pistolpete86 - I agree w/ his sentimentBut of course there are plenty of exceptions.
"The guys at 185 and above are not mixed martial artists"
-josh Thompson
AustintheWolfe - Most of the lighter guys would not be nearly as impressive if they had the size of the heavier guys. They would be less explosive, dynamic, less gas tanks etc. Cain could beat up more people in the world than MM.Doesn't that basically defeat the purpose of the whole argument?!?!
UGCTT_Nightkap - Anderson was a horrible fighter. ...
summed it up better than anyone.
I find that Thomson rarely has anything intelligent to say
I agree to a point. The top guys in 125-170 are closer to the middle and bottom guys than in the higher weight classes. There is a more significant gap between contenders and others in 185 to heavyweight.
It's a bit like saying the best basketball players are 5'6 or the best American Football players weigh 140lbs.
Yeah, the lightweights might be quicker or even more skilled but the only reason those guys have a career is because weight classes were introduced to protect them from the dozens upon dozens of fighters that would beat the shit out of them head to head.
His example was Rory McDonald, well have Rory move up to 185 or 205 and watch guys like Yoel Romero or Tim Kennedy smash him. Hell, if Rory moved up to 205 guys like Glover or Rumble would put him to sleep.
BLPorritt -VU :)UGCTT_Nightkap - Anderson was a horrible fighter. ...
summed it up better than anyone.
Of course he's right...
Thats why the best p4p fighter in the world is 205er and the former p4p king was a 185er and the former p4p king was a hw and so on so fourt.....The lw division is the most staked right now but thats about it.
PhuckfaceMcGee - You weigh more than 155 lbs josh. You may cut to that just for the weigh ins but you train and fight heavier than that. I guess you are one dimensional by your own logic.His argument is sound. He could have said it with a bit more polish, but it's hard to logically argue against. He's not talking physical gifts, he's talking about skills/learned abilities.
But, to use physical ability as an example; it's akin to making the generalization that, "smaller guys tend to be faster - and larger guys tend to be stronger." Going down the roster of The UFC you'll find exceptions, but the statement remains valid in a broad sense.
The larger weight fighters are by-and-large less skilled/well-rounded than their lighter weight counterparts. That's gradually changing, but still not as outlandish a statement as some of you are making it out to be.The UFC heavyweight division for example, is a lot better than when Tim Sylvia was champ, but it still doesn't have the depth of the 155 lbs class.
Here's a challenge: Go down the list of the top twenty ranked lightweight fighters and see if you can find an equal amount of comparatively well-rounded fighters in the higher weight divisions housed in The UFC. If you can, I'd love to see that list. Obviously, if you can it casts a little more doubt on his assertion.
As a note: I disagree with some of Thompson's other comments, like the "not mixed martial artists" thing.
Josh Thomson is just trying to work hard all week to put beer on his table
white -PhuckfaceMcGee - You weigh more than 155 lbs josh. You may cut to that just for the weigh ins but you train and fight heavier than that. I guess you are one dimensional by your own logic.His argument is sound. He could have said it with a bit more polish, but it's hard to logically argue against. He's not talking physical gifts, he's talking about skills/learned abilities.
But, to use physical ability as an example; it's akin to making the generalization that, "smaller guys tend to be faster - and larger guys tend to be stronger." Going down the roster of The UFC you'll find exceptions, but the statement remains valid in a broad sense.
The larger weight fighters are by-and-large less skilled/well-rounded than their lighter weight counterparts. That's gradually changing, but still not as outlandish a statement as some of you are making it out to be.The UFC heavyweight division for example, is a lot better than when Tim Sylvia was champ, but it still doesn't have the depth of the 155 lbs class.
Here's a challenge: Go down the list of the top twenty ranked lightweight fighters and see if you can find an equal amount of comparatively well-rounded fighters in the higher weight divisions housed in The UFC. If you can, I'd love to see that list. Obviously, if you can it casts a little more doubt on his assertion.
As a note: I disagree with some of Thompson's other comments, like the "not mixed martial artists" thing.
the 170 is as deep or deeper than 155 or 145. imo.
rory, hendricks, lawler, lombard, woodley, kampman, brown, condit, ellenberger, etc.
185 and up, there's a strong argument, although all the champions are well rounded: cain and jones.
155 is so deep, because that's the weight class that the average height person competes in. You have a much larger talent pool to choose from.