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[mitchpmma]

Well he wrestles them to the grown and keeps them there, his last fight showed improvement on his gnp game which is a start to good things.

[bmore_aki]

Originally Posted by j.farrell

i touched don this breifly in another thread..i think rashad will get frustrated at not being able to beat the top guys in his division..and eventually drop down..at 185 i think he will be a beast..thats when he will start really putting an exclaimtion mark on his fights..there are some interesting mtach ups for him there..id like to see him and louiseau...dean lister..cote..ed herman..i think him and rich would be an exciting match up..i think he would have more power there wich would give him the ability..to really dominate his opponets..im sure all the rashad lovers are going to have a fit over this thread..dont get to upset tho guys its just a thought..

5..4..3..2..1..
I needed a second or 5 to compose myself before wading in on this topic.

No, I don't think Rashad going down to 185lbs would be a good idea. First he's body frame is to big to make the cut down. He already has execellent muscle tone for 205lbs and looks well conditioned, i would image cutting to 185 would take to much out of him and negate his strength and possibly endurance benefits.

Second, his natural speed/agility advantage over most LHW would not be as noticeable in 185. Rashad is very light on his feet and his wrestling background gives him excellent ground-awareness. Why give those advantages up to face just as agile if not more agile challengers at middleweight?

Also, you tend to find better strikers in lighter divisions. Though he may have better KO power a division down, he'd have to worry about overall hand speed and more kicks from middleweights. These are things he can defend against with his combo of speed and strength at 205, I doubt he'd have the advantage of both for 3 rounds (or more) at 185.

Lastly, Rashad Evans is going to be the pimp at 205! There is no need for a developing & undefeated fighter to drop a weight class. Though he has room for improvement in his game, nobody has exposed any inherent weaknesses in his game at 205. At heavyweight it was obvious that he was to small for the division and dropping would improve his conditioning, give him a strength advantage and give him the best chance to compete every fight.

Now stop thinking negative thoughts about Rashad and worry about Bisping getting a whole tore in him when he eventually meets up with Rashad!

[Afro]

The guy is at his right weight, hes cut no homo and his wrestling is suberb, his standup is real good too.. havent seen any problems with his chin yet. I think he should stay at 205, he should fight Forrest Griffin next then Tito Ortiz

[Donny77]

Originally Posted by bmore_aki

5..4..3..2..1..
I needed a second or 5 to compose myself before wading in on this topic.

No, I don't think Rashad going down to 185lbs would be a good idea. First he's body frame is to big to make the cut down. He already has execellent muscle tone for 205lbs and looks well conditioned, i would image cutting to 185 would take to much out of him and negate his strength and possibly endurance benefits.

Second, his natural speed/agility advantage over most LHW would not be as noticeable in 185. Rashad is very light on his feet and his wrestling background gives him excellent ground-awareness. Why give those advantages up to face just as agile if not more agile challengers at middleweight?

Also, you tend to find better strikers in lighter divisions. Though he may have better KO power a division down, he'd have to worry about overall hand speed and more kicks from middleweights. These are things he can defend against with his combo of speed and strength at 205, I doubt he'd have the advantage of both for 3 rounds (or more) at 185.

Lastly, Rashad Evans is going to be the pimp at 205! There is no need for a developing & undefeated fighter to drop a weight class. Though he has room for improvement in his game, nobody has exposed any inherent weaknesses in his game at 205. At heavyweight it was obvious that he was to small for the division and dropping would improve his conditioning, give him a strength advantage and give him the best chance to compete every fight.

Now stop thinking negative thoughts about Rashad and worry about Bisping getting a whole tore in him when he eventually meets up with Rashad!

Yep, i agree.. Rashad is prolly the most athletic in the LHW division. And if anyone thinks Tito has better wrestling than Rashad their ignorsnt!

[CHUCKtheCHAMP]

Originally Posted by j.farrell

i think bisping will be able to pick him apart..i dont think it will be an easy fight..i just think bisping is a smarter fighter..rashad has raw talent..but bisping is explosive and very smart in the cage..

where have you seen bisbing fight other than tuf???? i dont see y people say bisbing is the shit and could woop rashad and forrest and tito and blah blah blah when i havent seen the guy fight one quality opponent!!!

[Donny77]

Originally Posted by CHUCKtheCHAMP

where have you seen bisbing fight other than tuf???? i dont see y people say bisbing is the shit and could woop rashad and forrest and tito and blah blah blah when i havent seen the guy fight one quality opponent!!!

ANd for that matter when have we seen the Count figth a dominant wrestler?.. If memory serves me correctly, Bisping was most concerned about the Hamill b/c he's wrestler.. Ill be it a great one!

[duran]

Aki- excellent post. I take it from the last line of your post that RIGHT NOW at their respective stages of development, you think that Bisbing would be too much for Rashad, right? I think Biz has too much in his arsenal right now for Rashad. The way he transitions from Muay Thai clinch to leg strikes to boxing to sub attempts is the very essence of MMA. He is smart enough to know Rashad's strength, which is wrestling. Bisbing has no experience in college or freestyle wrestling and he has a healthy respect for anyone who does, which helps makes him a great fighter. It will be great to see him come off this injury and see how much he has worked on his wrestling. Rashad has a tremendous upside and I think he and his people know that getting fans excited is part of being a professional fighter, which hopefully will make him try for a sub win or a spectacular knockout in his coming fights.
I REALLY agree that no way Rashad can make 185, wants to make 185, or needs to make 185 to earn a good living in the Octagon.

[CHUCKtheCHAMP]

Originally Posted by Donny77

ANd for that matter when have we seen the Count figth a dominant wrestler?.. If memory serves me correctly, Bisping was most concerned about the Hamill b/c he's wrestler.. Ill be it a great one!

THANK YOU, NOT THAT I DONT LIKE BISBING BUT I DONT GET ALL THE HYPE ABOUT THIS GUY, I HAVENT SEEN HIM FIGHT ANYBODY NEAR RASHADS LEVEL OR ANYONE HALF DECENT BUT EVERYONE SEEMS TO HYPE HIM ALOT, I DONT GET IT.../??

[leelandk]

[QUOTE=duran]The way he transitions from Muay Thai clinch to leg strikes to boxing to sub attempts is the very essence of MMA. He is smart enough to know Rashad's strength, which is wrestling. Bisbing has no experience in college or freestyle wrestling and he has a healthy respect for anyone who does, which helps makes him a great fighter.QUOTE]

Bisping is not a "great" fighter. A good fighter yes, but I have seen nothing about him that I would call great. He's looked good against low-level competition, but so has virtually every other post-TUF fighter.

And Bisping doesn't deserve a shot at Rashad until he beats a fighter that isn't a TUF alumni. He's still unproven in my eyes.

[Macgyver]

This is just my opinion, but I find his fights extremely boring to watch. I agree his stand-up has improved, and yeah he actually finished a fight once he got full mount, I think it'll take a while before he can compete with the upper echelon of LHW's.

He reminds me alot of a young Kevin Randleman. A superb wrestler full of power, quickness and agility, that can takedown anything. What I dislike is that you know his fights will be 3 rounds of boring ground control with no submission attempts and little "pounding" (unless he gets into sometype of dominant position).

I'm not taking anything away from his abilities or potential, I just do not get excited to watch a Rashad Evans fight. This might be slightly off the string's topic of "should he drop to 185", but I figured I'd share my opinion anyways.