Whittaker has a case to to be #2 greatest MW ever

[mjfan23]

He definitely does not. Sherdog is ridiculous sometimes. Whitaker beats a dude who’s lost 3 of his last 4, and suddenly he should be ranked all time above Silva, Hendo, Mousasi, Franklin, Belfort... wtf.

Sherdog bought all that hype UFC commentary team sold em last night.

 

[mjfan23]

Not even top five

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Half of that list is against good fighters but not elite.

Mousasi fought the pre USADA version of Jacare (the fight was in 2014). USADA began testing in the UFC in 2015. Rob fought Jacare in 2017. Even Kelvin beat that version of Jacare

Yoel clearly beat Rob in the rematch but yeah great win the first time. Props to him

and Yoel and Jacare are the only wins that stood out from that list.

I personally scored the 2nd Romero fight as a draw, I don't see how he clearly beat him at all.

Hardly anyone has multiple wins over elite fighters, even Anderson doesn't.

 

[JSN]

Even if not as stacked division, Silva reigned for much longer, and was a better finisher too. The guys Silva beat would be competitive with Whittaker's competition too, arguably better imo.

Even if Romero was a more dangerous fighter than anybody in Silva's record, none of Silva's wins came from close, controversial decision, and I dont think neither him or Whittaker would be favoured to beat prime Anderson.

the flip side to being a good finisher is that really good guys tend to finish less good guys, and then their finishing % goes down when they fight better guys.

 

[BFoe]

I think what Whittaker has shown is that he's a really damn good fighter. He got clowned by Adesanya. Then came back and won three straight in dominant performances.

He's 11-1 at MW, and has some great wins on his resume. But that doesn't put him over the guy who KOed him, who happens to be the current champ, and who is undefeated at MW.

Whittaker is an all time top ten MW, probably all time top five. But he's not #2 on that list.

Wouldn’t even put him in my top 5. Top 10 though.

 

[markg171]

He definitely does not. Sherdog is ridiculous sometimes. Whitaker beats a dude who’s lost 3 of his last 4, and suddenly he should be ranked all time above Silva, Hendo, Mousasi, Franklin, Belfort... wtf.

Whittaker is above all those guys barring Silva though.

Like seriously, how tf did you include Belfort there lol

 

[BFoe]

Whittaker is above all those guys barring Silva though.

Like seriously, how tf did you include Belfort there lol

Because he’s got wins over Lindland, Franklin, Bisping, Rockhold, Dan Henderson twice, Aikayama and Nate Marquardt? I suppose if we were splitting hairs, a couple of those were catchweights. But Vitor is def one of the best MWs of all time. Whitaker has, what?—Jacare and Yoel Romero on his resume and not much else? The rest are middling wins like Gastelum, Brunson, Uriah Hall... c’mon man. In my book I’ll give him 1 successful title defense because it’s not his fault Yoel missed weight. But according to the record books, Whitaker didn’t have a single defense. And you’re ranking him above Franklin or Mousasi? No way.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Wouldn’t even put him in my top 5. Top 10 though.

Yeah, that's about right. He's great, but not yet one of the greatest.

 

[theTKDguy]

1.andy
2.izzy
3.whittaker

 

[BFoe]

Yeah, that's about right. He's great, but not yet one of the greatest.

Agreed. Very good fighter, but for me Anderson, Hendo, Mousasi, Franklin, Belfort, and Izzy would come first. Do we rank Whitaker above Jacare and Rockhold? I’d really have to look at it. I think I’d rank Whitaker below Rockhold, but above Jacare. And what about Weidman?

Rough draft (not set in stone):
1. Anderson Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Gegard Mousasi
4. Rich Franklin
5. Israel Adesanya
6. Vitor Belfort
7. Luke Rockhold
8. Chris Weidman
9. Robert Whitaker
10. Jacare Souza

Something like that?

 

[ThaiSexPills]

He literally hasn’t lost at MW besides to IA who is also undefeated at MW. Robert is like 12-1 at MW.

