What if EA allowed one more fighter? Who would you want?

[Phillyboi207]

Quote: Originally Posted by Good Grappler

Yeah man Tatiana is an absolute monster. None of her fights have even been competitive. Gregor Gillespie is another fighter like that. Basically every fight has been a complete beat down. He hasn’t even been challenged in the UFC yet. His wrestling pressure is ridiculous. Possibly the most relentless and intense fighter in the game. Obviously he hasn’t fought elite talent yet, but just based on the sheer dominance and intensity of his game, he’s very promising. It will be interesting to see if the elite of the division can expose any weaknesses in his game... so far he’s shown nothing. Maybe a little stiffness in his striking from kicking range, but the way he fights, it’s gonna take a very special talent to expose that. If it wasn’t for Khabib, I’d consider Gillespie a legitimate threat to the crown. I know it sounds like I’m jumping the gun, but if I had to bet, I’d favor Gillespie over Poirier, Iaquinta and Ferguson. I think he puts them on their back and keeps them there. Iaquinta would be the hardest of those fights, stylistically. But overall I think Gillespie puts those guys on their back, holds them down, and maintains the pressure til the final bell. It’s gonna take a truly elite wrestler to beat him. Which is why I think he’d struggle with Khabib and surprisingly Gaethje. Sidenote: Gaethje has actually some of the best defensive wrestling in MMA. No one talks about it or notices it since he’s such a brawler, but in the rare occasion one of his opponents tries to wrestle, he shrugs it off like no one’s business. No one has even been able to obtain even a brief moment of control over Gaethje. I’d actually really like to see Gaethje fight an elite wrestler like Khabib or Gillespie, or even Kevin Lee. Stylistically, I think he’d really shine in a fight like that.

Ferguson’s stamina + willingness to take risk make him a tough task for anyone just hold down. He never stops working or threatening with sweep and subs.


Iaquinta is also damn near impossible to hold down. Eveb Khabib could barely control him when he did get him down and Kevin Lee couldnt.

I would be interested in seeing Gaethje vs a grappler. I think part of it is his insane pressure. You cant make the guy fight off of his back foot and he makes you pay if you try to push him. Most grapplers are way more comfortable moving forward.

[WarMMA]

Yh Gaethje seems to have very good defensive wrestling, but I mean the guy was a D1 all-american. Yh I wouldn't mind seeing him vs an elite wrestler/grappler who's gonna constantly be trying to take him down though...they keep giving him strikers or guys that they know will stand with him. He has Barboza now at the end of the month.

[TheRizzzle]

Brock Lesnar. He's the biggest draw not in the game.

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[Good Grappler]

Quote: Originally Posted by WarMMA

Yh Gaethje seems to have very good defensive wrestling, but I mean the guy was a D1 all-american. Yh I wouldn't mind seeing him vs an elite wrestler/grappler who's gonna constantly be trying to take him down though...they keep giving him strikers or guys that they know will stand with him. He has Barboza now at the end of the month.

It’s just one of those weird examples where stylistically, he could look more impressive against higher ranked fighters and less impressive against lower ranked guys. Anyone - regardless of ranking - who’s strategy is to take Gaethje down is going to have a rough night. I mean I seriously think Gaethje would pose serious problems for Khabib. I just can’t picture Gaethje just getting stuck on the mat with his head against the cage for an entire round. And the striking of Khabib - as good as it is - may not be adequate to throw hands with Gaethje.

To me some of the most fascinating stylistic matchups are the ones that make no sense rankings-wise and will never happen. I mean, take Holloway for example. His toughest fights, in my opinion, aren’t necessarily the highest ranked fighters. His toughest fights are the wrestlers - think Volkanovski, Edgar, Khabib.

Holloway is the only UFC champion who doesn’t have a solid wrestling base. And as good as he is, he hasn’t had to fight any good wrestlers as champion, like Volkanovski or Edgar. Ortega and Aldo are great wins but they aren’t wrestlers. And now he’s going up to LW... but again, not against a wrestler. As far as I’m concerned, Holloway has yet to prove that he can win against an elite wrestler. His 3 losses were all against fighters who could take him down... and 2 of them weren’t even wrestlers. I know that’s a long time ago but do we really have any reason to believe he can overcome an elite wrestler nowadays?

