After that win last night.... Joe would be screaming how this guy is the next coming. Hell the way he talks after every fighter win a fight it crazy. Love what this kid is showing and hope he has a very good career. But again when he won last night..in my mind was Joe talking about how his skill make him a monster and all that. Like he dose with Mat Mitt.
Joe has to do that. He's on the UFC pay roll. He becomes surprisingly objective though when on his blog and radio station.....
SF have a few fighters that if they look after could be a new breed of exciting fighters that define their org. Griggs, Del Rosario, King Mo, Woodley etc Not to mention the pioneers of their org - Melendez, Thompson, Le and Shamrock.
Shane is a very bright prospect. He has actually learned the ground game unlike a lot of other elite strikers that think they can survive with their striking skills alone. I'd like to see him against Cormier. It would be interesting to see how he would fare against such a strong wrestler.
Shane and Cormier is a quality fight. I would have liked to see Cormier as a fourth alternate. That would have really developed some prospects - Shane, Daniel and Chad. One of them would be left as a legit contender to the crown.
I've had an eye on Del Rosario for a while. He's a good prospect, but isn't the finished article yet. I'd stick him in with the likes of Chad Griggs or Valentine Overeem before fighting big-name drop outs from the quarter/semi finals. However, if Arlovski is going to plod on with the hell his career has become, that's a very winnable fight and even his faded name would had something to Del Rosario's resume at this stage.
SDR probably isn't too far off from being on the level of a Shane Carwin, tbh (who, for the record, I think is a bit overrated...so that isn't exactly meant to excessively hype or big-up SDR).
In what, a boxing ring? Yeah, I could see that. In MMA? No, Carwin has legit wrestling credentials. That's not to say that Rogers can't become a better fighter than Carwin, but he is not in his league yet. Rogers is still winning fights just because he hits hard. Carwin would never get bullied around the cage by Thompson, and depend solely on his punching power for the win.
