MLS

Anyone else think this term is thrown around to often in mma? When ever one of the commentators labels a guy as a world class striker I always think of a guy in the same weightclass in K-1, kickboxing, or Muay Thai that would destroy whoever the comentator labeled as a world class strike on the feet. Anybody else do this as well and what do you think about the label world class striker?

brownpimp88

I agree. But what can you expect, you have to build fights, right?

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doburg717

yeah the term has lost all meaning to me, and thats just in mma, not compared to k-1/muay thai/kickboxing. to me really id only say that about the top 2-3 strikers in that division in the world really

BloodJunkie

I agree totally bro! Whenever I hear that it makes me laugh. I picture them getting thier ass kicked by a REAL world class striker. I don't get why MMA commentators have to go over the top with the world class thing. I would say that there are some really good strikers in MMA but aside from the CroCop none of them have earned the right to be labeled World class.

This scenario plays out in my head every time Arlovski is introduced, dont get me wrong because Arlovski is a great striker in terms of MMA and he's one of my favorite fighters but WORLD CLASS!, cut it out Joe/ Goldy. Every time they say that I get images of him getting KTFO by an Aerts head kick, JLB nuking him with a left hand, Hug axe kicking the top of his skull or Hoost shattering his femur with a leg kick. THOSE GUYS ARE WORLD CLASS STRIKERS!....or as Joe Rogan himself would say, TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN. IMO the strikers in MMA are jut prey for the big dogs when talking about world class strikers.

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kamikaze145

There is a major difference between world class and Joe Rogan world class. You see it with bjj guys, wrestlers, and obviously the aforementioned strikers. When someone excels in one area you can always count on Rogan to coin them as "world class".

plazzman

That's very true. And now that I think about it, anything Rogan sees that is nice, he lables as world class, be it Guillotines, Kicks, punches, footstomps, Armbars. If he likes it, it's world class. Same with Frank Mir.

I remember in the Marcus Hicks fight, everything he did, Mir called it World class.

BloodJunkie

Yep....Did you SEEEEEE that omoplata, that was world class, top of the food chain jiu jitsu right there!!

haha, Mir does take the world class thing to the extreme. During the Hicks/Ratcliff fight I was thinking " Shut the f**k up about his boxing, please!!!". Nothing can top his man love for Urijah though, it makes me queasy thinking about it.

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MLS

Exactly how I feel. Arlovski is a good mma striker but there are som many guys that would make him look bad.

Another one is Hardonk, even on the forum people are talking about how great his leg kicks are. They look so good because there aren't many HW's who throw leg kicks. When Hardonk fought Hari, Hari made him look stupid and just took his leg kicks and cam right back at him.

BloodJunkie

Yep, I've seen the Hardonk discussions and just steered away from them. IMO he is a great striker when comparing him to MMA heavyweights but in the true world class scheme he's just so-so. I would mention it in the forum but then I would be constantly defending my position against people that know nothing about REAL world class guys.

Can you imagine arguing a point in there using Aerts, Hug, Hoost, JLB, Bonjasky, Sefo, etc. as references for real world class HW's? I think very few would know who we are talking about. Its just better to let them believe that Hardonk and AA are the best strikers that the world has to offer and avoid the flaming.

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MLS

I was about to post the Hardonk/Hari fight but I decided against it. I grew up watching Aerts, Hoost, Hug, JLB, and all those guys and I've seen how they fight and it just amazes me that people think they could compare mma guys to them. I love mma but kickboxing and boxing is why I fell in love with fighting.