Yeah, he is good but he’s second best in his division now and hasn’t accomplished 1/3rd of what Silva has or Dan Henderson. Recency bias

 

[dildos]

I’ll get some flack here but I think whittaker and Romeo are greater than Anderson.

they done a whole lot more in a more stacked division than Anderson did,

 

[ExitLUPin]

If he beats Izzy he's prolly #2 over Saucy

 

[pankrat]

Because he’s got wins over Lindland, Franklin, Bisping, Rockhold, Dan Henderson twice, Aikayama and Nate Marquardt? I suppose if we were splitting hairs, a couple of those were catchweights. But Vitor is def one of the best MWs of all time. Whitaker has, what?—Jacare and Yoel Romero on his resume and not much else? The rest are middling wins like Gastelum, Brunson, Uriah Hall... c’mon man. In my book I’ll give him 1 successful title defense because it’s not his fault Yoel missed weight. But according to the record books, Whitaker didn’t have a single defense. And you’re ranking him above Franklin or Mousasi? No way.

Some of those wins for Belfort are at 205 or above 185, just as many of the most notable wins of Mousasi or Franklin. They have a case to be above Whittaker in the GOAT standing but regarding MW record alone, Rob's body is not that far from Silva's and superior to anybody else imo

 

[Papasmurf45619]

Whittakers record at MW is way superior than Israel at this point, did better vs common opponents too

No Its not.

The best two wins from either guy are Whit and Costa, and how they were won were also more impressive then anything Whittaker did.

And I like Bobby knucks a lot more

 

[pankrat]

Wouldn’t even put him in my top 5. Top 10 though.

Yeah, that's about right. He's great, but not yet one of the greatest.

Yet none of you can name 5, let alone 10 fighters, with a better record at MW.
If we include wins at different weightclasses, I would rank Machida, apart from Mousasi, Belfort or Henderson, above Whitttaker.

 

[pankrat]

No Its not.

The best two wins from either guy are Whit and Costa, and how they were won were also more impressive then anything Whittaker did.

And I like Bobby knucks a lot more

These are their common opponents:

Romero
Gastelum
Brunson
Tavares

Didnt Whittaker did at least slighly better vs them?

This is their record besides those match-ups:

Adesanya - Robert (KO) Costa (KO), Vettori (SD)
Whittaker - Jacare (KO), Till, Canonier, Hall, Natal (UD)

Yeah, the outcome of their fight makes a differnce but besides the h2h match-up, I think Whittaker has a deeper record at MW than Israel

 

[BFoe]

Some of those wins for Belfort are at 205 or above 185, just as many of the most notable wins of Mousasi or Franklin. They have a case to be above Whittaker in the GOAT standing but regarding MW record alone, Rob's body is not that far from Silva's and superior to anybody else imo

Mousasi’s resume just at MW > Whitaker’s. Mousasi has MW wins over Lombard, Kang, Manhoef, Jacare, Mark Munoz, Hendo, Phillipou, Leites, Santos, Vitor, Weidman, Uriah Hall, Schlemenko, Carvalho, Machida, plus Rory and Douglas Lima (who moved up for those fights obviously).
Mousasi’s middleweight resume shits all over Whitaker’s honestly.

 

[pankrat]

Agreed. Very good fighter, but for me Anderson, Hendo, Mousasi, Franklin, Belfort, and Izzy would come first. Do we rank Whitaker above Jacare and Rockhold? I’d really have to look at it. I think I’d rank Whitaker below Rockhold, but above Jacare. And what about Weidman?

Rough draft (not set in stone):
1. Anderson Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Gegard Mousasi
4. Rich Franklin
5. Israel Adesanya
6. Vitor Belfort
7. Luke Rockhold
8. Chris Weidman
9. Robert Whitaker
10. Jacare Souza

Something like that?

LOL
Do you know Franklin's MW record? Are we gonna pretent that UFC was the top MW division in the planet with Loiseau and Quarry barely being ranked top10 worldwide challenging for the tittle?

It's highly arguable that Franklin has a better career than Whittaker including wins at 205, but based on his 7-3 record at MW alone, Rich doesnt even compare with Bobby.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Because he’s got wins over Lindland, Franklin, Bisping, Rockhold, Dan Henderson twice, Aikayama and Nate Marquardt? I suppose if we were splitting hairs, a couple of those were catchweights. But Vitor is def one of the best MWs of all time. Whitaker has, what?—Jacare and Yoel Romero on his resume and not much else? The rest are middling wins like Gastelum, Brunson, Uriah Hall... c’mon man. In my book I’ll give him 1 successful title defense because it’s not his fault Yoel missed weight. But according to the record books, Whitaker didn’t have a single defense. And you’re ranking him above Franklin or Mousasi? No way.

Franklin doesn't have a great resume at MW really, most of his better wins were actually at LHW.