Is Joe Stevenson world class?

I think he's top 10, top 10 is world class IMO...

 

Lightweight is the hardest division to rank, but I'd say he is.

Maybe not top 10, but top 20 for sure.

 

Top 15

 

Of all the intangible descriptives floating around, World Class to me seems the easiest and least ambiguous to define.

If you're a credible world title contender, you're World Class.

There are World Class talents who for whatever reason (politics, etc.) never even challenge for a world title, let alone hold one.

There are also those carefully maneuvered types who contend for - or even hold titles - without themselves being World Class.

For the most part, however - look no further than the title scene.

If you belong in a world title fight, you fit the bill.

 

I like that definition, but it raises another question - what makes a challenger credible?

I think it would depend on the champion. Does the fighter pose a credible threat to him? If he does, then he belongs in the title fight and can be considered world class.

That would be a definition of world class based on the man at the top of the heap, which is no bad thing in my book.

 

World Class, simple just take the top 10-15 fighters in a weight class and ask if a fighter has a good chance at beating the majority.

 

:nod

That, and has the contender beaten many (or any) others ranked in the top ten, and how dominantly? :deal

 

That's not bad.

Does anyone feel Joe Daddy so far doesn't meet any of these criteria?

 

Depends on what world class means. To me id say no but thats no knock on Stevenson he is an excellent fighter and under the training of Greg Jackson he keeps improving.

 

Probablly not cause we know Joe can beat alot of top 25-30 guys like Nate Diaz, Kurt Pelligrino, Spencer Fisher etc but the top 10 guys can he beat Penn no, Florian no, Sanchez no and id pick Alvarez, Aoki maybe Melendez to be favorites vs him. Big Joe Daddy fan though hes still young and he has a bright future IMO.

 

Well, world class cannot be a strict definition. Anything top 20 is world class without a doubt. I mean if not all of top 20 of THE BEST of MMA fighters can be considered world class, than average professional fighters have no chance. The way it's always defined in Russia is if the athlete is competing on international level(not being a dud that is) he is world class.
If you were, personally, fighting for small time local promotions than you'd look up to Joe Stevenson as world class. The guy has fought BJ Penn, granted he got brutalized but he earned a fight with him. Now look from a perspective of a guy that is up and coming with a record 5-0 from small time promotion and you're facing Joe Stevenson, you'd be in some type of awe unless you're Fedor.
Joe's been there, done that. He's on TV fighting for the biggest org. in the world on main cards against the best fighters in the world. He's a major attraction for viewers. I'd say that defines him as world class.

 

He can beat a ton of really good pro fighters, but not the A level guys. As others have said, it depends on how you define the "class". If "world class" means top 5, then no he's not. If it's "top 1% in the world" then **** yeah, he'll beat 99% of the 155 MMA fighters in the world.

 

Right. People make the mistake of thinking that world class is synonymous with elite.

All elite are world class, but not all world class are elite.

 

Correct, I edited my post after you quoted it.

Here's a definition that I like:
World class is someone who can compete on international level and achieve some type of success.

This, Joe Stevenson definitely is.