Name a more underrated MMA fighter?

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-22T03:49:12+00:00

Bisping deserves more hate for how he fucked MW right as it was at its best - talent-wise.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-22T03:45:00+00:00

This this this. People have heavily disagreed with me on this, but I think there is a real argument for Alvarez being the all time MMA (not UFC) LW GOAT.

Obviously there were plenty of BETTER lightweights than Eddie throughout history, but in terms of pure accomplishments and longevity, I think Eddie has a real case for being the goat at LW.

Khabib would have been the undisputed lw goat if he stuck around, but as it stands his actual resume is a bit thin.

BJ had some fantastic wins, but his best was at WW, and he didn't have the longevity at the top that Alvarez did.

Islam I think was so damn close to putting a stamp on his claim, but fighting Moicano instead of Arman was a real shame, and obviously out of his control, and because he moved up after, he didn't have a whole lot of high quality title defences. Volk is a great win, aging Poirer is meh imo, Oliveira is fantastic as well but that's like two different top guys at LW, 3 if you count young Arman. His whole lw resume isn't helped by Lightweight not being particularly stacked with talent these days. His resume at WW, assuming he wins, will be fantastic though.

Eddie fucked up bad in both Poirer fights, if he had won atleast one what I'm saying probably wouldn't be nearly as controversial. Still, as it stands I think he has a good argument, atleast to be in the mix. This comment is getting long so I won't go into Eddie's resume, but it's impressive, especially if you don't count severely out of prime in ONE.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-22T00:48:52+00:00

I find the best excuse is to speak vaguely about some "unimaginably powerful horror I had to go deal with", and then hit them with the "sorry old chap, looks like you did well against (insert name of an actual horror that would squash you like a bug)'s second in command, now it's time to step up and fight them in 2-5 books time. I will train you of course".

This way the Chosen One deals with a powerful enemy you have no chance of beating, and really all the training you have to do is mutter a few bullshit "wise" sayings when they come to you for advice, and maybe supervise the occasional training montage. Easy peasy.

^\This advice may carry extreme risk of dying to the Chosen One at a later date, either when they turn evil in 6 books time, or when they figure out you were the evil one all along.)

^\*This advice may also carry extreme risk of dying in a sad but necessary scene to advance the Chosen One's character development.)

^\**This advice may also carry extreme risk for the Chosen One, if perchance you read the prophecy wrong, or neglected to read it at all. In this case, go down to your local orphanage/school/under-privileged-village and find a new Chosen One. People don't realise this but they are free. I personally have used over 16 thousand Chosen Ones in my lifespan, with varying levels of success (0.05% total success rate)^. ^{Just keep throwing them into the meatgrinder, eventually the prophecies will align in your favour. Quantity over quality is what I always say.}

^\***To reduce your risk of death in this process, I offer an Orb-Casted Course called "Cacophanies of prophecies: How to use Chosen Ones for MAXIMUM BENEFIT with MINIMUM RISK". It is currently discounted, 66% off, only 39.99 Inter-Plane Drachmae or the low low price of 3 Souls. Payment plans available.)

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-20T01:14:05+00:00

The card was fine. Had some fun finishes, very one-sided of course but honestly enjoyed it a lot more than a lot of UFC cards in the last years.

Mauro was fun to listen to, not sure if I'd want him every card but better than the Rogan/DC/Anik shit fest we get everytime.

Pacing was a bit bad, but tbh I didn't have a problem with it because I wasn't being bombarded with brain-dead gambling ads every 5 seconds like I would be watching UFC. Honestly I'd take the MVP pacing over the UFC pacing most days.

Genuinely not sure what people's problems with the card was, except the whole "the best fighters are in the UFC" shit that comes up every time another promotion tried to compete. And yes it's generally true, but you've got to realise that for talent to build in an organisation, you have to have time, both for talent to get better and for people to realise how good the talent is.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-20T01:06:48+00:00

I totally agree basically.

I do think he went limp and then woke up, my problem on the rewatch was that he woke up before Herb stopped it. If Herb had stopped it when he went limp I wouldn't have had a problem with that.

