Which Prime Fighter at BW Would Give Merab His Biggest Challenge?

[mkt]

The thing is, Aldo was bigger in his prime -- He lost muscle mass as he aged. And Edgar only won one fight at 135lbs, and it was controversial. his legendary chin and cardio might not have been the same at that weight class if he was cutting in his prime.

Who knows though.

I thought Edgar-Faber, which Frankie dominated, was at FW but checked and I was wrong.

You're correct about Edgar's only BW win being a close SD. On the positive side, it was Edgar's only win in his last 6 fights. So it's hard to say how Edgar would've done at BW if he were 10-12 years younger.

 

[Pierce 34]

A Prime TJ would beat everyone at 135 currently

 

[RockyLockridge]

Frankie or tj. In an alternate reality where Edgar goes to bantam right after the second loss to Aldo, and that Edgar would have something for merab

 

[Tweak896]

Maybe prime Cejudo? I think he could've handled the pressure better.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

EpO dillasnake

Cruz would get tooled
Cody would get manhandled
Barao and Aldo held against the cage

 

[AndrewGolota48]

Prime Cejudo wins easily... prime Cruz could probably win ... why is edgar here he never fought at BW in his prime neither did Aldo.

Surprised you're the only one that said this. I guess people think the recent Cejudo we saw vs Merab was still close to prime? I don't personally believe that, especially as far as wrestling is concerned.

 

[Lee Danger]

Cody weaknesses and strenghts today are the same of his peak results days: if the opponents cannot ko him he has more than legit chances.

 

[jko1355]

Surprised you're the only one that said this. I guess people think the recent Cejudo we saw vs Merab was still close to prime? I don't personally believe that, especially as far as wrestling is concerned.

I think he is way past his prime… he doesn’t have the cardio or explosiveness he used to have… it’s pretty night and day… dude sat out his best years.

 

[jko1355]

If Edgar and Aldo could cut to 135 and win fights after their primes, I'm pretty certain they could've been very good BWs in their primes.

I agree, I am just not sure if Frankie at BW would be as good as he was at FW… his performances against Yair and Swanson were dominant as all hell, if he was that good after a cut to 135 he might be the GOAT of BW in that universe.

 

[JKS]

I would say Cruz

 

[chinarice]

TJ

 

[mkt]

I agree, I am just not sure if Frankie at BW would be as good as he was at FW… his performances against Yair and Swanson were dominant as all hell, if he was that good after a cut to 135 he might be the GOAT of BW in that universe.

I wanted to see him fight Cruz when both were in their primes. I saw them standing together when all the champs were gathered for a press conference (must have been around 2011). Dom was several inches taller, though Frankie was stockier/thicker. They definitely looked like they could be in the same weight class, though Frankie was the 155-champ at the time.

Would've been interesting to see Frankie move to BW after losing the LW title rematch (robbery IMO) to Bendo...or at least after losing to Aldo at FW.

It's worth noting that when Edgar dominated Faber, Urijah was 6-1 in recent BW fights. Faber could never beat the champ (Cruz or Barao) but was beating all other BWs at the time...similar to how Frankie dominated FW besides Aldo for a long period.

 

[jko1355]

I wanted to see him fight Cruz when both were in their primes. I saw them standing together when all the champs were gathered for a press conference (must have been around 2011). Dom was several inches taller, though Frankie was stockier/thicker. They definitely looked like they could be in the same weight class, though Frankie was the 155-champ at the time.

Would've been interesting to see Frankie move to BW after losing the LW title rematch (robbery IMO) to Bendo...or at least after losing to Aldo at FW.

It's worth noting that when Edgar dominated Faber, Urijah was 6-1 in recent BW fights. Faber could never beat the champ (Cruz or Barao) but was beating all other BWs at the time...similar to how Frankie dominated FW besides Aldo for a long period.

Interesting to think what may have happened if Frankie got the nod over Henderson.

Frankie vs Nate, Melendez, and Pettis… I have no idea how those fights go…

 

[Feaser]

Mighty Mouse

 

[mkt]

Interesting to think what may have happened if Frankie got the nod over Henderson.

Frankie vs Nate, Melendez, and Pettis… I have no idea how those fights go…

I think Frankie would have a decent chance in all of those. Nate is the only one who might be considered a big LW. Frankie would probably have to use some wrestling to beat Nate. I think he had the TDs, top game and BJJ to control Nate on the ground and defend subs the same way Clay Guida did to Nate.

Where Frankie would've gotten in trouble is a few years later when bigger LWs like RDA and Khabib hit the scene. I saw a picture of Frankie and Khabib training and Khabib absolutely dwarfed him. No matter how skilled guys like Frankie and BJ were in their primes, later generations of LW were simply too big (a lot more weight-cutting) for them to compete prime vs. prime.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Aldo for sure, I'm not even convinced he lost to Merab either, zero takedowns and Aldo had much cleaner strikes, the way the new scoring is I don't see Merab as a winner, did nothing but get stuffed and hit. Aldo was way out of his prime in that fight and not as fast and dynamic as the past but he still did very good and Merab didn't know what to do.

 

[agibmxmma]

DJ, Cejudo, Cruz, Cody, TJ, Aldo, Edgar..

 

[Hank Grill]

He's going to have a Schumacher like fuck up when he dives into a concrete pool thinking it's frozen Ice like regular sport people

 

[Plissken]

Both prime Cruz and prime Aldo (if he theoretically could make BW in his prime) I could certainly see winning. Past his prime Aldo stopped Merab's td's. Prime Aldo had a tendency to slow down in the championship rounds, so that and a close round in the first three would be Merab's best bet.
Cruz had the distance management, cardio, and wrestling know how himself to get a decision win. Out of the current crop at BW, I think Yan would be prime Cruz' toughest fight. Cruz vs. O'Malley would be fun on the feet.

 

[mkt]

Mighty Mouse

Possibly. He was a great fighter, but lost to Cruz and then moved to flyweight. I think the best BWs like Cruz, TJ, Merab were be a little too big for him in a prime vs. prime fight.