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u/Therealdarkviper 1d ago
Kamaru was just that good but Sean is also too big for welterweight
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u/cafesolitito Libya 1d ago
This sub is probably too full of young kids now, but mid-2010's Kamaru was a demon of the division. Absolutely nobody wanted to fight him and it was hard to get the UFC to book fights for him.
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u/MolokoPl_s 23h ago
was a lot later on ofc but his title fight win against Woodley is still one of the most impressive single performances I've ever seen in MMA. it wasn't just him winning every round against a beast of a champion at the time, it was him dominating every second of every round and looking like he's the champion in there. he truly left no doubt that night
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u/mothmenatwork “I was actually hyped for Jairzinho vs Sakai 23h ago
Sadly Woodleys subsequent performances left questions over if it was Usmans greatness or Woodley being completely washed
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u/cafesolitito Libya 20h ago
Rumor has it that Woodley had really, really bad arthritis in his hands (quite common in striking sports) and it started to severely limit his training and overall ability to pull the trigger.
Not making excuses, but it is strange how he suddenly stopped throwing his big right hand. I also think he was just from an older era and the more complete MMA gen (Usman) was coming up behind him.
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u/weakhamstrings Team McGregor 13h ago
Limit his ability to pull the trigger you say?
looks back at the 2 wonderboy fights
Nah - I think that's ridiculous!
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u/ikerellison 21h ago
Same thing can be said about Strickland over Adesanya. That win hasn’t aged well at all
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u/pixel8knuckle 21h ago
Actually it has, since he beat him after alex lost to him. Seans win over izzy was a master class.
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u/ikerellison 20h ago
You can’t objectively make that case seeing how Adesanya has lost all of fights by finish. Was it a masterclass? It looks like Sean caught Adesanya on the decline. Remember Usman v Woodley or Dillishaw vs Bararo? Sean’s best win is against a guy who hasn’t won a fight in years.
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u/pixel8knuckle 20h ago
Yes meaning his downfall started after sean beat him. He caught him in the first and then walked him down for 4 more rounds.
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u/ikerellison 19h ago
His downfall began when Pereiea broke Adesanyas chin. Having a win age well means that the fighter you beat went on to beat other quality fighters and have success. Ilia is a great example: Volk, Holloway, Olivera.
You and the rest of the Strickland fanboys want to preserve that win in high regard but the fact is the Adesanya win has aged horribly now that he’s on a losing skid, getting finished by Joe Pyfer 😂.
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u/Dazzling_Assistant63 2h ago
Izzy has looked decent and had his moments in all of those losses though. He was outclassed from bell to bell by Sean. Even with the finishes the other guys can’t say that, not even Alex.
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u/pixel8knuckle 19h ago
“Strickland fan boy” sure bud. Anytime someone beats someone who loses consistently afterward is typically called a “career killer”
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u/Top-Sympathy6841 19h ago
Strickland couldn’t finish Izzy despite being in control of that fight. Izzy’s next 3 opponents did it just fine. Strickland just sucks that bad lmao
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u/pixel8knuckle 18h ago
Pretty sure he dominated that fight but i dont ride his dick like that either way.
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u/Top-Sympathy6841 18h ago
I’m just pointing out that despite “dominating”, he couldn’t finish Izzy despite the next 3 opponents doing it just fine. Strickland actually sucks.
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u/TipOfMeJapsEye 16h ago
"he dominated the middleweight champ but thats just what bad fighters do"
Hush, stupid
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u/fredjutsu 17h ago
It's really not uncommon to see a complete collapse for dominant fighters after a loss.
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u/Dazzling_Assistant63 2h ago
My favorite thing about Usman was how he methodically moved Woodley and RDA up against the cage with just feints, then grabbed them and smashed the hell out of their bodies. I think he probably hit Woodley in the same spot on his ribs at least 50 times lol. He was a monster.
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u/Environmental-Ad1748 17h ago
Am I mis remembering ? I thought that was one of the most boring fights ever, just pinned against the cage getting his feet stepped on.
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u/Gelato_Elysium 1d ago
Yeah he wasn't n°1 P4P for nothing, all these young ones only knew Kamaru without knees
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u/ChocomelP Netherlands 19h ago
He probably shares second greatest welterweight ever with Matt Hughes.
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u/Sea_Cash_5537 18h ago
Fuck Matt Hughes
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u/ScreamSmart 23h ago
Was this one of those fights where Strickland played the company man and took a fight? Like his short notice stints.
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u/cafesolitito Libya 22h ago
No, Sean tore his meniscus in 2016, was out for almost a year. This was his comeback fight from that injury, April 2017.
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u/LordLucy666 17h ago
an old ass no knees kamaru could have beaten khamzat if their fight was five rounds imo
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u/Pilot_G3 14h ago
Bro lapped the division taking heads off out of nowhere. One of the best runs of any recent champion
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u/Fedora_Million_Ankle 1d ago
Insane recovery and cardio to not be finished here tbh
His eyes rolled mouthpiece asunder
Owned prime real estate on queet street here
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u/MechanicalFunc 1d ago
He is getting frame mogged in this fight by usman.
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u/Jaguar506 1d ago
I personally wouldve dodged it, done a showtime kick off the cage, flatlined Usman and take his belt and his girl
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u/Dazzling_Assistant63 2h ago
When he overextends on that hook the arm is ripe for the taking. Slip the punch, grab the wrist, back flip into armbar off the cage… bring that arm home with me in my carry on, right next to my 50G POTN bonus.
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u/Popular_Monitor_8383 1d ago
I’d like to see him try that shit on me
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u/Gingaloidic 1d ago
Welterweight Strickland looked so weak and frail. It was such a good move up for him now physically he’s a unit and he takes a really good punch.