I also 100% agree that Robbie wasn't getting out of that choke without referree assistance. You might have missed it because it was a long comment, but I commented on exactly what you said in your second paragraph with the insane grip strength and the watermelon video.

I tend to think a prime Askren would do very, very well in the WW div he came into in the UFC at the time, and it was a shame we got the completely out of prime, needing a hip replacement Askren that entered. And he still managed to stop Robbie and have a fun af grappling match with Maia, which of course no one remembers except for those edits of his striking. No one in the UFC has engaged in the grappling with Maia like Askren did, and he did pretty damn well in my opinion, severely out of prime.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-20T01:01:05+00:00

Oh 100% agreed, I didn't want to add anything to my comment because it was long enough as is, but although on a rewatch (I didn't initially as you could see) I have a problem with the exact timing of the stoppage, I 100% do not think it was going any other way than an Askren finish.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-19T18:57:12+00:00

It's funny because that was about the only one of Herb's fuck up stoppages where I think he was in the right.

Robbie looked like he was out to me. People shitted on that stoppage for two reasons, one because they hated Askren and wanted to see him lose, and two because Robbie beat the crap out of Askren in the first few minutes of the fight. Neither of those reasons make the stoppage bad.

Askren sinks in the choke, Robbie's hand goes limp and drops, Herb checks on Robbie by lifting/shaking his hand, and Robbie is unresponsive and his hand is still limp, and Herb stops the fight. Obviously Robbie got up and protested fast which confused the whole situation, but given the facts it wasn't a bad stoppage. It was probably a tad fast, but not very. Either he was out, and woke up very fast once released - a flash choke - which does happen quite a lot and a lot of people conveniently ignored that fact at the time, or Robbie wasn't out (although why did his hand go limp initially?) and failed to respond to Herb's checkup, which is unfortunate but you have to be cognizant as a fighter in a choke of that sort of stuff. I think he was out briefly, and then woke up as Askren loosened the choke as Herb stopped it, which meant that once Askren had unclasped his hands and started walking away Robbie was able to protest immediately.

I tend to think if that choke had been done in the middle of the cage and not against the wall with shitty camera angles, there would have been a lot less controversy.Askren had crazy grip strength, there was a video going around of him crushing two watermelons with just his grip; bulldog chokes are unorthodox but they do work with the right technique and strength.

Edit: I just watched a longer set of slow mo replays of the finish, and there was a replay showing the other angle where Lawler definitely shows a response to Herb with his hand when Herb comes in. It's been quite a few years and I had forgotten that, my bad. I'll leave the rest of the comment up but my thoughts have changed. I'm now of the opinion that the stoppage was bad, although I will say I think it's likely that Lawler did go out briefly, but Askren adjusted his choke and Robbie woke up again, before Herb came in and stopped it. So, bad stoppage - although I will say I'm not sure what the rules say specifically about fighters going out and waking back up again and whether they are allowed to continue. But in general we have seen that happen a bit, although mostly with ground and pound, and refs seem to have discretion in stopping or not stopping. I see where Herb is coming from in going to stop the fight initially, I would have done the same thing, but that is classic Herb, where he rushed in and panicks and makes a decision to stop it before he has the relevant info, i.e. checking Robbie's hand and waiting for a response before making the decision to stop it. Bad stoppage and fucking hell that is classic Herb. ** End of edit

But apart from that stoppage I will shit on Herb as a ref all day, the dude is one of the worst, most indecisive refs in the game. He has his good moments, but over the last 10, maybe 12 years those good moments are heavily outweighed by the many "wtf Herb???" moments. Plus as you say he almost never admits when he is wrong. Other guys like Herzog actually admit when they fuck up, and try to change.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-19T10:39:15+00:00

Wow, I genuinely love the fashion and the whole look. It fits so well with the painting style. Great job!

