Aspinall might be the best athletic specimen we've ever seen in HW

[Jose Beehive]

You do realize that Athleticism has nothing to do with Power, right? So I don't know why you're using that as a talking point as to why Gane isn't as athletic as Tom. Gane most certainly is lol. As is Francis.

Athleticism - the combination of qualities (such as speed, strength, and agility) that are characteristic of an athlete.
Power - move or travel with great speed or force.
Force - strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement.

Feel like Power has everything to do with athleticism.

 

[checktheknuckles]

Maybe he's talking about the fact that Brock moved like a lightweight while probably entering the cage around 300 pounds. Was his physique natural? Not a chance. But you'd better believe he's one of the most athletic heavyweights (if not the most athletic) the UFC has ever seen.

Bouncing up and down is all it takes to move like a LW now? LMAO Dude was slow and stiff in his striking. Being big and bouncing on the balls of your feet don't make you athletic. LMAO

 

[krelianx]

We've had guys like Overeem, Aleksander, Kongo, Arlovski...

 

[MileHigher]

Brock wasn't athletic, wtf you talking about? Unless peds = athleticism and then Brock was the GOAT.

The question is wtf are you talking about? Brock Lesnar was a freak athlete. That’s a fact. You’re out of your mind.

 

[Typrune Goatley]

He is up there.

I would say Randleman or Overeem was the most athletic.

Randleman - Most explosive HW or LHW ever seen. Extremely explosive takedowns. Extremely strong. KO power in both hands and his knees. Devastatingly powerful ground and pound.


Alistair Overeem - He was very fast and explosive, could throw flying knees, spinning back kicks, probably has more powerful takedowns than Aspinall. He definitely throws more powerful knees than Tom. Of course people will say Reem lacked the cardio and chin but we will see how Tom's career plays out.


Cro Cop - possibly the best athlete. Just smaller HW. Fastest HW ever. Most explosive striker. Great footwork. Extremely fast hands. Extremely powerful in the clinch (Schaub said he was the strongest). Unbelievably athletic sprawl early in MMA career. Had some of the best footwork ever early in his MMA career before his body fell apart.

Fedor - Fastest hands of any HW. Nog said he was even faster than Mirko. Most explosive HW we have ever seen. Extremely explosive striking, Judo takedowns and GNP. Very light on his feet. He is a shorter HW, but probably more powerful striking than Aspinall. Not sure who has more physical strength between Fedor and Tom. Tom is definitely bigger but Fedor's lifetime of Judo and Sambo probably makes him just as strong.

Cain Velasquez - Very powerful. Pretty explosive. Some of the best cardio ever seen at HW (probably 2nd only to Nog). Strong enough to take down Brock Lesnar and also defend takedowns from Brock, and escape back to his feet. One of the fastest hands we have ever seen at HW.

Young Arlovski - very quick hands. Very powerful. Very explosive. One of the best all around athletes we have seen at HW. Excellent footwork. Still able to win UFC fights in his mid 40s way past his prime.

Junior Dos Santos - very quick hands. Very powerful punches. Pretty damn explosive and strong.

Jon Jones - not a fan of Jones and he has only had 1 fight at HW and he was already 35 years old but he is still a great athlete and even moreso for HW than for LHW. Not very fast anymore but still quick in short bursts. Very explosive and arguably the strongest HW right now. Very powerful takedowns. Has the best build of any fighter. Very long reach and powerful athlete

Cyril Gane - some of the best footwork ever seen at LHW. Gane is extremely nimble, fast, explosive and above average strength.

Jailton Almeida - extremely explosive and fast for a HW. Seems to have explosive takedowns but not very explosive striking? Seems to have great cardio for a HW.

Frank Mir - Young Frank was very fast and powerful. Extremely explosive submissions off his back and had KO power. Tom Aspinall truly is very similar to Frank Mir.

I am sure I am forgetting some others.

 

[checktheknuckles]

The question is wtf are you talking about? Brock Lesnar was a freak athlete. That’s a fact. You’re out of your mind.

Let me guess, PED's = athletic?

 

[Gamer2k4]

Bouncing up and down is all it takes to move like a LW now? LMAO Dude was slow and stiff in his striking. Being big and bouncing on the balls of your feet don't make you athletic. LMAO

I'm getting the sense that you have your own personal definition of "athleticism" that's at odds with how everyone else uses the term.

