So who is best of the rest UFC HW division ??

Travis Browne 11-0




Chieck Kongo 16-6



Roy Nelson 15-6


Brendan Schaub 8-1



Matt Mitrione 5-0



Stefan Struve 21-5



Mike Russow 14-1

After last event i wanted to know what peoples opinion here is of UFC HW division outside the top 6 (JDS Cain Carwin Brock Mir Nog).

This really isnt a ranking on where they are now or who has better wins, but simply which fighter(s) do u favour most to break into the next level.

There is a wide variety of fighters here in term of fighting style, age (Struve), and certainly physique (Nelson compared to Kongo )


I personally favour Browne and Russow.


I still think Struve will become great in future, Schaub im not sold on quite yet but i do think he'll beat Nog. Meathead is a very interesting one, i think he can shock quite a few people. Its really hard to think he is same guy from TUF 10 who's "Brain is bruised".


Nelson has been tested against the higher calibre fighters and has not done too well at all, i dont seem him turning things around. Kongo likewise to Nelson got dominated by Cain and Mir but maybe not after his surgery he can get himself together and make another push.



I left out the like of Madsen and Barry and Einemo has they are very one dimensional and pretty average, Herman is another i left out for now.


Also some undefeated prospect yet to make their debut, Chad Corvin and Golden gloves champion and Div 1 wreslter Miocic (6-0).

Brown for me.

Some real prospects coming up, Mitrione, Browne and Schaub (although I think Schaub might be exposed against Nogueira)
I'm really starting to take to Mitrione at the moment. If he can maintain the momentum he's riding I think he could go far. Be interesting to see who his next opponent will be, as its time for a real test for him now. His standup looks better every time he fights. Him against Kongo would be awesome.

I would go with Russow his performance against Madsen earlier this year was very impressive.

Anyone besides Brendan Schaub.

But the best of the lot is Browne IMO. A massive guy, has huge power in his hands and moves like Fedor. I think he could be a top 5 UFC HW soon.

browne

Cowboys From Hell wrote:I would go with Russow his performance against Madsen earlier this year was very impressive.

why am i the only one who voted for him then?


p.s. why isnt mark hunt in this list?

I reckon since Kongo got Knocked down by Barry and Mir in his last few fights and taken down at will by Cain he isnt getting much further than the 15th ranking he has now (if everyone agrees he goes over Cormier that is!)

Nelson isnt getting to a higher level of competition, I dont think he will crack the top 15 again, I wouldnt even fancy his chances against some of the big guys like Browne... if he takes this new Diet on board he may be a new fighter but thats a big ask...

Russow is fat and slow, Duffee made him look bad before the KO I dont see him going further than he is....

Brown, Meathead and Schaub have the most potential IMO, they are all very physical guys, I think Nog will be make or break for Schaub, he has been thrown in at the deep end fairly quickly and given and I dont see him getting past Nog myself.

I like Meathead and his boxing while not flawless is fairly smooth and he is quick and rangy for a big guy though his Wrestling needs to improve a lot, Im edging towards Browne being the biggest and youngest of the 3.

I gotta say Russow is a decent fighter but i can't agree he looked good against Duffee. He was getting absolutely annhialated and then admittedly KO'd him.

All it proved is he has a good chin.

I think the best here are Browne and Mitrione. Nelson has had a crack and failed, i don't rate Schuab much although i think he'll UD Nog.

Russow is OK but a bit fat and never gonna break into the top levels.

Kongo is pretty terrible and will be exposed by any decent fighters (a la Mir). He's a one trick pony and even that one trick doesn't seem to be that good. And he's an idiot.

Russow broke his arm in the first round against Duffee.
Somehow everyone considers Duffee to be crap these days, when he is a great prospect IMO.

Russow is a grappling and submission specialist, he dominated Madsen who is a really talented wrestler.

I think he would take down and beat Nelson along with most of that list.

looks like I'm the only one who's not buying into Browne,to me he looks like a guy that is very soon to get found out and put away by one of the others comfortably.

He was losing the Kongo fight and Kongo fought like shit in that fight and Struve was winning their fight untill he got caught.

I'd say kongo is the best of the bunch at the mo,but I recon Mitrione
and schaub,with their power and athletic abilities will probably have a best chance out of that group of cracking the top 10.

manschesthair_utd wrote:Russow broke his arm in the first round against Duffee.
Somehow everyone considers Duffee to be crap these days, when he is a great prospect IMO.

Russow is a grappling and submission specialist, he dominated Madsen who is a really talented wrestler.

I think he would take down and beat Nelson along with most of that list.

I was impressed with him against Madsen to be honest, that was a good win.

Fair play i didn't know about the arm break, but i'm not sure i can see him even being comething like top 5, he's quite old now too. You are right though i'd give him a definite shot against Nelson, good match up for him stylistically.

Is Duffee still going to fight for Strikeforce?

manschesthair_utd wrote:

Cowboys From Hell wrote:I would go with Russow his performance against Madsen earlier this year was very impressive.

why am i the only one who voted for him then?

The deed is now done.

You are right about Russow grappling credentials a lot of people seem to overlook that and to be honest I thin k he has pretty decent stand up skills too.

UFC 135 will put 2 heavies on the map, 1st the winner of Broughton vs Browne will be in the list of up and comers for sure. Broughton is really overlooked and for a short fat heavy has historically done will again SHW sized guys, James Thompson, Neil Grove, Oli Thompson (strongman) Butterbean.... he has KO'd a lot of decent strikers so If Browne doesnt try and get this to the ground ASAP I can see an upset KO because Broughtons hands are better IMO.

Hunt vs Rothwell will also produce another contender, Chesty mentioned Hunt wasnt listed, but I was supprised Rothwell wasnt listed myself. Rothwell is still under 30 and at 6"5 265 is one of the biggest heavies. Not too well rounded but neither is Hunt.