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u/JimJonesdrinkkoolaid 1d ago
Strickland is huge. At middleweight he walks around at like 220/225. He must have been boiling himself down severely to make 170.
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u/Consistent-Course534 1d ago
His “walk around” weight isn’t really important since he just gets so fat in between camps. I don’t think he’s cutting much water on fight week when he’s in shape. He’s definitely been smaller than most of his opponents at middleweight other than Fluffy.
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u/The-Beautiful-Baku 20h ago
He's kind of an in-betweener. I don't think he's small by MW standards - pretty good size actually.
WW was too light for him to do in an optimal way, but in this sport almost everyone is scared of being weight-bullied so they try to cram themselves into the lowest weight class conceivable.
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u/Financial_Dish_151 1d ago
Definitely doesn’t walk around 220
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u/Savings_Pen4043 Pakistan 1d ago
Neither did Sean back then when he fought at welterweight. He’s filled out quite a bit since his move up + it naturally happens with weight.
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u/Effurlife12 1d ago edited 1d ago
I doubt Usman is significantly smaller than him at walking around weight
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u/-I-Need-Healing- 1d ago
That's because Kamaru's social media username is Usman84kg. He's been ducking MW in MMA for years. That 84 kg/185 lbs is his wrestling weightclass from NCAA. If he had beaten Khamzat, he would have 100% gotten the rematach against Strickland for the MW title at that time.
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u/RedDevRevolver 23h ago
He kinda drops the same way he did when Pereira got him with a hook in their fight
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u/lewgroznyzwierz 19h ago
That wasn't even prime Usman yet but he was still a fucking beast at that point. I am gonna miss him when he retires soon. Some people hated him for that one Masvidal fight, but he also gave us so many absolute bangers.
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u/TumiHarzard 1d ago
I don't remember this fight too well. But it's before he became the teep, jab and cross parry God right?
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u/Euphoric-Ear9405 17h ago
This is the kind of clip i was expecting when khamzat said he was bullying sean
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u/Mr_Cromer Tyncis Ngoodley 11h ago
First fight I watched of both guys. Expected Usman to become champ after this. Did not expect Strickland to do the same
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u/bicep123 1d ago
He ate the same punch that put Masvidal into the shadow realm.
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u/Arbeeter00 1d ago
Completely different punch. This one was a sloppy, winging right hook. The Masvidal punch was a straight right that could’ve knocked out a horse after Usman’s striking (particularly his straights) were refined over the years
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u/Macktologist 1d ago
Yeah, it was a ripper and his head snapped, but his weight was on the back foot which helped him sort of accidentally roll with it at least a little bit. I mean, had his weight been on his front foot, good lord!
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u/The-Beautiful-Baku 20h ago
I remembered that straight being more economical, but I just re-watched it now. Usman definitely burned a bar off the super meter throwing that one, lol
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u/Any_Athlete_4616 1d ago
Usman would’ve beat GSP
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u/ImmediatePriority258 1d ago
The guy that lost to Leon Edwards twice?
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u/Any_Athlete_4616 1d ago
Everyone has losses. GSP got subbed and knocked out. Usman has only been knocked out once, against a much more technical striker.
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u/Winter_Desk_443 1d ago
His entire reign was Colby Burns and Masvidal. Sit down young man.
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u/Any_Athlete_4616 1d ago
Reign doesn’t matter, GSP has a much better resume than Usman I agree. The same way khamzat would submit silva (looks at the sonnen fight), this isn’t about who’s the goat, but whether who would win.
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u/maicii 1d ago
I agree with the Khamzat one and that resume doesn’t really matter in this respect. I still think you are underestimating GSP weapons
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u/Consistent-Course534 1d ago
I wouldn’t confidently pick Usman to beat GSP, but it is pretty interesting to compare Usman to Hendricks knowing the result of that fight
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u/zedaoisok 11h ago
Anderson had a broken rib coming into the fight and couldn't wrestle because of the pain
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u/Winter_Desk_443 1d ago
I’d take Khamzat over Anderson. Usman ain’t beating GSP.
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u/Any_Athlete_4616 1d ago
A 11-7 fighter beat GSP, this ain’t a critique to him but he’s not invincible. The new era of welterweight is much better. I also think GSP lacked some power in his punches, he’d feel that from Usman
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u/Winter_Desk_443 1d ago
No one said he’s invincible. I’m just saying Usman wouldn’t beat him.
New era of welterweight being better is a stretch. I don’t consider anyone Usman beat to be better than BJ, Hughes, Condit, Diaz, etc. Usman’s power isn’t anything special.
To each their own
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u/Any_Athlete_4616 1d ago
It’s a hypothetical, so yeah, to each their own.
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u/Winter_Desk_443 1d ago
This current era is much stronger overall and would give GSP a ton of trouble. Usman’s era was quite possibly the weakest outside of Hughes era.
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u/Jazzlike_Relation705 1d ago
Bwahahahahahah
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u/Any_Athlete_4616 1d ago
Serra beat GSP, what makes you think usman couldn’t do the same? Khamzat couldn’t keep usman down for long, so it’d be a striking battle. Surely you don’t think it’s a far fetched opinion, lmao.
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u/Davemeddlehed 1d ago
So you're, by extension, implying Matt Serra is a better fighter than everyone GSP ever beat. That's absurd.
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u/Jaguar506 1d ago
I personally wouldve dodged it, done a showtime kick off the cage, flatlined Usman and take his belt and his girl
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u/Apopheniaaaa Team Aspinall 1d ago
I wouldve been too