[quote]XiaoNio wrote:
Admittedly I’m biased against BJ. I always thought he wasn’t as talented as he was made out to be and it would only be a matter of time before he’d get out worked by harder working athlete. I thought it was going to be Sherk. I think Sean Sherk 1.0 had the tools to stifle BJ. Cardio for days, a fast shot, great top control and tough to submit. I also despise that there always seems to be an excuse for a BJ loss. Lyoto Machida was too big. GSP was greased. Separated a rib against Hughes. Judges robbery.
As Matt Hughes would say: When you win, say little. When you lose, say less.
Anyway, I realize I’m diminishing BJ a bit here, but I don’t think the quality of his recent defenses was as impressive as some of the other title holders. I’d say Aldo over Brown, Faber and Gamburyan or St. Pierre’s streak are both more impressive.
I also don’t think the UFC lightweight division is as stacked as some of the other divisions. Outside of Mousasi, Henderson and a few exceptions, I’d be hard pressed to say there could be contenders outside of the UFC worthy of a shot. Whereas at lightweight Melendez, Alvarez, Aoki, and Kawajiri could credibly be close to title contention if they were in the UFC.[/quote]
looking objectively at those lightweights outside the division, melendez cant beat penn - he utilizes quick shots from the outside, whereas edgar utilized takedowns from clinching situations. aoki wouldnt have shit for bj, i wont even entertain an analysis. alvarez’s striking, well good, is not on level with bjs and his ground control is not enough to keep bj down. contenders and good fighters all, but they benefit from fighting outside of the ufc against less intense competition. they do fight each other every so often, but they dont have the grinder the ufc does in level of competition.