That was the thing about MW at the time, there weren’t many good wrestlers. I’d say Sonnen was probably the best wrestler at that time. But his lack of grappling or jiu jitsu couldn’t prevent him from getting caught in submissions by higher level black belts.
Right now? An example of elite MW wrestling would be Khamzat or Bo Nickal. Okami doesn’t compare to them in that regard nor does Maia although they might find success with grappling or jiujitsu against them.
I would say Okami and Maia were good wrestlers but they weren’t elite there necessarily. Where they excelled was the grappling and jiu jitsu.
^^^This right here. WW and LHW had all the wrestlers in the UFC during Silva's era. If you look at the MW rankings from around 2005 - 2010, it was primarily strikers and BJJ grapplers. With a few exceptions, it wasn't until around 2010-2012 and on that the new school of MW wrestlers started entering the division.
I'm not trashing Silva's record, but in no way are Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, and Travis Lutter elite fighters. But they managed to get shots at Silva because the division was pretty thin back then. When those types of fighters are getting title shots, it speaks to the lack of depth in the division.
So who deserves to be caled a good wrestler, if Maia, Okami, Sonnen or Henderson dont make it?
Mention WWs or MWs from Silva's generation, not just HW champion Cormier.
Okami and Maia pulled different style of TDs and were elite MMA wrestlers compared with ranked UFC fighters in any division, not just with Silva.
Again, its clear you weren't watching these fighters back then. Maia and Okami weren't traditional wrestlers. Okami is a judoka/bjj black belt. Maia is a BJJ black belt. Neither were good chain wrestlers/grapplers. Sonnen and Weidman are closer in style to chain wrestlers like Rashad Evans, Khabib, Jon Jones, or Merab. Guys like Maia, Okami, or Marquardt would shoot a double or single, and if they failed, give up the shot and go back to striking. That's what separated those fighters from the other names I listed who won titles or came close (Sonnen).
Mark Muñoz is a NCAA champion.
Anderson Silva should have fought Muñoz for you to claim he faced "elite wrestlers".
In my opinion, the way you approach the matter is classic sherbroism but to each his own
I was waiting for this name to be brought up. Mark Munoz was an NCAA champion, but his wrestling didn't translate well to MMA. The UFC was trying hard to get him a championship match back then, but he always fell short against any decent contender because his MMA wrestling wasn't as great as it was made out to be, and his hands weren't good enough to make up the difference either. He was basically a gatekeeper throughout his entire career and ended with a 14-6 record.
