For All the MMA Bashers

TS, if Rigondeaux beats 1-2 ranked fighters i dont see why one of the bodies wouldnt give him a shot. if he earns it by beating a couple top guns why not? he's got a very good amateur pedigree. no matter what u say about lesnar almost making the olympic team, fact is winning to golds trumps barely missing the team. Difference with lesnar was he lost his 2nd fight, and the talent pool with ufc heavies is marginal at best

So the question still remains. How would the MMA bashers feel about Guillermo Rigondeaux getting a title shot with only 5 professional fights??? He seems poised to do so. hes cuban...case closed. you need to pick another fighter that 1. doesent have a great loooong amateur career in one of the best boxing producing countries. 2. dosent live in a communist country.

but he still isnt THE champion of the division. Fedor Emelianenko who has over 30 professional fights is THE rightful heavyweight champion in MMA. Just as even if Rigondeaux won a world championship. Juanma would still be the rightful champion at 122lbs. I have difficulty seeing Rigondeaux being the clear cut #2 at 122 or any other division for that matter. Couture must have been the clear cut #2 and Mir the #2 or 3. If Guillermo tried some shit like that with Lopez and Poonsawat, he'd get his ass handed to him by at least one if not both.

MMA is supposedly this versatile sport, but Lesnar only competed at a high level in 1 sport, 10 years back. He wasn't fighting in the amateur mma circuit, he's not even competent at the other 'major components' of mma, yet he's the undisputed champ of the biggest organization in the sport. Actually Lesner is nothing more than a titlist!!! The real HW champion is the guy in my Avatar and Sig!!!

but he still isnt THE champion of the division. Fedor Emelianenko who has over 30 professional fights is THE rightful heavyweight champion in MMA. Just as even if Rigondeaux won a world championship. Juanma would still be the rightful champion at 122lbs. Juanma isn't THE CHAMPION at 122, Israel Vazquez is

but he still isnt THE champion of the division. Fedor Emelianenko who has over 30 professional fights is THE rightful heavyweight champion in MMA. Just as even if Rigondeaux won a world championship. Juanma would still be the rightful champion at 122lbs. yea, but you would at least put Lesnar as #2, wouldnt you? Rigondeux aint gonna be the #1 OR #2 guy anytime soon, imo. whatever, I think the conversation is getting loopy though...we all get what each other are saying to a degree, although we dont totally agree. which is fine with me, so..I think Ill be walking away now.

So where would have "competitively wrestled"? Because there is no money in wrestling. If he were to "competitively wrestle" everything would have to come out of his pockets. Sure, there's sponsorships, but they can only go so far. And let's face it, if you ain't making the Olympics, it's a waste of time and money. Even if you are good and even if you win gold, all you're getting is a measly 250k for your efforts. That's why a lot of accomplished wrestlers went to sports entertainment. That why a lot more are going for MMA. They can finally make a living off their attributes and work to perfect them. And Lesnar trained 5 years with Minn. Martial Arts and Erik Paulson. what he 'could have done' is irrelevant. the fact of the matter is that the guy put his wrestling on the shelf and went into pro wrestling for years, and then decided one day to do mma. and within a few fights, hes the UFC champion. and thats the difference with him and Rigondeux, who has been boxing for years straight now. which was the whole point of the topic.

MMA is supposedly this versatile sport, but Lesnar only competed at a high level in 1 sport, 10 years back. He wasn't fighting in the amateur mma circuit, he's not even competent at the other 'major components' of mma, yet he's the undisputed champ of the biggest organization in the sport. but he still isnt THE champion of the division. Fedor Emelianenko who has over 30 professional fights is THE rightful heavyweight champion in MMA. Just as even if Rigondeaux won a world championship. Juanma would still be the rightful champion at 122lbs.

Unless Rigondeuax is stepping in the ring with Israel Vazquez anytime soon, he isn't fighting for the 122lb title. Sure there are some paper titles, but they don't do anything more than tell us who some of Vazquez' challengers are. Listen, Guillermo is a talented guy no doubt, but he hasn't faced a tough opponent yet and 122 is full of some really good guys. But like I said, Rgondeaux won't fight for a worl title until he steps in the ring with Vazquez or Israel's conquerer if there is one. Same can be said of Lesnar, he won't be the true world heavyweight champion until he beats Fedor. For now, Lesnar is the UFC titlist, and Guillermo, is a 3-0 up and comer.

So where would have "competitively wrestled"? Because there is no money in wrestling. If he were to "competitively wrestle" everything would have to come out of his pockets. Sure, there's sponsorships, but they can only go so far. And let's face it, if you ain't making the Olympics, it's a waste of time and money. Even if you are good and even if you win gold, all you're getting is a measly 250k for your efforts. That's why a lot of accomplished wrestlers went to sports entertainment. That why a lot more are going for MMA. They can finally make a living off their attributes and work to perfect them. And Lesnar trained 5 years with Minn. Martial Arts and Erik Paulson. Your entire first paragraph is just an excuse because the point is, he wasn't. The economics and politics don't matter in this argument. Guillermo Rigondeaux go act in boxing plays and tryout for NFL teams for the last 10 years.

