
Is he top 5? I don't see him ever surpasing Jones but what does he have to do to be the second best all time?

Cormier beating Rumble twice and prime Gus is better than anything Poatan has done so far. He also beat Oezdemir and older/smaller versions of Hendo/Anderson (not terribly impressive given their age/wear).

Liddell is kind of the opposite of Poatan. He was also a striker but had favorable match-ups against grapplers (Chuck had very good TDD and ability to get back to his feet). Poatan has had favorable match-ups against other strikers who haven't tested his grappling. I'd have to say beating prime Tito twice, going 2-1 against Couture, Babalu and beating Overeem/Belfort/Randleman/Bustamente/Monson/Mezger before his title reign is a more diverse and impressive group of opponents that Poatan has faced.

 

[mkt]

He is way above Cormier

How many champs DC beat? AS doesn't count (no LHW titles)

Prime Rumble and Gus were better than anyone Poatan has fought at LHW.

 

[mkt]

Currently #4, moves up to #2 if he beats Magomed. Chuck and DC are currently still above him imo.

Chuck has wins over Couture 2x, Ortiz 2x, Overeem, Vitor, Wanderlei and Randleman at 205. DC has wins over Gus, Rumble 2x, Henderson, Silva, Oezdemir. Chuck's resume is clearly better, DC's is comparable to Alex's (at 205).

I wouldn't call it comparable. If Poatan had issues with Rountree, prime Rumble (more dangerous striker who could also take him down) would be a huge handful.

 

[italiamusica]

I'd like to see him overcoming some significant grappling challenges before I know where to rank him among the all time greats. The current matchmaking he's getting is not a good look for him.

To me this should be the only answer. This is MMA, not kick boxing.

 

[Gamer2k4]

Well, let's see. He's been fighting at LHW for about a year and has 5 wins. Yes, four of those are title fights, but still, when you talk about "all-time," you've got to have SOME sort of history in the division.

Look at Royce Gracie. He had 11 finishes in a row (still a UFC record) in the span of a year or so, won three tournaments, and beat a number of recognizable names. Yet while we all agree he's a historically significant fighter, he's nowhere near the top in any sort of ranking system other than maybe "most influential." Pereira is in the same boat right now. Yes, he's doing well at the moment. But what if he loses his next fight? What if he loses the next two, or three? What if he never fights again?

Greatness is determined by legacy. And right now, at least in MMA, Pereira doesn't have much of one yet.

 

[Local Plata]

Jones 1 - Decision loss
Rumble 1 - Dropped
Gus - Dropped + arguably lost the decision
Silva - Hurt by bodykick
Jones 2 - KO'd

DC factually did lose or nearly lose 5/9 of his LHW fights. He was never some unstoppable LHW like his fans try and pretend he was.

Not sure what so confused you pal, but hope that helped.

Nearly lose. What a metric. Fucking lmao.