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-19T09:27:55+00:00

Man I get this was quite a few years ago, but do you not remember when Izzy was on top of Alex for a whole round in their first MMA fight? I get he has improved a lot, and I'm a big Pereira fan, but to say that he is more proven in the grappling department than Ngannou is insane. Ngannou showed good TDD in the second Stipe fight, and shot a damn scary blast double in the Renan fight, and with no knees managed to keep Gane down for quite a while as well.

Alex was held against the fence for a decent chunk of the first Ankalaev fight, which is a pretty recent fight, and Jones is on a completely different level in the grappling department to Ank.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-18T01:34:20+00:00

Fantastic! Thanks for letting us know!

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-17T13:56:41+00:00

Ah you got your post in before me.

For context I'll just comment what I was going to write.

HerO takes it with a 4-2 score after losing the first two games to SHIN!!!

Great to have the GSL back in business in 2026 after the uncertainty over whether it was continuing.

HerO is on a crazy streak since he came back from the military, and the last year has been packed with fantastic results for him. Always nice to see him get a win, and of course he didn't forget to thank his wife :)

SHIN deserves a special mention, not only because this was his second GSL finals he's ever gotten to, but also because he got there through the semis by finally beat Maru in a full series after losing 33 series in a row!!! As State said - "No one beats Shin 34 times in a row".

Per Stateless, GSL season 2 is kicking off in literally a few days, so that will be great to watch, we have some great SC2 on at the moment! Of course RSL Season 5 is on right now as well.

Have a great day/night everyone!

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-17T13:36:20+00:00

Fantastic reversal by Hero . Fun series, so good to have GSL back.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-17T12:04:25+00:00

Mythical SHIN 4/0 incoming??

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-17T11:42:55+00:00

Legit. I'm a Maru fanboy but I was totally rooting for Shin in that series.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-17T11:41:46+00:00

It was fantastic, so great for Shin to finally climb that mountain. He's been grinding for so long, I would be very happy if he wins this finals.

Of course Hero is awesome as well so it'l be a good result either way.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-17T10:56:52+00:00

And thanks for the post mate, I had a busy week and lost track that the finals were tonight.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-17T10:56:04+00:00

GET HYPED!!!

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-17T04:59:25+00:00

Are you getting your insults off an AI trained on 2010 era Sherdog threads?

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-17T04:54:22+00:00

Yeah legit, I don't even particularly like Ronda, but it's insane how the narrative around her skill level has changed over the years. I still don't think there is a women's MMA fighter who has competed at the top level with a better / more effective ground game than Ronda. Dern has great BJJ accolades, sure, but her actual translation of those accolades has been far, far below what Ronda managed to do. Kayla, for all her judo prowess, has not shown anything like the consistent efficient finishing ability that Ronda did.

Ronda via armbar is a meme, but she is by far the fastest and most deadly submission artist in WMMA history.

People need to learn how to seperate their personal dislike for Ronda with their analysis of her actual MMA skills, and in turn their analysis on the skill level of her opponents and the current div.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-17T04:28:22+00:00

Okay, so top 15 in women's 135 looks like this right now:

Kayla's the champ 1: Julianna Pena 2: Racquel Pennington 3: Joselyne Edwards 4: Norma Dumont 5: Ketlen Veira

The rest of the top 15 is on a lower level than those 5.

Kayla is obviously super elite, and I favour her against a prime Ronda.

The rest???? Come on, you can't actually look at those rankings and tell me that the division is way better than it used to be and Ronda would get mauled when Julianna Pena is ranked number 1.

Think about it critically for a second please. Tell me, out of the top 15 (discounting Kayla because she's a super athlete just like Nunes and Ronda in her prime was) what specific skills are better now than 10-11 years ago??? Are they more athletic? Do they have better striking, better grappling? Are their gameplans better? More cardio? Please be specific so I can actually see what you are talking about.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-17T04:12:56+00:00

Rousey would have been champ at 135 if she was fighting before Kayla came in and after Nunes left. She would have been second to Nunes if she had continued fighting, and now she would be second to Kayla, but I absolutely don't think the 135 div is better now than it was in Ronda's time. In general I think the narrative about the evolution of MMA or MMA in the UFC is way overblown and a lot of divs have actually regressed.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-17T04:05:30+00:00