[WarMMA]

Quote: Originally Posted by Good Grappler

It’s just one of those weird examples where stylistically, he could look more impressive against higher ranked fighters and less impressive against lower ranked guys. Anyone - regardless of ranking - who’s strategy is to take Gaethje down is going to have a rough night. I mean I seriously think Gaethje would pose serious problems for Khabib. I just can’t picture Gaethje just getting stuck on the mat with his head against the cage for an entire round. And the striking of Khabib - as good as it is - may not be adequate to throw hands with Gaethje. To me some of the most fascinating stylistic matchups are the ones that make no sense rankings-wise and will never happen. I mean, take Holloway for example. His toughest fights, in my opinion, aren’t necessarily the highest ranked fighters. His toughest fights are the wrestlers - think Volkanovski, Edgar, Khabib. Holloway is the only UFC champion who doesn’t have a solid wrestling base. And as good as he is, he hasn’t had to fight any good wrestlers as champion, like Volkanovski or Edgar. Ortega and Aldo are great wins but they aren’t wrestlers. And now he’s going up to LW... but again, not against a wrestler. As far as I’m concerned, Holloway has yet to prove that he can win against an elite wrestler. His 3 losses were all against fighters who could take him down... and 2 of them weren’t even wrestlers. I know that’s a long time ago but do we really have any reason to believe he can overcome an elite wrestler nowadays?

Yh I agree. Thats why when Hollaway was gonna step in and fight Khabib, I had Khabib winning that fight. As far as Gaethje, those are probably the type of fights he needs to have now and slow down against all the strikers. I wish he'd use all his tools. He has an entertaining style, but the guy just doesn't fight smart and doesn't use all his tools. A D1 wrestler and won't shoot a single td. Thus, he's always getting rocked smh. I feel like he's gonna take another L to Barboza.

[RomeroXVII]

Quote: Originally Posted by Good Grappler

It’s just one of those weird examples where stylistically, he could look more impressive against higher ranked fighters and less impressive against lower ranked guys. Anyone - regardless of ranking - who’s strategy is to take Gaethje down is going to have a rough night. I mean I seriously think Gaethje would pose serious problems for Khabib. I just can’t picture Gaethje just getting stuck on the mat with his head against the cage for an entire round. And the striking of Khabib - as good as it is - may not be adequate to throw hands with Gaethje. To me some of the most fascinating stylistic matchups are the ones that make no sense rankings-wise and will never happen. I mean, take Holloway for example. His toughest fights, in my opinion, aren’t necessarily the highest ranked fighters. His toughest fights are the wrestlers - think Volkanovski, Edgar, Khabib. Holloway is the only UFC champion who doesn’t have a solid wrestling base. And as good as he is, he hasn’t had to fight any good wrestlers as champion, like Volkanovski or Edgar. Ortega and Aldo are great wins but they aren’t wrestlers. And now he’s going up to LW... but again, not against a wrestler. As far as I’m concerned, Holloway has yet to prove that he can win against an elite wrestler. His 3 losses were all against fighters who could take him down... and 2 of them weren’t even wrestlers. I know that’s a long time ago but do we really have any reason to believe he can overcome an elite wrestler nowadays?

And to add to that, Aldo's style is the perfect Anti-Wrestler style that has been proven to work time and time again, with his hips, explosiveness, technique with his whizzer and limp leg, overall he has shown time and time again he can shut it down.

Ortega was able to take down Holloway, but he does not have the folkstyle or international wrestling credentials to know how to hold a man down and grind them out, Ortega's grappling shines when they're in his guard, or when he capitalizes on the mistakes of people shooting in.

Edgar, for that reason, I believe can prove to be a bad stylistic match up for Holloway, vs how he matched up against Aldo. Volkanovski is another guy, but for the UFC to put Volkanovski against Aldo is risky. I do believe Volkanovski, on top of being an Australian National Champ and holding a background in Greco Roman wrestling in a higher weight class, has a solid Kickboxing background which may be the difference between all the other wrestlers that fought Aldo and he definitely has the power to put Aldo out, but we could very well see Aldo shut out Volkanovski for three rounds.



