who is the most wasted talent in mma history?

[dipstickjimmy]

Reported for being hilariously accurate.

 

[Patrick Jane]

Nobuhiko Takada
Alexander Otsuka
Volk Han

 

[dipstickjimmy]

Henry Cejudo.

Mini-Khabib with balls to go look for larger dudes to waste.

Left early when he should've gone for the UFC Championship Hat Trick.

He could've led a global army of below height-average men to greater self-respect.

Is being a "Natural" BW and killing yourself to make Fly W really an example of having the balls to look for larger dudes? Pretty sure the only guys he fought his size or larger were Aljo and Merab and they both beat him easily.

 

[filthybliss]

This is my pick as well. Even Fedor said Alex is much more gifted than he is. He had incredible hand speed as well as power for a true heavyweight

speaking of russian mutants. I always day dream about how monstrous karelin woulda been if he put a genuine effort into mma. just looking at the advantage that wrestling gave to Brock and DC in the more modern era, I feel like he would be unstoppable during his heyday if he had a modicum of striking ability.

 

[filthybliss]

Henry Cejudo.

Mini-Khabib with balls to go look for larger dudes to waste.

Left early when he should've gone for the UFC Championship Hat Trick.

He could've led a global army of below height-average men to greater self-respect.

we already have DJ, Pacman, and Floyd for that, no worries. but yeah, cejudo was deadly in his prime even as a hater of his, I appreciate his greatness.

 

[Harlekin]

Pains me to say it, but Conor could be on the list.
- He got rich vs. Aldo in 2015 -> less training
- No cardio anymore since his ACL injury, couldn't run, just bike, which ain't as good
- Drugs and alcohol for years
- After 2016 he only trained boxing for a while and after Floyd 2017 he was rich and only a part time fighter anymore.

It's no wonder that Poirier got better and better, while McGregor got worse and lost

 

[filthybliss]

Lee Murray, the dude was a real good striker and had a slick submission game of his back. I feel he could have been real popular name with the fans, he had a tons of charisma but threw it all away

I get the appeal of Lee for the lore but I feel like his skills are greatly overrated. He took a young Silva to a decision but so did multiple others like Otsuka and that dude went 3/10 in PRIDE. So I don't think Lee fought enough for me to say he would be talked as a "quality" martial artist if it were not for his lore outside of the cage.

 

[LDC93]

I'd go with Melvin Guillard.

 

[LiQuiD42]

Chris Weidman. If he were my son, I would have disowned him. Wasting all that talent.

 

[Clark Rogers]

Old schoolers can correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't David Terrell kinda fall into this criteria? Been forever but seems like he had a ton of potential but just kinda left the sport.

 

[666]

Mark Kerr I would say is up there. Total wrecking machine but got addicted to opiates and had a steep decline.

 

[StonedLemur]

Karo Parisyan may have been more successful if he quit smoking.

Pain pills didn't help him either sir.

 

[Fight Professor]

Erick Silva

Erick has barely started his career and has a lot of time to fulfill his potential.

Conrad Kole comes to mind.

 

[Bojka]

Zabit like someone else said is a good one.

Otherwise probably people who had chronic injuries (there are countless examples in tennis; not as many obvious ones in MMA for some reason, but I'm sure they exist) or people who never went to the UFC. The UFC should sign Nemkov for example.

 

[Strychnine]

 

[Shroud of turinabol]

 

[El Fernas]

Cejudo and Mcgregor, both made the most at one point, to not follow up on it, not wasting their talents obviously, but wasted their prime years.

 

[filthybliss]

Zabit like someone else said is a good one.

Otherwise probably people who had chronic injuries (there are countless examples in tennis; not as many obvious ones in MMA for some reason, but I'm sure they exist) or people who never went to the UFC. The UFC should sign Nemkov for example.

wow, its rare to find a tennis and an mma fan. do you still watch much tennis these days? since federer retired and the djoker takeover,i stopped following it

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

Erick has barely started his career and has a lot of time to fulfill his potential.

Conrad Kole comes to mind.

I was gonna say Cole Konrad. Div 1 NCAA champ twice over and Brock said he was the strongest guy he ever met. Had to cut to make HW, undefeated

 

[jsbx45]

Matt Riddle comes to mind.