 

[BigSexy444]

Brock

 

[Typrune Goatley]

I see people mentioning Mitrione. He was another very athletic HW. Very fast hands, extremely powerful. NFL level strength and explosiveness. Extremely light on his feet. Definitely one of the most athletic.

Kongo was a very powerful athlete and had fast kicks, knees and punches. He didn't move as fast as some of the others though.

Gilbert Yvel was extremely fast and mobile for a HW. He was definitely not a slow or stiff HW. He was knocking people out with flying knees, high kicks and punches.

 

[MileHigher]

Let me guess, PED's = athletic?

There is a reason literally everyone else in the thread is telling you you’re wrong. Be an adult and admit you were mistaken.

I dislike Brock Lesnar as much as the next guy but to say he wasn’t an athletic freak is simply ignorant. The guy was close to making an NFL team despite never having played.

The following are his combine test numbers at 6’3, 300lbs: 40-yard dash in 4.7 seconds, Vertical jump: 35 inches, Broad jump: 10 feet, and 225 lb bench press: 30 reps…

That is big time. Case closed.

 

[Pepy]

- Tell me that the fighter won a fight, without telling me that he won the fight.
- He's the GOAT on Sherdog right now.

+
Pavlovich is a can

 

[Gamer2k4]

+
Pavlovich is a can

Hey, at least it happened now, so we don't have see Jones dominate him and have everyone on Sherdog claiming how they always knew it was a bad matchup, the easiest possible fight for Jones, and still proves nothing about Jones's potential at heavyweight.

 

[Typrune Goatley]

Aleks Emelianenko - probably tied with his brother for fastest hands at HW. Not nearly as explosive though. Still a very powerful and athletic HW at 6'5 and 255 pounds.

Daniel Cormier - in Strikeforce he was very fast, very explosive and had just so much raw strength. Could also move really well. Also has great cardio for a HW. Very underrated athlete because people think he is fat but he had all the attributes you would want in a fighter.

 

[Yellowcrab]

Are you really that dumb that you equate an injury with the guy's athleticism?

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28142363/ : Higher Fat Mass Is Associated With a History of Knee Injury in Youth Sport

But that was not my point actually, it was rather about the so-called indestructible force claimed by the OP. Such a thing would also include physical durability, especially at his age.

 

[Tornikidou]

 

[CatchtheseHands]

Athleticism - the combination of qualities (such as speed, strength, and agility) that are characteristic of an athlete.
Power - move or travel with great speed or force.
Force - strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement.

Feel like Power has everything to do with athleticism.

Speed and agility are the same thing lol. Anyhow, I'd have to disagree with strength being an athletic trait. Most people can lift weights and become strong, a lot of unathletic guys can hit hard (Tai Tuivasa, Derrick Lewis, Mark Hunt, etc). I think explosiveness would be a better term to use instead of strength here. You can't really teach or learn explosiveness, you either have it or you don't. I could train everyday to be more explosive and I'd never be as explosive as Francis or Tom.

 

[13Seconds]

Ya know, before Travis Browne sucked, his movement was impressive. Pre bigfoot fight

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Brock wasn't athletic, wtf you talking about? Unless peds = athleticism and then Brock was the GOAT.

Man, new posters are really dumb these days.
Brock is one of the most ridiculous athletic specimens ever seen. If you think that's all roids, you are mentally deficient and don't understand genetics/epigenetics.

 

[checktheknuckles]

There is a reason literally everyone else in the thread is telling you you’re wrong. Be an adult and admit you were mistaken.

I dislike Brock Lesnar as much as the next guy but to say he wasn’t an athletic freak is simply ignorant. The guy was close to making an NFL team despite never having played.

The following are his combine test numbers at 6’3, 300lbs: 40-yard dash in 4.7 seconds, Vertical jump: 35 inches, Broad jump: 10 feet, and 225 lb bench press: 30 reps…

That is big time. Case closed.

UFC football of fighting? Brock was slow as fuck on the punch and was stiff. Not athletic at all in the cage. Unless you counting this:

 

[checktheknuckles]

Man, new posters are really dumb these days.
Brock is one of the most ridiculous athletic specimens ever seen. If you think that's all roids, you are mentally deficient and don't understand genetics/epigenetics.

Brock was the most atlethic while at the same time having the slowest/stiffest striking ever. LMAO