He destroyed Cro Cop when he was number 2 on the planet and coming off his best victorys. Dont say he is past it neither the guy was murdering people until those elbows and headkick now he refuses to pull the trigger.
I wouldn't say Cro Cop was past it, but I would say he's never looked remotely comfortable in the cage.
Gonzaga is the scariest heavyweight out there on paper. One of the best grapplers, murderous power, and is 260lbs. But lacks intangibles. He is way too dangerous to be a gatekeeper. He's also a good example of how MMA math doesn't work.
Cmon Jimmie did you see the fight? The gap in BJJ skill is wide. 1st round, like I said Gonzaga is explosive early and a strong man, he took Werdum down, Werdum very comfortable on the ground. Gonzaga on sheer strength passes to half guard then to side control. Werdum calm using butterfly = damage ZERO. Later in the same round Werdum now ending up on top, Gonzaga = helpless eating elbows, saved by the bell. 2nd round, Gonzagas demeanor completely changed. Werdum flops to mat Gonzaga doesnt dare follow..why?? eventually getting beat up more turtling on the ground giving up his back dont know what to do. Save by the ref from getting permanently damaged. Werdum is top of the food chain on BJJ gi/no gi. and significantly better than GG.
Again besides Crocop, show me an impressive win by this guy against quality. If MMA math doesnt work, I wont argue. All I can say is that in his brief career, he loses to good fighters and beats up below average ones. This is on paper, dont take it from me. I wouldnt even count the tuscherer win because he nearly made him impotent.
I dont see any gap at all and im not sure how you can say this. Ive looked at both fights of theirs and dont see it. Fight 1, round 1 Gonzaga takes Werdum down early into half guard then Werdum gains full guard and starts looking to attempt a triangle but Gonzaga detects it and pulls out and stands up. Gonzaga takes him down a 2nd time and shortly thereafter moves to a half guard then shortly after that steps over into full mount. Gonzaga holds this postion for about a minute or 1 until Werdum rolls onto his front while Gonzaga odly decides to standup. Later in the 1st Gonzaga scores with a single leg takedown. Gonzaga hangs out in his ground but stands back up then attempts a wild pass and ends up in half guard where Werdum attempts a nice kneebar which Gonzaga defends they scramble to front headlock with Werdum on top and round 1 ends. Round 2 Werdum attempts a kick while Gonzaga ducks under takes him down and into his guard, Werdum attempts a sweep which brings them back to their feet. Gonzaga scores with another single leg then passes into side control, Werdum gives up his back and Gonzaga secures a Kimura but Werdum rolls to his back to defend it and puts Gonzaga into his full guard. They remain in this postion for quite sometime with nothing of note happening which results in a standup. The fight then turns onesided with Werdum brutalizing a embarrsingly tired Gonzaga for about 2 minutes with strikes until eventually taking it down and finishing with strikes from mount. 2nd fight 20 secounds in Gonzaga takes Werdum down and uses tight passing skills to go to side control briefly but not long enough to gain points in a grappling match and Werdum reclaims half guard, Werdum trys 3-4 times to sweep and cants before Gonzaga stands it up, with an minute and a half left Gonzaga attempts a kick and Werdum uses it to trip him and Gonzaga goes into a turtle postion for a secound Werdum trys to take his back and Gonzaga rolls through and puts him into half guard. Werdum attempts to pass once and cant, Gonzaga moves for a kneebar which Werdum has defended before it really starts. End of round 1. No real ground work in round 2. Werdum hurt him standing with the knees and yes finished him off on top but agian this is MMA and Werdum hurt him with strikes and finished a tired,hurt fighter with GNP not BJJ. Why would Gonzaga follow Werdum to the mat when at the time he was doing better on his feet ? The ground game proved in round 1 to cancel each other out why not try whats working better for you ? As far a pure grappling goes I seen no gap expect the gap in wrestling with Gonzaga being far superior. When it was purely a BJJ match Gonzaga held more dominant postions and had the closest submission attempt with that kimura in fight 1.
thats a nice description of the fights but thats not the crux of it. Gonzaga has no bottom game and loves to turtle ala shogun but less mobile. His armbar attemp was just that an attempt. His top game is good at postioning but cant seem to do any damage, he had mount in the first fight and had done zilch. Werdum is the much more decorated grappler (and I give the edge in wrestling to GG) but you have to take advantage of the position just like Werdum does As for standup his steam is good for 3 minutes tops. Hes just not that good, that is the gist of what my point is.
By saying he disproves MMA math I mean he's less than the sum of his parts. Nog is more. Thats why one is a great fighter and one isnt.
