Fan Opinion: Most Underrated Fighters in the UFC
Posted on May 15, 2011, 08:10 PM by thealex
Lightweight:
Nik Lentz (21-3-2): Lentz trains out of Minnesota and is a training partner of former Lightweight champ, Sean Sherk. Undefeated in his 6 UFC fights, he has wins over Andre Winner, Waylon Lowe, and Tyson Griffin. He is often criticized for having boring fights and "grinding" out decisions with superior grappling. But he does what is necessary to earn the victory. He proved he has the heart of a champion in his last fight against Waylon Lowe. After giving up the first two rounds to the clearly stronger wrestler, Lentz locked in a guillotine choke that ended the fight, giving him his fourth consecutive win. Lentz is scheduled to face young prospect Charles Oliveira in June. A win over Oliveira will prove that Lentz belongs in the cage with the UFC's elite.
Welterweight:
Mike Pierce (12-3): Pierce is a strong wrestler who trains out of Portland, Oregon. Mike Pierce burst on the UFC scene with a dominant victory over Brock Larson. Following this victory, Pierce replaced Thiago Alves and fought Jon Fitch. He lost a close decision to Fitch, but showed he is a force at 170. Since then, he has earned 3 consecutive victories and is working his way up the 170 lb division. Pierce is set to fight Johny Hendricks in August
Middleweight:
Rousimar Palhares (12-3): Known for having perhaps the best leg locks in MMA, and some of the best overall Jiu Jitsu in the UFC, Rousimar Palhares trains out of the Brazilian Top Team. Palhares is 5-2 in the UFC and has wins over Jiu Jitsu specialists Ivan Salaverry, Jeremy Horn, Lucio Linhares and Dave Branch. He is considered to be one of the middleweight divisions smaller fighters, standing only 5 feet 8 inches tall, Palhares makes up for that in muscle, which makes for a more compact and more dynamic for his style of fighting. His two losses have come only to top 10 middleweights in Dan Henderson and Nathan Marquardt. In both fights he has showed tenacity and heart, the only thing left for him to improve on is the mental aspect of the game. His loss to Marquardt was quite controversial, as Palhares accused Marquardt of having greased his legs to try and avoid getting caught in one of Toquinho's leg locks. It is believed that Nate Marquardt did not grease, but only they know the truth. If Rousimar Palhares had not been distracted by Nate getting out of his leg lock attempt, the fight (more than likely) would have gone on and had a different ending. Palhares' last 3 wins have come by submsission (leglocks). Palhares is scheduled to fight Alexandre Ferreira at UFC 134.
Light Heavyweight:
Alexander Gustafsson (11-1): Gustfsson is a Swedish fighter known for his striking. He debuted in the UFC with a KO win over Jared Hamman. He Also has wins over James Te-Huna and veteran Cyrille Diabate. His only loss is to fellow prospect Phil Davis. Although he lost, Gustafsson showed great takedown defense to perhaps the best wrestler in the Light Heavyweight division. In his win over Diabate, he dominated the Frenchmen in the striking game and forced him to submission with a rear naked choke, in what was his most dominant performance yet. Keep your eye on this guy because he is a future star. Alexander Gustafsson is looking at a summer return with Vladimir Matyushenko who is coming off a 20 second destruction of Jason Brilz.
Heavyweight:
Travis Browne (10-0-1): Travis Browne trains out of Alliance MMA alongside Brandon Vera and Phil Davis. He is 1-0-1 in the UFC. His win came against TUF alumnus James Mcsweeny, in what was an upset victory. He showed what kind of power he carries in his hands with a first round stoppage victory. His next fight came against Veteran Heavyweight Cheick Kongo, in what was a controversial draw. Browne pushed the pace for most of the fight with his striking, and all Kongo did was clinch up and defend. Kongo was also deducted a point for grabbing Travis Browne's trunks. Travis Browne will fight Stefan Struve at UFC 130 on the main card. A win for Browne will place him with the top tier fighters in the heavyweight division.
