Good call. Diego Sanchez was a very big lightweight and has always been an excellent takedown artist and a strong wrestler. He had five rounds of trying to take BJ down at 155, and didn't get a sniff.
Here is the thing. All 3 of those fighters, GSP/Hughes/Fitch, not only have around 20lbs of muscle on BJ, they are all top WWs when it comes to wrestling and takedowns. They RARELY get stuffed on their attempts by guys their own size, yet BJ stuffed everyone of them for the first round of their fights. That much muscle and weight advantage, it would take a super conditioned monster to keep up the stamina and ability to continuously stuff the takedowns all fight. He got worn down. And because of that, he didn't have the strength anymore to stop the takedowns. Answer me this. As long as you agree that GSP has at least 20lbs of a weight advantage over BJ. Do you honestly believe that GSP can move up to middleweight and stop Sonnen's takedowns for an entire 5 minutes. And not by jabbing and moving. By actually fighting off Sonnen, when Sonnen has a hold of his legs or has him pressed up against the cage?
How was BJ, a chubby LW, able to fight off GSPs takedowns for an entire round, when Kos/Fitch/Alves/Hughes all went down on the 1st or 2nd attempt?
So 1 out of 5 rounds is good enough to be considered the best? And what about when he fought at LW and was taken down over and over again by Frankie?
Well, the question is who has the best TDD, not who has the best stamina. When someone asks me who has the best punching power, I don't choose who has the best power once they are exhausted, I choose who actually has the best power. If BJ has the best TDD but soon becomes tired and then his TDD dissipates, it doesn't mean his TDD technique is bad. It can still be the best. No?
The fact that BJ even gets himself in positions where he needs to really work to defend a takedown, should tell you he doesn't have the best TDD. Guys like JDS, Chuck, Rampage, and Mirko shucked off wrestlers. There wasn't much of a fight. BJ's losses were a direct result of poor takedown defense, that led to him having to fight it off for up to 30 seconds at a time, causing him to gas and be taken down with ease.
Nop, my personal pick is GSP....you would have know that if you had taken the time to read the entire thread...:roll: I'm just sayiing you are a ****** because you are !:good
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but what use is it to having good technique if you're incapable of executing it? (Beyond the first round... to my knowledge, at minimum, fights in the UFC are 3 rounds, with Main Event and Championship fights being 5) Seems kind of important to be able to execute later in the fight and not just in the beginning.