Quote:
Originally Posted by Commissar
But are guys like Bisping, Stevenson and Jardine a worthy trade-off, without guys like Ricardo Arona, 95% of the LWs in the world that the UFC doesn't have, and so on?
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I'll disagree somewhat on this. Arona is good, but he's fought twice in 2 years going 1-1. His last victory was over a guy ranked between 14-18 at LHW. He's got a suspect chin and would be hard pressed to beat anyone he couldn't take down. While having him at 205 would be an assett, it isn't required. The UFC has a monopoly on the 205 lbers. Arona just isn't necessary even if I do want to see him there.
As for as the 155 lbers... sure, some very good 155's aren't in the UFC... however 95%? No way. The UFC 155's are getting the shaft in the rankings. People like Sherk, Penn, Florian, Stevenson, Edgar, Griffin, Tavares, Huerta, Thomas, etc are ALL amazing fighters and would take at least as many of those Eastern Hemispherian fighters as they would lose. In fact, I think the trend lately shows that the Western Hemispherian Lightweights are better. They just got put on the back burner when the UFC dropped their Lightweight Division a few years ago and it's taking some time for them to reclaim their rightful place in the Top 15/Top 10 range.