Quote Originally Posted by J-MoneyMaker:
OK, he was dropped, knocked out, or TKO'd in his past 4 fights and lost 3 of them. Not sure how that supports your argument of his chin not being gone. And with each beating he took, I'm sure the more it's deteriorated. Take a look at this crazy picture below from the Gastelum punch and I can assure you, that punch didn't help his chin issues going forward.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DFblfTxXoAAQpHU.jpg:large
Weidman was successful in the wrestling department, yes, but I firmly believe he was only able to keep Gastelum down because of the insane size discrepancy. Against Mousasi, Rockhold, Romero, he wasn't able to keep any of them down and also gassed himself out in trying to do so. I feel like this victory over a much smaller guy is going to get a lot of people back on the Weidman bandwagon when it didn't really prove much to me that any of his past issues were fixed.
I did give Weidman credit in my earlier post. I said kudos to him for getting a much needed win. His career was on the line and he seemed extremely motivated and had the crowd behind him. If we're being honest, Kelvin didn't seem that interested during the fight. Seemed very lackadaisical, like he can be at times. Regardless, Chris was actually able to keep Gastelum down when he took him down, which is something he hasn't been able to do in recent fights. That allowed him to conserve some more energy and have enough in the tank to secure the finish in the 3rd.
I doubt either of us are going to be able to change the other person's opinion at this point, but that's ok. That's what makes betting and forums like this fun for discussion. If anything, I am happy Weidman won because I really think there are going to be some enticing odds on his opponents in the future if he gets back to facing the top guys in the division. Anyways, good win and a solid night overall for you. Congrats and good luck on the big PPV this weekend
Again, me reiterating that I gave Weidman props for the much needed win. I did mention that Gastelum didn't seem fully engaged in the fight. This is a true statement I made. But that was all and I immediately backed that up with more facts about the positive things that Weidman did, which I felt were the keys to his success.
I'm also not saying that Rumble didn't care to beat Cormier, but what I am saying is that DC is a HORRIBLE matchup for someone like Rumble. Someone that wrestles, can take a punch, and grinds you to death. Rumble is one of the biggest quitters in the sport when things get tough. Do you disagree with that? In their 2nd fight, Rumble literally didn't seem like he cared. I don't care what you say. Did you see his gameplan? It appeared as if he learned nothing from their previous fight. He CHOSE to wrestle DC up against the fence, which is DC's world. And once again, the first sign of adversity, Rumble quit and then announced his retirement. Say what you want, but that fight seemed to have Rumble with 1 foot out the door before they even fought.
DC beat who was in front of him. That's great. But he didn't look all that impressive in any of those fights to be honest. He almost got knocked the F out by Gustaffson and squeaked by with a split decision. He took another huge shot from Rumble in their first fight but survived and grinded him out. He looked less than stellar against an old and out of shape Anderson Silva who fought on like 24 hours notice (Silva also hurt DC to the body badly in Round 3). Then he beat Rumble in a fight where Rumble seemingly had no game plan and was already thinking about his retirement. Again, credit to him for winning all of those contests.
My main point is that I don't think we are going to see the BEST version of DC this Saturday after all of those fights. You mention all of that negatives about Jones but seem to be overlooking the fact that Cormier hasn't looked that amazing either. He's 38 years old now and has been having difficulty with some of these weight cuts. He looks like DEATH right now. I don't know where you are seeing that he looks like he's in the best shape of his life. If anything, JBJ looks in great shape and he already knows DC's blueprint. Nobody has ever been able to unlock the mystery of Jones. What is DC going to do differently in this 2nd fight that will make up that gap? It's not like he's learned any new tricks. He's the same fighter he's always been. Whereas Jones is far more unpredictable in his striking and was even successful in taking DC down in their first fight. So many more methods for Jones to win this fight in my opinion.