Stipe Miocic: Average Striking, Average Wrestiing, Below Average Subs, Average Speed, Good Gas Tank.

[User89]

That's probably the one area where he's lacking. He has everything else though.

That's not a small area to be lacking. I think Stipe is a boxer wrestler specialist just like Khabib is a ground and pound specialist.

 

[20falarVerdades]

I like stipe but yeah, if you could magically adjust his weight up and down I don't think he'd be champ in any other division.

Hell he wouldn't even be top 5.

HW division is weak as hell. Maybe the UFC needs to raise the pay of heavyweights to attract more talent. The risk of CTE is greater so they should get a higher reward.

Maybe that would attract more quality big dudes. And also encourage more LHW to move up.

A D1 wrestler with good hands, power, cardio and chin wouldn't be a top 5 in any other division?

 

[g*r*b]

Stipe is definately not well-rounded. He's not a kicker.

He's got very good low kicks, always has. But when you're 6'4" and your leg reach is shorter than Aldo's...you're at a little bit of a disadvantage for the high ones.

 

[LilNicky95]

Ngannou doesn't have even this and he is considered as one of the most scary dudes out there atm. Hw it is what it is. Also Stipe has great heart.

Swangin and Bangin Lewis is one win away from a title shot so that tells you something...

 

[Shaddows]

It's Fedor or Miocic, depends on one's pov. I, like many others, choose Miocic as I think Pride was just a big Circus. It's not like I'm a Stipe fanboy.

And I don't see anything wrong in thinking that way.
But you do know that praising him that much will bring hate to the guy. It's almost like you are taunting them to respond.

There's no need for it, and it only serves to bring him hate... and Miocic does not deserve the hate.
Make sense?

 

[Deleted member 579908]

And I don't see anything wrong in thinking that way.
But you do know that praising him that much will bring hate to the guy. It's almost like you are taunting them to respond.

There's no need for it, and it only serves to bring him hate... and Miocic does not deserve the hate.
Make sense?

Now I understand what you are trying to say. Thanks.

 

[TGArthur]

What makes him great is he does have mid/above average striking/grappling, but what he excels in is his athleticism as a HW. He has better cardio than any HW in the division, and even though he's been KO'd before, the Ngannou fight proved he has a tremendous chin on strong punchers.

 

[BetoG695]

The term your looking for is Well Rounded good at everything great at nothing.... But well rounded usually beats specialist which the HW division is full of.....Ngannou, lewis, overeem, Volkov, rozenstuik, JDs...basically pure Strikers... Blades,Werdum,harris,Oleinik ...basically pure Grapplers.... DC was kinda well rounded....Atleast thats my thoughts

 

[xn7]

you forgot his chin. it is top level.

 

[LilNicky95]

The term your looking for is Well Rounded good at everything great at nothing.... But well rounded usually beats specialist which the HW division is full of.....Ngannou, lewis, overeem, Volkov, rozenstuik, JDs...basically pure Strikers... Blades,Werdum,harris,Oleinik ...basically pure Grapplers.... DC was kinda well rounded....Atleast thats my thoughts

Sad times for the HW division if 59 year old Alexey Oleinik is still a contender.

 

[LilNicky95]

you forgot his chin. it is top level.

Don’t know about that...it’s good but he has been dropped quite a few times including this last DC fight.

 

[CVidal27]

Miocic's only weakness was eye pokes but after Struve and DC eye poked him to all fuck, he learned to just fight through it.

 

[Hey Soos]

He's the jack of trades, master of none in MMA. He's average to above average in every department but doesn't excel at anything in particular. Average chin, average wrestling, average striking.

 

[Claude]

-His striking defense is very sloppy. Leaves his chin exposed, which has cost him fights. Probably his biggest weakness.
-Offensively his hands are pretty good and his biggest strength. But he lacks good kicks and knees.
-Wrestling isn't elite, but good. Good takedowns and TDD.
-His subs are non existant. His game off his back is pretty weak.
-Cardio is a bit mediocre. Gasses inside 3-4 rounds.
-Fight IQ was poor based on his last fight. He barely attacked DC's body.
-Good chin.