135 will really put a few contenders in place I reckon.
-------------------------------------------------------

Didnt know about Russows broken arm against Duffee either, fair play then he really diserves to be ahead of the pack right now but he is still fat and slow

Doubt Duffee will go to SF since Zuffa own them, Bellator desperatly needs heavies.

Russow has great chin, and deceptively good cardio, big power in his hands and good grappler. He is a nightmare opponent for Carwin. Would give Mir and Nog big problems aswell. He is sort of the dark horse in the division. Not much attention on him.


Rothwell hasnt fought in ages i completely forgot about him aswell. I'd put Hunt along same level as Barry and co.


Payne i think you are really underrating Browne. I had him beating both Kongo and Struve. And he fought terrible against Kongo aswell as he admitted himself he was really nervous, but he's settling in perfectly now. I see him Ko'ing Broughton early.

manschesthair_utd wrote:Russow broke his arm in the first round against Duffee.
Somehow everyone considers Duffee to be crap these days, when he is a great prospect IMO.

Russow is a grappling and submission specialist, he dominated Madsen who is a really talented wrestler.

I think he would take down and beat Nelson along with most of that list.

I'm not convinced Russow is that great a grappler. He was tapped by Sergei who is a fairly good grappler but you never think of him when you think of the best grapplers in the division. He did dominate Madsen fair enough, who lost a round Moustapha Al-Turk.

Russow is incredibly tough, I'll give him that though.

Are we really ranking 37 year old, 6-7 Mark Hunt as a potential future star in the division? The man was tapped in just over a minute by Sean McCan.

payneNglory1 wrote:looks like I'm the only one who's not buying into Browne,to me he looks like a guy that is very soon to get found out and put away by one of the others comfortably.

He was losing the Kongo fight and Kongo fought like shit in that fight and Struve was winning their fight untill he got caught.

I'd say kongo is the best of the bunch at the mo,but I recon Mitrione
and schaub,with their power and athletic abilities will probably have a best chance out of that group of cracking the top 10.

I disagree he was losing the Kongo fight. I thought he won the first before Kongo started cheating. The third round was the most blatant display of cheating I have ever seen, Kongo won the fight by basically holding on to Browne's shorts the whole time. He should have had another point deducted or even disqualified.

As for the Struve fight, I thought it was quite close and Browne was looking for the perfect shot. He was setting Struve up for the beginning.

With that chin, Schaub isn't cracking anything.

Brown is the best on that list. And has by far the most potential.


"He was losing to Kongo". Kongo was cheating to win.

"He was losing to Struve". Really?? Don't think so at all. Brown was getting the better of him pretty easily. As Chelsea says, he was just waiting for his moment. That's the sign of a good fighter.


Kongo is the best?? He was having his clock cleaned by Barry til he caught him coming in. The first punch, the one that stunned Barry, was pure luck. Second was clean but luck won him that fight as much as anything. With the exception of his cheat fest against CroCop, Kongo has been easily beaten by the only 2 top fighters he's faced, and has lost to some poor opposition.

Have some hope for Browne. He's extremely light on his feet and mobile for such a big heavyweight. Very technically raw still but there's potential.

He's a bigger version of Fedor in the way he strikes and his stance. And of course, those shorts he wears. He'll never get to Fedor's level obviously but if he dedicates himself to his grappling he could become a top 5 HW. He's got one massive thing going for him, he's HUGE!

It's a shame he didn't get into fighting earlier in his life. He only started training in 2008 and the age of 27.

Just watching a few of Brownes old fights, changed my mind about him having to worry about Broughtons hands, his fight should be a walk in the park for him.

I reckon he should go after a fight with Carwin because style wise it looks winable for him.

When Schaub beats someone other than a can or fighters painfully past there best, I might understand the hype. But as of now, for me he has fought one top 15-20 HW, he couldn't last a round and was beaten at his supposed strong area.

As for Kongo, he at least showed a lot of spirit in the win over Barry but it proved how overrated his stand up is. Barry was destroying him before he got too excited and left his chin open. Kongo was also humiliated by Frank Mir standing, He was sparked by Gilbert Yvel and Antonio Hardonk gave him problems standing as well.

He then has losses to the likes of Marrero and Herring who beat him with wrestling. Those two are decent wrestlers, nothing more and nothing less. Herring isn't even that good a wrestler, he was out wrestled by Jake O'Brien. Most decent wrestlers will beat Kongo and most top strikers will beat Kongo as well. Near the top of the UFC HW division, pretty much everyone is either or. In some cases both.

Velasquez: He dominated him last time, he would do a lot worse now.

JDS: It would be a brutal massacare standing

Brock: Lesnar: Lesnar would take him down and pound the shit out of Kongo.

Carwin: Could probably win standing or just through wrestling

Mir: Watch there last fight

And that's just the UFC HWs. All the top tier SF guys would beat him pretty easily as well. If we are looking at a fighter (out of the ones mentioned) who has the most potential to break into the higher echelon of the UFC HW division, I don't think a 36 year old who was dominated by the two top opponents he faced is the way to go.

Browne vs Kongo should really happen again, but this time let's put a ref who actually understands the rules properly. Or Kongo vs Schaub, at least one will be exposed as over rated to the rest of the world. Or if I'm lucky, I'll get to see this happen...

Browne biggest hindrance os going to be cardio, he was easily beating Kongo in 1st round, and Kongo only stayed in the fight throughgrabbing shorts and Browne slowing down.


But Cardio is a major problem for everyone not named Cain.

Russow was shocking against td until the ko

Nog will sub schaub

Maybe meathead

A few interesting match ups that can be made