Worst fighter to become champion?

[MrCoffee]

lmao, post of the day. Thanks for the laugh sir

Here for shitty arguments and laughs bud!

 

[Richard Fannin]

As much as I love my man Ace Franklin, lots of fighters have been listed ITT that were better than him.
I've only ever rooted against Rich twice (the 2 times he's fought Wand, and look where it got me), and I'll always love him and his pink shorts.

But he's on that Forrest Griffin tier, as their fight showed. Good at everything, but not elite at anything in particular... a bit more skilled than Bisping, but not as strong a chin.

Compared to some champs listed ITT like Alvarez or Rockhold, Ace is not as good IMHO. I'd even put Ricco over him, but I might be biased because of Ricco's ADCC success.

Rich vs Wand 1 remains in my top 5 favorite fights that I've had the luck to see live, it was crazy... felt kinda bad when the crowd booed the decision, but it did seem Wand did a little bit more to edge each round.





I don't often use these words, but both Wand/Ace fight are very underrated, a must watch for any new fan of the sport!

 

[JKS]

Before the UFC he lost to Michael Chandler by KO and “avenged” it with a SD win. Not elite imo

He lost to Michael Chander by submission, not by KO.

He also beat Aoki, Freire, Kawajiri, and Hansen before he even hit the UFC, was multiple organization champion. Eddie has been ranked top 5 at LW for many years. And Knocking out RDA and Gaethje definitely means your elite. Look how many quality wins he has over top opposition in his career.

If you don't think Eddie is an elite fighter, than there is literally a handful of elite fighter in the history of the sport. Your standards don't make much sense.

 

[Mammothman]

Alvarez? He beat Pettis, RDA, Gaethje and Giblert (when Giblert was still relevant). How on earth can Alvarez be the worst champ? The guy is solid, definitely nowhere near LW GOATness, but a FAR better champ than someone like Pettis.

Lol Edward was the luckiest champ ever.

At least Pettis defended his belt and was clearly the #1 guy when he was a champ, nobody believed for a second Edward was the best lightweight in the world after his flukiest win against RDA

 

[Freddy Fisticuffs]

Matt Serra. Dude came out of NOWHERE and miraculously won the belt, from GSP no less. It was simultaneously a disgrace and the ultimate Rocky story of MMA.

No matt serra is the goat

 

[felmmando]

No way. Forrest wasn't a jack of all trades and a far cry from a master of any of them, but he showed fucking heart in the octagon up until the Anderson Silva fight.

I can think of more than five champions off the top of my head that were far worse than Griffin.

Alvarez
Hendricks
Sylvia
Rockhold
McGregor
Holm
Tate

We'll have to agree to disagree: in my book, only one male fighter you list could plausibly be considered worse (not far worse) than Griffin. He did show heart but without the skills to go with that, he's not a championship level fighter.

 

[ShreddinMMA]

Kind of a mean spirited thread, but I’d say Eddie Alvarez or Ricco Rodriguez

You're a noob to pick either of those guys, Jesus.

 

[today123]

Nicco Montano

If I am limited to men who competed after 2010 to avoid fighters in developing divisions, I would say Bisping. When he was champion I would not have favored him over most of the top 10.

the fact that he won the title as a short notice replacement backs up my pick. By definition he didn’t have to earn his shot because he was selected out of desperation.

Brock didn’t earn his shot against Couture but at least cemented himself as a legitimate champion by beating Mir and Carwin. Bisping only successfully defended against an old Henderson in his retirement fight and almost lost.

 

[tuckermaclain]

Bisping comes to mind. Great fighters like Spider were getting old. Bisping walked into it when there was an enearthly easy path to the belt. Spider struck like Izzy. Can you imagine Bisping and Izzy? The MW division didn't have any phenom fighters in Mike's path. He's a good fighter, but I never considered him champ level. Kinda like Cupcake. I'm glad she had her day in the sun and I love to look at her, but I was shocked to see her hold the belt.

 

[mjfan23]

Tim Sylvia

no! Timmeh was the GOAT UFC HW until Stipe surpassed him

 

[Roljo]

she was still ranked as high as #3 in the division last month, but apparently 'getting tooled by JJ' makes you suck and is the only thing people ever remember.

Apart from future champ Rose she beat future Invicta champ Hill, Invicta atomweight champ Penne, and perennial top 10 fighter Torres (who Rose is 1-1 with, Rose's win being a very iffy split dec) just on that TUF as well.

And that tells you all you need to know about wmma

 

[RomanJester]

De Randamie literally said no to a Cyborg fight the day after she won the FW belt meant for Cyborg. So her.

 

[blocnoir]

Nobody said Bisping I know

 

[DestinedAussie]

Matt Serra. Dude came out of NOWHERE and miraculously won the belt, from GSP no less. It was simultaneously a disgrace and the ultimate Rocky story of MMA.

Matt Serra earned the shot and had a pretty good career. It was a cinderella story but I am not sure his the worst.



I actually think Forrest Griffin. I loved forrest as a fighter but the idea he became a champion is woah. He barely ever bothered defending and swung wildly at times.

 

[Paladin]

Alvarez?!?! Wtf. It’s obviously Montano

Has she even fought since getting stripped?

 

[Adamant]

Matt Serra earned the shot and had a pretty good career. It was a cinderella story but I am not sure his the worst.

The dude was a C-level fighter at best and had it not been for TUF nobody but the most hardcore of fans would even know he existed. I never heard of him before that show. TUF was his lottery ticket. Without it, and without the show's title shot stipulation, he would have NEVER gotten anywhere near the title. The dude is as close to MMA Rocky as you can get.

 

[Mangar]

Conor Mcgregor

not due to skill set. Why would we want a champ that NEVER tries to defend a belt, it’s counter intuitive.

Has more fights than Khabib since 2015. Maybe wanna change your pick ?

 

[Willek]

Sam Stout.

 

[Moro]

Colin McGillicutty

 

[Travis Alexander]

Has more fights than Khabib since 2015. Maybe wanna change your pick ?

No I’m good. Khabib defended his belt (granted not as often as I would’ve liked). With the exception of Tony (which seemed like a cursed fight) Khabib beat the best guys at LW and proved to be the absolute best LW for a significant period of time.

Conor does the equivalent of a dine and dash over and over in his career.