Mailbag: The place 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 Struggle Week.

Robert Whittaker

“Has Bobby Knuckles firmly established himself because the third best 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 Wealthy Franklin off this record 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 mentioned this lots earlier than but it surely bears repeating every time we begin arguing in regards to the best something: it’s a subjective factor. To me, “best” is primarily about accomplishment not “properly, 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 fascinating, although. If we’re speaking all of MMA, I feel the default for awhile has been Hendo, however I’m undecided it’s right. Henderson has an unimaginable resume, but it surely’s additionally all around the map with mild heavyweight and openweight bouts. If we’re simply speaking what he’s completed at 185 kilos, Whittaker in all probability 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 consult with 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, bought promoted to undisputed, after which misplaced his subsequent combat. It’s a bit harsh, but it surely’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 type of agreed with that by saying he misplaced to Dricus du Plessis as a result of he underestimated him. You don’t do this type of factor in a title combat as a result of the gravity of a loss is so extreme. The stakes are completely different and the fights merely imply extra. So whilst 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 record for me. However credit score to Whittaker who ought to begin a membership with Wealthy Franklin about having nearly a whole 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 bought annihilated by Whittaker, particularly since there’s a clip circulating exhibiting Whittaker determine Aliskerov in about 12 seconds. It’s to be anticipated however I’d warning everybody in opposition to leaping to conclusions about Aliskerov too quickly.

The reality is Aliskerov was given an unattainable process, and he’s not John Wick. Aliskerov went from preventing the the a hundredth finest middleweight on the earth (maybe that’s beneficiant even) to preventing the fourth, with every week’s discover, on the opposite aspect of the world, and the person reduce weight twice in that point span. Think about how good you’ll be at even menial duties in case you needed to kill your self for the second time in every week and do it whereas jet-lagged. He needed to combat among the best middleweights of all time. He wasn’t actually arrange for achievement.

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

Robert Whittaker Pt. 2

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

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

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

Georges St-Pierre would have been fascinating as a result of Whittaker’s recreation is type 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 will 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?”

After all not, as a result of you understand 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 individual that’s been within the cage with him over the previous decade, besides the freak harm 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 turn out to be an amazing fighter. Sure, he has some high-profile losses within the UFC, however the man additionally has some huge wins and he’s markedly higher each time I see him. Most significantly, he appears to have lastly discovered really combat to his strengths: being monumental.

For some cause, loads of very tall guys suck at preventing that manner. Consider the bizarre manner Stefan Struve made himself smaller, placing his chin immediately within the line of fireplace. Volkov is the alternative aspect of that. He’s put every part along with utilizing his size to maintain fights away and kick the hell out of individuals, or knee them after they pressure issues nearer. Pavlovich, a murderous puncher, spent the complete combat merely unable to navigate the vary and bought progressively extra pissed off.

In opposition to completely top-shelf, elite athletes, Volkov continues 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 p.c 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 to be 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 appears wonderful with good matchmaking. He’s a marvel of an MMA fighter who discovered that he may min-max heavyweight MMA and get shockingly near a UFC title. Lewis is mainly solely athleticism and energy, with a splash of savvy gamesmanship and a ton of coronary heart. The person can’t grapple but in addition can’t be held down. He hits ridiculously arduous but in addition can get clubbed in return. He has three minutes of cardio however someway routinely finishes individuals within the third spherical of fights. The person comprises multitudes. And don’t neglect, he splattered Curtis Blaydes. Nobody would name Blaydes an excellent matchup for Lewis.

Pavlovich is one other horse solely 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 pace that the majority of his fights have ended the primary time he touched somebody. I preferred this combat as a result of we truly bought to see extra of Pavlovich’s recreation, however the reality is that this was a dangerous matchup for him so we nonetheless didn’t be taught a lot. We discovered that he doesn’t have the footwork to nook Volkov and didn’t have loads of different concepts when Plan A didn’t work. Effectively, we discovered the identical factor about Francis Ngannou in his first combat 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 turn out to be a respectable title contender if, from what Dana White has mentioned, they’re solely going to let him combat in Saudi or Abu Dhabi? I do know there may be in all probability a cause he can’t combat wherever else however with restricted combat playing cards, it appears a stretch.”

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

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

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

Don’t get me mistaken, Shara Bullet is first rate and he definitely will be enjoyable, however he’s 30 years previous 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 straightforward combat in opposition to a man with some hype. Shara is a nasty grappler and mediocre wrestler, he’s simply been given some good matchups. And that’s wonderful! Maintain giving him these. Not everybody must combat 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 combat card/bout order was the preliminary deliberate providing for worldwide combat week?”

Most likely fairly excessive.

It’s now formally UFC 303 combat week and whereas the specter of Conor McGregor and what was speculated to occur will loom giant all week, we’re truly a fairly first rate pay-per-view occasion. Alex Pereira is likely one of the larger 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 fundamental occasion.

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

As of this second, Anthony Smith is preventing Roman Dolidze, however on condition that this combat 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 characteristic combat? 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.

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

Thanks for studying, and thanks for everybody who despatched in tweets (Xs?)! Do you’ve any burning questions on issues at the very least considerably associated to fight sports activities? Then you definately’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.