How is the A-level athlete "myth" debunked? Ngannou earned title shot with 4 years training.

[ralek4grammy]

 

[eternaldarkness]

im in no way saying it is based on appearance. i am saying anyone with athleticism and talent is playing real sports, because that is where the money is.

mma is a fallback sport. nobody wants to get punched in the head for almost zero money.

getting punched is better than playing with balls.

 

[cooks1]

really then, list a few of these examples then. I call bullshit on that.

Ok Smartass-

Julius Thomas- Never played footlball in High school. Did not start playing college football until 2010- His senior year in college.

With all of 1 year of football experience, he was drafted by the Denver Broncos in 2011. And by 2013 was a starter. I actually met the fucker because I live in Jacksonville and he played for the Jags for 2 years. I am a season ticket holder.

What kind of pussy ass league is the NFL that some guy can just get drafted after playing football for 1 year!!!!!!!!!!!

Now piss off

 

[cooks1]

I also completely forgot about Ziggy.

Ezekiel 'Ziggy' Ansah- Cat was born in Ghana- grew up never having even watched American Football. Played basketball and soccer as a kid. Did track and basketball in HS.

Went to BYU on an academic scholarship. Tried out for the basketball team- didn't make it in 2008 or 2009. Then walked on to the track team and made it.

Walked on to the BYU football team in 2010 and played 3 years.

Somehow, some way, a 6 foot 6 guy from Ghana- who had played basketball his whole life

And was not able to make this college basketball team

After playing a game he never knew existed as a kid for only 3 fucking years, manages to get drafted by the Detroit Lions in the first fucking round, and sign a guaranteed 4 year $18.5 million Contract. That is how fucking pussy the NFL is.

 

[cooks1]

This example has been brought up before and it's one of the only examples people can use. Also, it's important to note that Gates was a 2 sport athlete and wanted to initially play football when he went to college. It's not like he was some random novice who didn't know the sport at all.

There are a number of NFL football players, some very good ones, that never even started playing football until college, after walking onto their teams, and were playing in the NFL with only a year or 2 of Total footbal experience- please see above.

 

[Maori]

He had been learning boxing his entire life and even had some amateur bouts at the age of 17. Ngannou did not have an extensive boxing background as evidenced by the bad technique he displayed.

Sonny Bill Williams

Rugby League Representitive

Rugby Union Representitive

Made professional Boxing debut at age 24 and is currently 7-0 having won the wba international heavyweight title.

 

[opie]

All the A- level and talented olympic, world champs,NCAA national champs, pan american champs, European champs in wrestling, judo and international kickboxing go to MMA

And it's especially true for the international athletes since there is no NFL to play for physical specimens not in the USA...hence why mma is so internationally diverse

im only talking about americans. i apologize for any confusion. soccer definitely has some A-level athletes.

i was saying no american with the athleticism to make it in the nfl or nba would ever go to mma. i have no idea what foreigners are up to.

 

[opie]

getting punched is better than playing with balls.

being rich is better than being poor

 

[ramair455]

Ok Smartass-

Julius Thomas- Never played footlball in High school. Did not start playing college football until 2010- His senior year in college.

With all of 1 year of football experience, he was drafted by the Denver Broncos in 2011. And by 2013 was a starter. I actually met the fucker because I live in Jacksonville and he played for the Jags for 2 years. I am a season ticket holder.

What kind of pussy ass league is the NFL that some guy can just get drafted after playing football for 1 year!!!!!!!!!!!

Now piss off

Don't forget Christian Okoye. But that 2 out of the over 1500 in NFL rosters

 

[cooks1]

Don't forget Christian Okoye. But that 2 out of the over 1500 in NFL rosters

....that a few people know about.......off the top of their head.

 

[JamesRussler]

What exactly makes him an A level athlete? I’d say Cormier is a legit A level athlete.

Bingo. Cormier is a relatively short, chubby guy with short arms, but he consistently outwrestles, outboxes, overpowers, outworks, and outlasts his more aesthetically gifted counterparts – many of whom are said to be more athletic. People say "yeah, but imagine how much better Cormier would be if he lost all his fat, had a longer reach, was taller, bigger muscles, etc." Perhaps some of that it true. However, it may very well be that Cormier performs as well as he does because he isn't leaner, buffer, taller, longer, etc. It's the way he puts it all together that makes him a great athlete.

It is hard to prove that any single physical attribute is objectively advantageous/ disadvantageous in the abstract. But when a fighter exploits his physical attributes, in conjunction with others, to accomplish a desired physical result, we can safely chalk it up to the fighter's athletic ability. For example, Jon Jone's physical reach "advantage" is only an advantage because he uses it effectively. It's not hard to imagine that his reach could become a disadvantage if he let his long arms become easy targets for submissions, or if he were less effective at keeping opponents out of range. By the same token, maybe Cormier's stocky frame has something to do with his wrestling success. The point is, any objective criterion for "athleticism" must at the very least make reference to one's performance in athletic activities. It's not a fighter's physical advantages/disadvantages that define athleticism, but the fighter's ability to put them all together to achieve a result in the physical world.

 

[Robbie Corleone]

You inspired me to make a thread about this!

Nice, I’ll have a look! The amount of shit people talk on here regarding this is astonishing.

 

[Maori]

This isn't even the debate, but let's say it is, that makes Stipe's win look even worse because he beat a guy he out-skilled and he was physically more athletic then and he still couldn't get a finish and gassed. This never happened to GSP, Jones, or Anderson. You seem to be making my points for me.

50-o44 is pretty dominant in my book, not to mention the close to 40lbs weight discrepancy.

Its funny you brought up gsp in such a dominant decision victory