TL;DR Styles make match ups, and I believe that Edgar or Volkanovski can be the guys to beat Holloway.

[Good Grappler]

Quote: Originally Posted by RomeroXVII

And to add to that, Aldo's style is the perfect Anti-Wrestler style that has been proven to work time and time again, with his hips, explosiveness, technique with his whizzer and limp leg, overall he has shown time and time again he can shut it down. Ortega was able to take down Holloway, but he does not have the folkstyle or international wrestling credentials to know how to hold a man down and grind them out, Ortega's grappling shines when they're in his guard, or when he capitalizes on the mistakes of people shooting in. Edgar, for that reason, I believe can prove to be a bad stylistic match up for Holloway, vs how he matched up against Aldo. Volkanovski is another guy, but for the UFC to put Volkanovski against Aldo is risky. I do believe Volkanovski, on top of being an Australian National Champ and holding a background in Greco Roman wrestling in a higher weight class, has a solid Kickboxing background which may be the difference between all the other wrestlers that fought Aldo and he definitely has the power to put Aldo out, but we could very well see Aldo shut out Volkanovski for three rounds. TL;DR Styles make match ups, and I believe that Edgar or Volkanovski can be the guys to beat Holloway.

You know, I’m not really sure about Aldo’s defensive wrestling. I mean, he can limp leg and totally shuck off takedown attempts like no one’s business. Initial, first attempts are nearly useless against him. He completely shut down Edgar and Mendes.

BUT... those guys, especially Mendes, are sorta one and done wrestlers. They shoot, maybe threaten a re-shoot, but if both fail, they’ll take a step back, take a deep breath, move around a little bit, and reset. They’d threaten one takedown on Aldo, then take a few minutes off. Threaten one takedown, take a few minutes off. Every time they failed one, Aldo got to enjoy a small victory before defending another one. It established a strong psychological advantage for Aldo... it basically became Aldo’s fight.

I’m just curious to see how Aldo would deal with the new breed of pressure wrestlers in MMA right now. The guys who basically treat the entire fight, from beginning to end, as one massive takedown attempt. The guys who, no matter how many takedowns they fail, still view it as “their fight”.

Those are the types of fights where defending a takedown attempt isn’t worth celebrating ... because all it means is that your opponent is forcing you to participate in a wrestling match against your will. Whether defensive or offensive - it’s still wrestling, it still requires energy, and it requires your attention whether you like it or not. Think guys like Gillespie, Volkanovski, Alexander Hernandez, Usman, Covington, etc. That’s the new breed of elite MMA wrestler.

It’s crazy how much MMA wrestling has evolved. The elite, creme de la creme of MMA wrestling 10 years ago was the Josh Koscheck, Gray Maynard, super athletic explosive double leg, land in guard, and just smother for control time. If the takedown failed, just move around defensively until another opening presents itself.

I’m actually curious about how GSP would fare in modern MMA. Would be fascinating to see him fight Usman or Colby. I genuinely have no clue what would happen. (I must say, seeing GSP score double legs on either of those men, and proceed to hold them on the ground for a decision victory, would be incredibly satisfying)

Nowadays, there are fighters like Gillespie who literally never stop wrestling. Missed takedown, punch, reshoot, two punches, clinch attempt, trip attempts, more punches, etc. It’s insane really, when you look at elite wrestling from 10 years ago and elite wrestling now. The intensity and relentlessness you see in some fighters now is just absurd.

Aldo, and many other elite fighters of that slightly older generation, haven’t really faced that style yet. Aldo hasn’t fought a “new gen” wrestler yet. Not that I suspect he’d get outwrestled nowadays - frankly I’m not even sure Volkanovski would be classified as one of those new gen guys.

But I just don’t know if Aldo has the conditioning, heart, and willpower to maintain a flawless level of defensive wrestling for an entire fight. His initial defense is superb, but what about a guy who just keeps coming? For some reason his Hominick fight comes to mind, where he basically decided to lay on his back for an entire round. Yeah he was winning, but it still makes you wonder how he would react to a Gillespie-esque attack.

