Mailbag: Where does Robert Whittaker rank all-time at middleweight? Plus fallout from UFC Saudi Arabia

UFC Saudi Arabia is within the books because the promotion made it’s debut outing in Ruyadh this previous Saturday, with Robert Whittaker demolishing short-notice alternative Ikram Aliskerov within the first spherical. Alexander Volkov additionally picked up a giant win over Sergei Pavlovich within the co-main occasion, plus another issues occurred, so let’s dive into issues earlier than shifting on to UFC 303 and Worldwide Combat Week.

Robert Whittaker

“Has Bobby Knuckles firmly established himself because the third biggest middleweight of all time over guys like Chris Weidman, Luke Rockhold, Dan Henderson and Gegard Mousasi?”

Nice query! Although I’ll begin by saying leaving Rich Franklin off this checklist is hard scenes. Franklin was an distinctive fighter who simply so occurred to have his prime run concurrently with Anderson Silva. Powerful break.

I’ve stated this lots earlier than nevertheless it bears repeating each time we begin arguing in regards to the biggest something: it’s a subjective factor. To me, “biggest” is primarily about accomplishment not “effectively, he beat this man, ipso facto, he’s higher”. And by these phrases, fairly inarguably the best middleweight of all time is Anderson Silva, with Israel Adesanya trailing significantly behind him.

No. 3 is attention-grabbing, although. If we’re speaking all of MMA, I feel the default for awhile has been Hendo, however I’m unsure it’s appropriate. Henderson has an unbelievable resume, nevertheless it’s additionally all around the map with mild heavyweight and openweight bouts. If we’re simply speaking what he’s executed at 185 kilos, Whittaker most likely surpassed him.

However Weidman is one other story. Weidman is within the that spot the place he fell off so dramatically from his peak that newer followers overlook him (we seek advice from this as “The B.J. Penn Zone” or “The Tony Ferguson Zone”). However Weidman has a fairly main trump card over Whittaker’s all-time case: three title defenses. Whittaker is an distinctive fighter, however he additionally by no means efficiently defended the belt. He received an interim title, received promoted to undisputed, after which misplaced his subsequent struggle. It’s a bit harsh, nevertheless it’s the reality.

I say it on a regular basis however defending a title is the toughest factor to do in MMA. (Mike) Heck, even Whittaker kind of agreed with that by saying he misplaced to Dricus du Plessis as a result of he underestimated him. You don’t do this kind of factor in a title struggle as a result of the gravity of a loss is so extreme. The stakes are totally different and the fights merely imply extra. So when you can argue that Whittaker has extra good wins than Weidman does at middleweight, none of these wins are nearly as good as Weidman’s three title defenses.

Weidman stays No. 3 on the checklist for me. However credit score to Whittaker who ought to begin a membership with Wealthy Franklin about having virtually a complete profession of being world-class-but-not-the-best.

Ikram Aliskerov

“Ought to now we have seen the deficiencies in Aliskerov’s placing coming?”

Lots of people had been fast to bury Ikram Aliskerov on Saturday night time after he received annihilated by Whittaker, particularly since there’s a clip circulating showing Whittaker figure out Aliskerov in about 12 seconds. It’s to be anticipated however I might warning everybody towards leaping to conclusions about Aliskerov too quickly.

The reality is Aliskerov was given an impossible task, and he’s not John Wick. Aliskerov went from preventing the the a hundredth finest middleweight on this planet (maybe that’s beneficiant even) to preventing the fourth, with per week’s discover, on the opposite facet of the world, and the person lower weight twice in that point span. Think about how good you’ll be at even menial duties in the event you needed to kill your self for the second time in per week and do it whereas jet-lagged. He needed to struggle probably the greatest middleweights of all time. He wasn’t actually arrange for fulfillment.

