Originally Posted by IronMan
That's like saying that Babalu's just a BJJ guy. Firstly, you have to understand that saying Filho's good at BJJ is an understatement. He's a wizard on the ground, he stays calm, cool and collected and basically epitomizes the Gracie mentality. At least in my mind (and I may get some flak from my friends in the BJJ community) he's the next Rickson Gracie.
My comparison goes beyond the level of BJJ, (though I don't think that Filho's as technical as Rickson was when Rickson hit the big stage, more of a young Rickson, getting used to full contact over in Brazil, but still doing phenomenally) because both are phenomenal wrestlers. Part of that comes from years of grappling, and part of that comes from their comfort with pulling guard when their sprawled on. The only time I've ever seen Paulo fail to do that is against Sonnen, and he got his back taken, but he survived that position just fine.
His striking might look like a joke, because it's not the technical, aggressive muay thai we're used to seeing out of Brazilians nowadays. The fact is, that's not what he needs to win fights, because he's not built like a technical thai striker. He doesn't have the long arms and legs to control distance or use that spider guard off of his back the way that Silva does, and most people think that, as a result of that, Silva is a more technical fighter. The fact is, Filho bases his game on an entirely different weapon, and this is what takes me back to the comparison to Rickson Gracie.
When Paulo is standing up, he does something that Rickson didn't really do because he so rarely fought wrestlers, and that's brawl. Paulo uses that brawling to work his way into the clinch and show opponents that he's not afraid to go toe-to-toe. He's hurt alot of guys that way, and it's one of the reasons why his jiu-jitsu is so effective, because his opponents are a little bit dazed and intimidated by his strikes.
Honestly, watch Filho's fights from Pride. I recommend his fights with Chonan and Misaki, as those are the ones where we've really seen his submission game mature (and the use of his tricept hook, where he catches his opponents upper arm, which is something that alot of Brazilian guys neglect in MMA, but he's starting to pick up on it). He's got better ground skills than Silva and a serious chin, even better than Henderson's in my opinion, but I still think Anderson is a better fighter.
Still, I think that Filho is a force, and if you watch those fights (or his fight with JoeDoe) I think you'll understand what I'm talking about. He shows an incredible level of improvement between fights and I personally find it very impressive that he hasn't just settled into a winning strategy. He slipped a little bit in the Sonnen fight, and I think he learned alot, even over the course of that fight. One thing is for sure, that's not a mistake I expect him to make again.
I agree with that, but I think that he does it because he has to, not necessarily because that's what he thinks. You have to remember the position that he's in as a color commentator.
Joe Rogan is the same way. He's a smart guy and actually a decent practitioner (though obviously not a pro like Mir) but he says things that he probably knows are a little ridiculous in discussing his fights.
The only guy who really gets away with this stuff in his commentary, and I think that's partly because Pride got bought out so he's not really answering to anyone anymore, is Frank Trigg, and while I wish Mir could be that candid, I think that it's the Zuffa management preventing that, and not his intelligence.
It's really important to remember what Condit and Faber are to this division as champions. They are guys that have been absolutely dominant in their careers in the division, and the WEC wants people to know that these guys are really the real deal. While it's obvious to many of us hardcore fans, it's not to alot of people.
I think that the power Faber displays has gotten alot of attention, and while he's generally a nice guy and a good fighter, I find him technically lacking in alot of areas, and wish he had an opponent strong enough and good enough at wrestling and BJJ to punish him for that, but that's simply not going to be the case until he fights a guy like KID or Sudo, and I think that alot of the guys in the WEC know that.
As for Condit, I think Condit's the exact opposite of Faber, and I think that's the reason why people like him, because he's not strong, but he is technically monstrous, and that makes it fun for people to watch, because they get to watch this tall, lanky, ridiculous looking guy (and Condit does look like an awkward, early-pubescent boy who's muscles really haven't filled in) kick the holy sh*t out of people.
Personally, I like watching both of the guys, but I think that the WEC relies heavily on them to get attention, and the fact that I only like, not love, watching them fight says alot about what that means for the WEC. There are some guys, Torres, Marcus Hicks and Brian Stann, that I just find incredibly fun to watch fight, and all I really have to respect Condit and Faber on are their dominance in their divisions. The WEC counts heavily on that, and they want to remind us of it constantly.
Do I think it's beaten over the head? Absolutely.
Do I understand why? Yeah. And I'll deal.
In case you didn't notice, I have Brian Stann on my fantasy team, and part of that is because I think he'll kick the holy sh*t out of Marshall. The fact of the matter is, Marshall is a brawler who managed to submit a boxer with no real jiu-jitsu on the ground. While I think that it showed Marshall had some technical skills, and certainly showed some improvement, there are alot of holes in that groundgame that I've seen just from that 55 second fight, and I agree that he's got a long way to come.
That said, I think that Stann will establish himself as a dominant champion and over the next 18 months, if he continues to progress the way he has in his first few fights (which, technically, have shown huge improvements in the game of an already impressively aggressive fighter), I think that we'll see some other guys come out of smaller shows and we'll see Stann smash them and work his way into an arguable top ten spot (though not a certain one) and possibly fight to unify that title.
We'll see, I'm putting alot of hope in Stann, but I think that if he establishes himself with a big win over Marshall, he'll really be a great leader for this division.
But, to answer the implied question: yes, right now the division sucks harder than Jenna Jameson.
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