In the second fight between Rampage and Wand it took multiple knees to the face after rampage took a vicious right from wanderlei that landed right on the botton. The power of the knees from the clinch should not be underestimated your head is trapped by the thai plum and is not allowed to recoil back from the impact of a knee, the head is even pulled forward for increased leverage as the knee is thrown upward. to be kayo'd by this does prove that rampage dosent have a solid chin, it simply proves he doesnt know how to defend the Thai clinch. I wonder how many knees in the clinch would it take to ko Jake lamatta or Ray Robinson, or Marvin Hagler? I bet they all would get ko'd by an experienced clincher if they did not know how to defend the knee strikes.
Yes, but where do you draw the line justifying someone being put to sleep more than once? Fedor fought in Pride too, he fought some real monsters, and he never got put to sleep. Nog fought in Pride too, he fought some real monsters, he took some insane levels of punishment, and he never got put to sleep. Hendo fought in Pride too, he fought some real monsters, he incurred some losses, and he never got put to sleep. I'm a believer in credentials when it comes to rating chins. Rampage has a strong chin for sure, but his credentials do not match that of the other three, therefore they have proven to have better resilience than him. The proof is in the 'Losses by stoppage' column from their prime days.
Honourable mention Sean Sherk. Remember that knee he ate from BJ Penn? Absolutely savage. Anyway Rampage makes this list. Career beat down from a prime Wandy and still came back to win the UFC title. Dudes a stud and known for his great chin.
What about the Hughes v Sherk fight too, brutal stuff. Sherk took a beating from Matt in half guard for 2 rounds and still came out all guns blazing in the 3rd. Miracle he made it the full 5 still trying to win
I really think that Sherk was a great fighter on his best night. Not BJ/Hughes/GSP level of greatness, but still a genuinely great fighter in his own right, and often unfairly overlooked. The best version of Sherk was a much greater fighter than the likes of Jens Pulver IMO.
Yeah if Sherk was starting off today he would have thrived at 145 imo. The WW weights were to big for him and at 155 he ran into Penn. Underrated fighter imo.
Could he have made 145 though. Remember that dude used to fight up at 170lbs and walked around at dam near close to 200lbs. He was a BIG dude for his height. Then again he was on gear....
Yeah but that was before they brought back the 155 division so he had to be that big to fight at 170. He made up for his relatively small stature with muscle Or am I wrong? They brought the LW back around the UFC 60 mark if memory serves If he had the option earlier he'd be a 145er I think