Comments
let me know how i did :)
Good call with pierce but browne too early to tell
gustaffon definitely
but id include joe warren too on that list, he might be champ but he aint getting much respect
some really good choices in there, im glad you mentioned palhares because he is one of my favourite upcommers that has great potential.
well i would too but i made my article only on ufc fighters 155 and up
Joe Warren psh, that guy got dealt with last fight and got lucky by some corrupt judges
fair enough
Gotta give it to ya man those are some good choices. To be honest I am not particularly impressed by Lentz, although he keeps winning. Mike Pierce has a bright future and a fight with Jonny Hendricks is suitable for him at this point. Browne has showed alot of good sings, he is a little wild with his striking but he makes up for it in power/explosiveness and athleticism. Alex's stirking looked amazing against Diabate and his grappling appears to be coming along, working with Phil Davis will definitely improve it + his wrestling. Ive always had high hopes for Palhares but to be honest I've never seen his fight with Hendo and have always wanted to, but if someone reading this has a link please let me know! I dunno if you saw him school Mayhem on the ground in a training video, maybe not too big of a deal as it is just training, but Mayhem isn't a slouch on the ground.
Good post bro!
I am gonna say Frankie Edgar is probably still underated. he gained some recognition with the Maynard fight, but few commentators have ever given him the respect or recognition for his domination of BJ Penn and the fact he does not enjoy height, reach or size advantage yet is champion. Very rare you ever see a little guy beating all the big guys in a division and for me is very high on my p4p list.
John Makdessi should be on this list, he's 22-0 in Kickboxing and 9-0 in MMA with 7 KO's and 2 Decisions. He's the guy who did the spinning backfist against kyle watson at ufc 129.
john makdessi is definitely one of the most underrated i was immediately immpressed in his debut when he beat down audinwood. even as a late replacement. but he has only fought twice, lentz has a 6 fights and has not been defeated yet (in the ufc) . he even has a win over former top 10 tyson griffin that is why i put him there.
nick lents is GARBAGE!
well he is one of few guys who have gone 6 fights without losing. your favorite fighters win ratio is prbably not as good as lentz, so why hate?
because jesse is a douche bag, look at his past posts
just another guy who hates a fighter who fights his own way to get a win.
Palhares is definitely an underrated fighter. His BJJ is just nasty. In most cases, when he grabs a leg of yours, it's over. Don't really know if the rumors are true but Jackson's camp is notoriously famous for having fighters that grease up. Everyone in here remember the GSP-Penn II fiasco and the Melvin Guillard scandal?
Oh, and Diego Sanchez obtaining the nickname 'The Greasy Mexican'...
i thought it was funny dooms
I think Bisping is quite underrated considering the amount of wins he has I know he is in the upper of the middleweight class rankings but alot of people dont even think he should be in the ten even with the amout of wins he has in the UFC
Ummm, Bisping has no wins over top 10 talent...
Akiyama had lost to Lebel earlier and dropped down to #11 in some rankings.
Oh come on Bisping is incredibly underrated considering that most mma fans don't think he should be in the UFC at all while Bisping has proven himself as a top 10.
alexander gustafson is a young well rounded prospect i think he has a very bright future, lentz is pretty good too but he is just boring as ****..i fell asleep during his fight with winner. made my list of TOP 5 snoozefests of all time
Yea I suppose that is ture ,but with three dominant wins over Miller Akiyama and Jorge I think that warrants a position in the top 10 middleweights
Non UFC but Hector Lombard from Bellator
Where's Mike Pyle? He's gone under the radar from day one, and I see him being a threat in the WW division. Carlos Condit also has not received the recognition he deserves.
very true. pyle has a win over john hathaway,a dn he has wins over rick story and diego sanchez, so mike pyle is a beast, but i think hes pretty popular, or at least more than mike pierce. i think pierce can beat pyle
i honestly think Rory MacDonald has got what it takes to be up there with the best prospect fighters, he still very young too, will be interesting to see how he further developes
macdonald is a beast, i see him being a champion after GSP's reign is over