Edgar and Maynards wrestling would dominate him. Guillard could hurt him bad. He's on paper a better fighter than Guida but Clay may grind out a win. He's pretty much on par with Miller so that would be an intriguing potentially exciting fight.
I dont know, I think the top 3 are pretty clear though, only a lack of top opposition is keeping him behind GrEdgar
I think he's potentially the best. Chimba, I've got to wonder if you've ever actually watched Gilbert fight because his grappling is absoultely top notch, there's no way Edgar or Maynard are going to hold him down as easily as you say. Also, he ****ing dominated Guida when they fought, I understand Clay has improved since then but as has Gilbert. He'd whoop Guida again if they fought.
I agree, very good fighter, probably has the best resume one can get without joining the UFC (well, a win over Alvarez would be good too).
You cant **** around with wrestlers like Edgar and esp Maynard. One can box with the best of them and is so active and cunning that its almost impossible to submit, ask BJ who got dominated. The latter is just so powerful, you'll need a WW to even get a lock on this guy. One thing you'll need to understand, with the exception of Chael Sonnens bonehead strategy, these top wrestlers are no longer submitted (please dont bring up Brock vs. Mir). Thats mostly what they train for now. Its a set formula. Guillard is an enigma, he may be the most talented of all.
Bader is a problem with that theory but I do agree that wrestlers training hard on sub defense is a tough combination to unlock.
#1 for me! I can't wait to see him face Gredgar! Clay is a superchampion in my eyes though. He cannot be ranked among men as this would be unfair. Lynchburg
Maybe a top 5 but having him at #2 is just plain stupidity. Although, as another posted pointed out, his resume is about as good as can be without being in the UFC. I'd be VERY interested in watching him fight some top level competition. I'd love to see him in some big fights to see how he reacts to different situations he'd be put in that guys outside of the UFC couldn't put him in.
Id rank him number 3 he is very well rounded and matches up well with alot of guys. Melendez also has a very underated resume with wins over Takaya, Sato, Kawajiri 2x, Guida, Ishida, Thomson and Aoki. The 2 guys who have beat him he has came back to dominate. For me its Edgar, Maynard, Melendez, Miller, Alvarez.
So much for his wrestling pedigree getting thrown around by Jon Jones. He is a classic example of wrestler not transitioning to MMA well. There's a reason Silva is the last non wrestler holding a title in the UFC pre merger. And that was almost ended.
Er....I agree with the broad thrust of your point but when the UFC merged with the WEC, Shogun was still champion.
I'd probably put him at three - the only UFC guy on a really long run is Miller who lost to the two best guys he faced (Maynard and Edgar). I would however fancy Guida and Guillard to beat him H2H.