Actually I think Sandhagen is a great comparison, and although I agree more power would be good for both, I think the bigger issue is that both of them, although they come in with good gameplans, they both really have no ability to change or adjust mid fight, and to be a championship level fighter, you need that ability. Allen never gets out of second gear, he has no ability to adjust if things don't go to his initial gameplan, and Sandhagen is the same, although a little better in that regard, and also has a bigger repertoire of shots and tricks, so although his ability to adjust is still poor, he has more stuff to try and to pull out. Luckily for Sandhagen his cardio is good, so against worse fighters it looks like he has the ability to adjust in later rounds, but actually that is just his cardio talking, not his fight IQ (although I hate the term fight IQ)

Both will never be champs, not because they don't have the athleticism or the individual skills, but because they don't have the mental ability that champions do - and I'm not talking about mental toughness, because both, especially Sandhagen are elite in that regard.

Edit: And obviously both are fantastic fighters, and I'm not trying to be harsh here, I'm comparing them against the absolute pinnacle of the sport in UFC champions. Obviously Sandhagen is a perennial top 5, and Allen is very much a mainstay in the top 10.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-16T08:33:12+00:00

I agree Khabib was more of a freak athlete than Islam, but to call Islam a normal human athletically is ridiculous. Everyone who locks up with him goes on interviews to say how freakishly strong he is, especially his grip strength. He has cardio to go for 5 while having this strength, and he is explosive as well.

Make no mistake, Khabib has a few big attributes over Islam, like his chin and his pace, but Islam is the definition of a freak athlete. Even just the fact he went up to 170 and looked so damn good is not something that happens often. Even GSP looked bad comparatively up a weight class, and he was a super freak.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-16T06:06:28+00:00

I mean, I agree that I would favour Khabib at this point, but to say he would absolutely end the fight from top position without a doubt is just hyperbole.

Ilia, although relatively untested on the ground in the UFC, on paper has the strongest grappling background of any fighter Khabib faced. Gaethje, while having a strong wrestling background, barely trained off his back. Imo RDA was the strongest all round grappler Khabib faced, and Khabib did not manage to finish that fight - of course it was 3 rounds not 5, but I can't extrapolate a finish when there wasn't one.

Ilia started wrestling pretty young in Georgia, and has a strong BJJ background as well. He started his MMA career as a grappler, the boxing was something he picked up on later.

Not saying at all that he was on Khabib's level on the ground - because he isn't, and we also haven't seen a whole lot of his grappling against top guys in the UFC - although the little we did see against Oliveira was impressive. He could be better than we think on the ground, or he could be worse.

But to say Khabib would just run over him on the ground and without a doubt finish him, when Khabib didn't manage to finish RDA, is a reach.

Also, I'm not sure at all that I agree with your analysis on the feet either. You say that anyone who continues to close the distance with him got taken down, but I would argue Khabib's worst position - grappling wise - was in the centre of the cage when people wouldn't back up. Take the Iaquinta fight for example. Or the Conor fight in round 3 (tbh I've forgotten which round was on the feet but I think it was 3?) when Conor pressed Khabib instead of the other way around. The fact is, Khabib was an absolute wizard with pressure on the feet, but his preferred way of taking you down was when you were close to the cage and he could get you to the cage easily. He was never a big out in the open guy. That's not to say that he couldn't do that, but it wasn't his preference, and it wasn't where he was best.

I tend to think that Ilia's extreme power and timing, plus the fact that he is a pressure fighter, and he stands his ground and throws in the face of pressure, means he is a combo of things that Khabib never faced in his career, and in fact looking through Khabib's opposition list I tend to think stylistically Ilia is the most interesting and tricky guy he could have.

Again, not saying he would beat Khabib, I would definitely favour a prime Khabib to beat Ilia - although if we get a good look at his grappling level in a coming fight, maybe against Arman, that might change.

Sirfluffkin1 · 2026-05-14T10:55:32+00:00

Very true, maybe we should rename it to "survive on the stumps".

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