A 3 time NCAA Wrestling champ isnt amature experience??? That isn't MMA. Amateur MMA is pretty much non-existent which shows the lack of depth in the talent pool.

A 3 time NCAA Wrestling champ isnt amature experience??? MMA is supposedly this versatile sport, but Lesnar only competed at a high level in 1 sport, 10 years back. He wasn't fighting in the amateur mma circuit, he's not even competent at the other 'major components' of mma, yet he's the undisputed champ of the biggest organization in the sport.

Lesnar finished his collegiate wrestling in 2000. He then moved on to FAKE wrestling, WWE. 7 years later, yes, SEVEN years later, he was signed to UFC and was given title shot after 4 fights. Rigondeauxi has over 400 amatuer fights, won COUNTLESS amatuer titles and is considered to be one of the greatest amateur fighters..........ever. I fail to see such a close similarity that would even warrent a thread like this. So where would have "competitively wrestled"? Because there is no money in wrestling. If he were to "competitively wrestle" everything would have to come out of his pockets. Sure, there's sponsorships, but they can only go so far. And let's face it, if you ain't making the Olympics, it's a waste of time and money. Even if you are good and even if you win gold, all you're getting is a measly 250k for your efforts. That's why a lot of accomplished wrestlers went to sports entertainment. That why a lot more are going for MMA. They can finally make a living off their attributes and work to perfect them. And Lesnar trained 5 years with Minn. Martial Arts and Erik Paulson.

you serious? Sylvia was rated #4? and Arlovski was rated #2? that sounds insane to me....where are these rankings from, just curious. how come people were calling Sylvia a terrible bum after he lost to Mercer then? and how did Arlovski get so high after losing to Sylvia twice? Sherdog's ranking. Sylvia was called a bum because after a year off he showed up horribly out of shape for Mercer; it was initially going to be a boxing match untill like the day before. Most of it was because new MMA fans hated Tim to begin with because they felt he was boring and doofy. Plus he was in a losing streak but it was only to the top HWs though (Randy, Nog, Fedor). AA got high (he was already 5th) because Randy, Nog and Tim all lost and AA went on a good streak and was beating top 10 guys (Rothwell and Werdum) and a solid Nelson so he moved upe. Before Fedor, in the last 7 years he only lost Tim.

Lesnar was a champ in like his third or fourth fight. and, as far as I know, he had 0 amateur mma fights too. A 3 time NCAA Wrestling champ isnt amature experience???

Look at the competition that Guillermo Rigondeaux has faced in only 3 fights. Not exactly are world class or world championship material......Look at his opponents records (yeah one guy was like 60-12, but against who..a bunch of bums, and maybe 3 good fighters)......Not exactly ready to step up and be championship material, give him another ten fights and lets see where he is then.......All prospects have that one big (padded) record guy on their resume, and all prospects regardless of Amatuer experience need to learn the pro game, its like comparing apples to oranges....

Lesnar finished his collegiate wrestling in 2000. He then moved on to FAKE wrestling, WWE. 7 years later, yes, SEVEN years later, he was signed to UFC and was given title shot after 4 fights. Rigondeauxi has over 400 amatuer fights, won COUNTLESS amatuer titles and is considered to be one of the greatest amateur fighters..........ever. I fail to see such a close similarity that would even warrent a thread like this.

Fedor fought the then ranked #4 Sylvia, the #2 Arlovski and #7 Rogers next. He was scheduled to fight the then ranked #2 Barnett but it was cancelled. How are these guys not relevant? And Rigondeux is different because he has so many amateur bouts. People can bring up Lesnar's wrestling credentials but he took years off and didn't have a single MMA amateur bout you serious? Sylvia was rated #4? and Arlovski was rated #2? that sounds insane to me....where are these rankings from, just curious. how come people were calling Sylvia a terrible bum after he lost to Mercer then? and how did Arlovski get so high after losing to Sylvia twice?

1. How was he "washed up" when there's nowhere else to go after college. 2. How was he supposed to make a livable wage if he decided to go for the Olympics? The pay there is atrocious. And you've trained these two years yourself? You're in the dough fighting in the cage, right now? youve obviously missed the point. Lesnar hadnt competitively wrestled for years before decided to go to mma, yet got to be a champion after a few fights and a year or two of training. a former amateur boxing star wouldnt have a chance in hell at just jumping into pro boxing after 10 years out of practice and beating a world champion, would he? and give me a break, those 'you havent done it!' arguments are dumb, and you know it.

maybe. lets be honest here, Fedor hasnt fought anyone very relevant in years now. I dont think you could call Lesnar anything less than #2, could you? Valuev would be lucky to be top ten on my heavyweight list, personally...the man lost to Holyfield for cryin out loud. I still think its going to take Rigondeux quite a while to reach a #1 or 2 position at his weight. Fedor fought the then ranked #4 Sylvia, the #2 Arlovski and #7 Rogers next. He was scheduled to fight the then ranked #2 Barnett but it was cancelled. How are these guys not relevant? And Rigondeux is different because he has so many amateur bouts. People can bring up Lesnar's wrestling credentials but he took years off and didn't have a single MMA amateur bout