The light heavyweight division exactly 10 years ago

[Striker Fox]

lol at couldn't threaten with subs. Am I talking to Stevie Wonder?

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Tell you what, lets make a deal. You state out loud here that elevation played no part in Cain losing to Werdum and I'll do the same for Jan, allowing you to win the argument. However, if you can't do that you are a hypocrite.

Both were clearly gassed from elevation, but Mexico City is almost double the altitude of Salt Lake City.

Both Cain and Jan weren't as acclimated as Pereira and Werdum, and that was a huge advantage, especially in Mexico City.

 

[lefthighkick01]

The height of the LHW fighters has increased a lot.

Yeah and half of those fighters on that list would be MW's these days..

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Ahh yes, the guy who claims Pereira surviving a rear naked choke attempt from Jan and barely scraping by him means he would have beaten other wrestlers. Jan is a striker who learned how to wrestle. Gus is a striker who learned how to wrestle at a higher level than Jan. And fighters like Jones, DC, Rumble, Glover, Bader, Davis were a level above that.

This whole debate started because you think Izzy is a better grappler than Alex. Like everything else you post, this is completely lacking any nuance or context. 1 point for Izzy for having marginally better takedown ability and TDD. 1 point to Alex for being better at negating Gn'P and making opponents work for position. Alex also actually threatens with submissions, and appears to have a size and strength advantage over Izzy. You can rate those abilities however you like, or disagree entirely. But either way, there isn't some glaring gap in skill between the two. Both are crossover kickboxers who aren't known for grappling, and both train BJJ under legit black belts.

All we have to go off of here is a common opponent and their two MMA fights. I'll agree to disagree with you and go back to playing nice.

I'll also add that not all close fights that end in split decision should be characterized as "scraping by". It was a tough fight. It happens sometimes. Doesn't take away from the fact that Alex did what he had to do and won.

 

[mkt]

Chael was a middleweight and he also probably was past it after losing 2 title fights.
Rashad lost to little Nog. Idk how he won against Sonnen like this, but after Jones that was his only good performance

Rashad had a weird career. He looked better than ever against Phil Davis and also looked quite good against Jones despite losing. No one else was going the distance with Jones back then. Rashad was in his early 30s at this time and it was a few years after he was obliterated by Machida. It looked like he was reaching a late prime, similar to Robbie Lawler when he became UFC champ. But then Rashad loses to a declining Little Nog and goes 2-5 in his last 7 UFC fights, with his only wins against fighters older than he was (Chael and a close fight with Hendo).

 

[blaseblase]

This whole debate started because you think Izzy is a better grappler than Alex.

He LITERALLY outgrappled him in their fight. Izzy has faced wrestlers, Pereira hasn't. Your dumbass is trying to use the fact Izzy got by a few wrestlers to assume Pereira would do the same. You don't know that. He didn't face those fighters. You need to accept that he got an easy path to the title and move on. I don't want to downplay what Pereira has accomplished. I like the guy. But he did get an easy path to a title shot. This is a fact. Stop the nuthugging.

 

[mkt]

Yeah and half of those fighters on that list would be MW's these days..

That's true, but it's also true that Thiago Santos moved up from MW to LHW early in the "LHWs are getting bigger" era and did pretty well until he got too old. He went 3-0 then went the distance with Jones. He also beat 6'5" Johnny Walker, lol.

 

[blaseblase]

That's true, but it's also true that Thiago Santos moved up from MW to LHW early in the "LHWs are getting bigger" era and did pretty well until he got too old. He went 3-0 then went the distance with Jones. He also beat 6'5" Johnny Walker, lol.

So did Anthony Smith.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

He LITERALLY outgrappled him in their fight. Izzy has faced wrestlers, Pereira hasn't. Your dumbass is trying to use the fact Izzy got by a few wrestlers to assume Pereira would do the same. You don't know that. He didn't face those fighters. You need to accept that he got an easy path to the title and move on. I don't want to downplay what Pereira has accomplished. I like the guy. But he did get an easy path to a title shot. This is a fact. Stop the nuthugging.

And then got beaten with grappling by their common opponent. I asked for the names of these mythical wrestlers and no one could produce them, including you. Your dumbass is trying to use the Jan fight and altitude as proof that Alex couldn't have beaten some lower ranked guys at 185 before he cracked the top 5. You were so triggered that you made a side thread about the top ten LHWs from 10 years ago, which only highlighted my point that there aren't really any good wrestlers right now. Your dumbass still can't understand the difference between an "expedited" run and an "easy" run. Expedited isn't easier if you're thrown to the wolves, jumping up in weight, and fighting champions. This is a fact. Stop the hating.