Now, does that imply Aliskerov would win underneath totally different circumstances? Most likely not. He’s nonetheless growing and Whittaker remains to be superb. However that’s the kind of factor we’ll decide over an extended timeline. However to make any snap judgments a couple of fighter based mostly on one struggle given these circumstances is a bit reactionary. Let’s see how he does his subsequent day trip.

Robert Whittaker Pt. 2

“Whittaker vs GSP or Bisping are fights that received away. How would Rob have fared in each these fights?”

Gained’t spend an excessive amount of time on this because it’s not massively topical however I like to consider these items.

Whittaker dummies Michael Bisping. Even one of the best model of Michael Bisping wouldn’t have had a lot to supply Whittaker and by the point they’d have fought, we had been removed from one of the best model (technically sure, bodily he tremendous shot).

Georges St-Pierre would have been fascinating as a result of Whittaker’s recreation is kind of GSP’s recreation earlier than GSP determined he can merely take everybody down to attenuate hazard. My guess is the dimensions and the truth that GSP was additionally previous his prime on the time means Whittaker would have taken it, however it could have been aggressive.

Alexander Volkov

“Does Volkov’s pretty dominant win over Pavlovich take the shine off Tom Aspinall’s win over Sergei in any respect?”

In fact not, as a result of you realize who additionally mushed Volkov? Tommy Aspinall, Aspinall! Tooooommy Aspinall! Nah nah nah nu nah nah nah nah nah nahhhhh!

Individuals aren’t excessive on Tom Aspinall as a result of he clobbered Sergei Pavlovich. They’re excessive on him as a result of he’s clobbered Pavlovich and Volkov Marcin Tybura and Serghei Spivac, and actually each different person who’s been within the cage with him over the previous decade, besides the freak damage with Curtis Blaydes. The historical past of MMA tells us that when fighters are this dominant over this many individuals, it’s an excellent signal that individual is future long-reigning champion.

However again to Volkov who I need to give correct shine to as a result of the person has sneakily develop into an amazing fighter. Sure, he has some high-profile losses within the UFC, however the man additionally has some large wins and he’s markedly higher each time I see him. Most significantly, he appears to have lastly discovered learn how to actually struggle to his strengths: being monumental.

For some cause, quite a lot of very tall guys suck at preventing that manner. Consider the bizarre manner Stefan Struve made himself smaller, placing his chin straight within the line of fireplace. Volkov is the other facet of that. He’s put the whole lot along with utilizing his size to maintain fights away and kick the hell out of individuals, or knee them once they power issues nearer. Pavlovich, a murderous puncher, spent your entire struggle merely unable to navigate the vary and received progressively extra pissed off.

In opposition to completely top-shelf, elite athletes, Volkov remains to be going to battle as a result of all that bigness comes with the value of lumbering round. Agile, sharp footwork kills him. However 99 % of heavyweights don’t have that so Volkov goes to proceed to be a nightmare for many dudes on this weight class.

Sergei Pavlovich

“Is Sergei simply the white model of Derrick Lewis?! Seems wonderful with the proper match-up, however is in any other case simply meh”

That is disrespectful to each Pavlovich and Lewis. I don’t subscribe to this.

Lewis isn’t a man who seems wonderful with excellent matchmaking. He’s a marvel of an MMA fighter who discovered that he might min-max heavyweight MMA and get shockingly near a UFC title. Lewis is mainly totally athleticism and energy, with a splash of savvy gamesmanship and a ton of coronary heart. The person can’t grapple but additionally can’t be held down. He hits ridiculously onerous but additionally can get clubbed in return. He has three minutes of cardio however one way or the other routinely finishes folks within the third spherical of fights. The person accommodates multitudes. And don’t overlook, he splattered Curtis Blaydes. Nobody would name Blaydes an excellent matchup for Lewis.