[RomeroXVII]

Quote: Originally Posted by Good Grappler

You know, I’m not really sure about Aldo’s defensive wrestling. I mean, he can limp leg and totally shuck off takedown attempts like no one’s business. Initial, first attempts are nearly useless against him. He completely shut down Edgar and Mendes. BUT... those guys, especially Mendes, are sorta one and done wrestlers. They shoot, maybe threaten a re-shoot, but if both fail, they’ll take a step back, take a deep breath, move around a little bit, and reset. They’d threaten one takedown on Aldo, then take a few minutes off. Threaten one takedown, take a few minutes off. Every time they failed one, Aldo got to enjoy a small victory before defending another one. It established a strong psychological advantage for Aldo... it basically became Aldo’s fight. I’m just curious to see how Aldo would deal with the new breed of pressure wrestlers in MMA right now. The guys who basically treat the entire fight, from beginning to end, as one massive takedown attempt. The guys who, no matter how many takedowns they fail, still view it as “their fight”. Those are the types of fights where defending a takedown attempt isn’t worth celebrating ... because all it means is that your opponent is forcing you to participate in a wrestling match against your will. Whether defensive or offensive - it’s still wrestling, it still requires energy, and it requires your attention whether you like it or not. Think guys like Gillespie, Volkanovski, Alexander Hernandez, Usman, Covington, etc. That’s the new breed of elite MMA wrestler. It’s crazy how much MMA wrestling has evolved. The elite, creme de la creme of MMA wrestling 10 years ago was the Josh Koscheck, Gray Maynard, super athletic explosive double leg, land in guard, and just smother for control time. If the takedown failed, just move around defensively until another opening presents itself. I’m actually curious about how GSP would fare in modern MMA. Would be fascinating to see him fight Usman or Colby. I genuinely have no clue what would happen. (I must say, seeing GSP score double legs on either of those men, and proceed to hold them on the ground for a decision victory, would be incredibly satisfying) Nowadays, there are fighters like Gillespie who literally never stop wrestling. Missed takedown, punch, reshoot, two punches, clinch attempt, trip attempts, more punches, etc. It’s insane really, when you look at elite wrestling from 10 years ago and elite wrestling now. The intensity and relentlessness you see in some fighters now is just absurd. Aldo, and many other elite fighters of that slightly older generation, haven’t really faced that style yet. Aldo hasn’t fought a “new gen” wrestler yet. Not that I suspect he’d get outwrestled nowadays - frankly I’m not even sure Volkanovski would be classified as one of those new gen guys. But I just don’t know if Aldo has the conditioning, heart, and willpower to maintain a flawless level of defensive wrestling for an entire fight. His initial defense is superb, but what about a guy who just keeps coming? For some reason his Hominick fight comes to mind, where he basically decided to lay on his back for an entire round. Yeah he was winning, but it still makes you wonder how he would react to a Gillespie-esque attack.

You also have to consider with Hominick he had a terrible weight cut, yet he TOOK DOWN Hominick MULTIPLE times in their fight, yet the only part of the fight he lost, was half of Round 5 as you said, where he laid on his back after failing that guillotine attempt when Hominick shot in.



You also have to consider that with Aldo, he constantly had that knee ready as a threat against the takedown, threw teeps to discourage the takedown, and it paid off dividends. His striking was also leagues above the others in his division.

The difference between Woodley and Aldo for example, Woodley would shuck off Takedown attempts, but he wouldn't really punish, he would reset back to the cage.
Aldo uses his hips, feeds his opponents hips, cross faces them and makes them pay for shooting, there's a consequence for shooting on Aldo.

Another difference is the lateral movement of Aldo which you see in his, yet another 5 round fight against Edgar at UFC 200. All those guys that you mentioned that guy outwrestled against the cage by their said adversary, (Colby against RDA, Usman against Woodley, Gillespie against Medeiros). They move back up in a straight line rather than keeping their footwork in motion laterally, and it leads to them getting pinned against the cage.


Frankie against Cub Swanson (1st fight), Jeremy Stephens (albeit with a scare, Yair Rodriguez, BJ Penn (Fight 2) did almost exactly what Gillespie did to Yancy, what Colby did to RDA, what Lee did to Barboza, but against Aldo he couldn't do it.

I wouldn't consider Hernandez to be apart of that list, nor would I consider Volkanovski either, but the threat is there for sure.

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