Overall a good fighter with a common MMA skillset. Nothing extraordinary. Good enought for the current HW divison. Hardly good enough for the Pride era or even the Cain-JDS era.

 

[JKS]

And that division is well below average....so we can agree.

LOL, not quite.

Stipe KO'd and outstruck the best strikers in the division, he also did very well vs the best wrestlers, and he managed to prove he's just a better mma fighter by forcing his opponents to fight his fight and putting them in weak positions.

Look at his wins, Werdum, JDS, Cormier 2x, Overeem, Arlovski, those are all top 15 HWs all time, three them potentially top 5. The division doesn't have depth, but the guys he beat are top level fighters.

 

[Morris88]

View attachment 792790+
come at me

Do you think it bothers him that he hasn't avenged the Struve loss? His only unavenged defeat, can't see him struggling with Struve at this point either

 

[kuroro]

This is NO hate thread, Stipe is solid and to be respected for overachieving but as far as skill-set....

I think the thread title about sums it up. Where does he really excel?

The appropriate comparison would be the HW Rich Franklin. Another OHIO guy.

Hard working, Solid, Cardio, delivers results but.....does not pass the eye test.


Even the most staunch Stipe supporters(All 2 or 3 of them) can not argue this at all.

Where does he stand out that would even qualify him as the “Baddest Man” nonsense.

“Evolution of MMA, EVOLUTION OF MMA” ~

Come at me bro.

His striking and wrestling are way way way above average.

 

[CVidal27]

Stipe's only 2 legit losses were not legit because he was literally eyepoked several times prior to the "Finishing" strikes landed.

Stipe was wide awake and jogging/slipping away from Struve's punches after being poked in the eye.

Have any of you trained or fought. You could not a fool half unconcious or 99 percent unconscious but if you poke him in the fucking eye,he is going to respond to his eyes rather than the punches hitting his head.

The eyes are much more sensitive than the skull.
The brain is protected by dense bone. The eyes are protected by paper thin eyelids.

Do the math...

 

[iDisagree]

Stipe's wins are impressive on paper but he has never beaten an elite HW while they were in their prime.

Cormier was 40 and 41 when Stipe beat him.
JDS was shot when Stipe beat him.
Overeem had been knocked out in the UFC 3x before stipe beat him.
Werdum was 39 years old when Stipe beat him.
Arlovski was shot when Stipe beat him.
Ngannou lost to Stipe then lost to Derrick Lewis in his very next fight.

Good on paper but not a single one of those guys were in their prime. When you combine that with Stipe getting KOd dead by Struve at 30 years old there is no way you can call him the GOAT.

 

[moreorless87]

What makes him great is he does have mid/above average striking/grappling, but what he excels in is his athleticism as a HW. He has better cardio than any HW in the division, and even though he's been KO'd before, the Ngannou fight proved he has a tremendous chin on strong punchers.

I really don't see that, to me he's pretty unremarkable athletically, not very faster hands or foot speed, not very fluid or agile.

The OP maybe overstates things a bit but really I think he's pretty much correct, its very hard to look at Stipe and say "that is the best HW we've ever seen", there's just nothing that really stands out as very exceptional. His career has IMHO been built on the reality that he's fighting in a division of old men(and Ngannou), most of whome have some serious flaws in their game that a pretty well rounded fighter can exploit.

The reality is that the UFC and a lot of the MMA community has created a false narrative about rapid evolution because it suits them, they piggybacked on the reality of earlier rapid MMA evolution to creation a situation were whatever product they are offering now is always the "best ever". A lot of the fanbase are so invested in this false narrative that they simply won't accept anything questioning it, to do so would be admitting they'd been duped.

The end result is a lot of divisions in MMA are going to shit because a lot of the fanbase won't accept that decline is happening. They will happily keep paying for a sub standard product because following the hype train is really what there fans of not MMA.