Pavlovich is one other horse totally as a result of the reality is, we nonetheless don’t know a lot about him. I’ve competed Pavlovich to low cost Francis Ngannou on multiple event and I’m sticking with that. Pavlovich has such absurd, fight-shifting energy and sneaky hand velocity that the majority of his fights have ended the primary time he touched somebody. I appreciated this struggle as a result of we truly received to see extra of Pavlovich’s recreation, however the reality is that this was a unhealthy matchup for him so we nonetheless didn’t be taught a lot. We realized that he doesn’t have the footwork to nook Volkov and didn’t have quite a lot of different concepts when Plan A didn’t work. Effectively, we realized the identical factor about Francis Ngannou in his first struggle with Stipe Miocic, after which he rotated and nuked everybody after that. Pavlovich may very well be in the identical boat. We’ll simply must see.

Shara Magomedov

“Can shara bullet develop into a official title contender if, from what Dana White has stated, they’re solely going to let him struggle in Saudi or Abu Dhabi? I do know there’s most likely a cause he can’t struggle anyplace else however with restricted struggle playing cards, it appears a stretch.”

Although I don’t know this for certain, I consider the explanation he can’t struggle for many sanctioning our bodies is as a result of he’s blind in a single eye. They frown on that, although truthfully, it’s a bit ridiculous. He’s a grown man and might make his personal decisions. However I digress.

Whereas it definitely received’t assist issues, a fighter might undoubtedly nonetheless develop into a title contender regardless of solely competing on playing cards in Saudi Arabia or Abu Dhabi. The UFC heads to Abu Dhabi a couple of times a 12 months and with Saudi now within the rotation, that’s as much as 4 dates per 12 months somebody like Shara Bullet would have out there. That’s loads of alternative to climb the ladder, assuming the UFC needs that to occur.

Happily the purpose is moot as a result of Shara Bullet received’t be a official title contender anyway since he’s not that good.

Don’t get me flawed, Shara Bullet is first rate and he definitely may be enjoyable, however he’s 30 years outdated and really, very restricted. There’s a cause Bo Nickal instantly known as him out, as a result of Bo is aware of that’s a simple struggle towards a man with some hype. Shara is a nasty grappler and mediocre wrestler, he’s simply been given some good matchups. And that’s effective! Maintain giving him these. Not everybody must struggle for a title. Let’s simply have this dude throw hammers with a bunch of different strikers as a result of MMA is meant to be enjoyable.

UFC 303

“What would the reception be if the present UFC 303 struggle card/bout order was the preliminary deliberate providing for worldwide struggle week?”

Most likely fairly excessive.

It’s now formally UFC 303 struggle week and whereas the specter of Conor McGregor and what was alleged to occur will loom giant all week, we’re truly taking a look at a fairly first rate pay-per-view occasion. Alex Pereira is without doubt one of the greater stars within the firm, Jiri Prochazka is a beloved weirdo, and the 2 of them will make candy, violent artwork collectively on Saturday. It’s a terrific predominant occasion.

The co-main can be nice. I’ll keep till the day I die that Brian Ortega isn’t superb, however he continues to win fights he’s shedding, and he’s now taking up Diego Lopes, a man who has vastly exceed expectations. That can be enjoyable.

As of this second, Anthony Smith is preventing Roman Dolidze, however on condition that this struggle was initially Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree Jr., who know what two mild heavyweight-adjacent fighters will step into the cage on Saturday within the function struggle? Plus, Ian Machado Garry and Michael “Venom” Web page is an absolute banger of a fighter that may find yourself figuring out the following welterweight title challenger.

It is a good card and if it was offered like this from the beginning, nobody would have something destructive to say about it. It’s solely as a result of the slapdash nature of the reserving for many of the predominant card fights is there any negativity this week. However it will likely be enjoyable and that’s all that issues.

Thanks for studying, and thanks for everybody who despatched in tweets (Xs?)! Do you have got any burning questions on issues at the least considerably associated to fight sports activities? You then’re in luck, as a result of you’ll be able to ship your tweets to me, @JedKMeshew, and I’ll reply my favourite ones! Doesn’t matter in the event that they’re topical or insane, simply as long as they’re good. Thanks once more, and see y’all subsequent week.