It's called pound for pound, Aldo is 15-20 pounds or so heavier than Cruz, and it isn't called p4p finisher, it's called p4p fighter. Also, Cruz's first fight with Faber was from when he was a rookie, and in the second he won at least 4 rounds if not 5, and controlled the pace while both outstriking and outwrestling Faber. I'm not saying Cruz would beat Aldo if they fought, but if they both weighed the same amount (in that you make Cruz 2 inches taller or so with the same build, or make Aldo slightly shorter with the same build so that they maintain their current frames and both weigh either 135 or 145 rather than having one of them bulk or cut excessively) then I think he'd decision Aldo comfortably.

reem-360
mccall+2-5
aldo-215

Finishing people is a strong indicator of how dominant a fighter is. There are a few exceptions like GSP but most of the truly dominant guys finish people. That's a way you can often distinguish a quality prospect: he's finishing lower level fighters, not squeaking out tough decisions.

The reason you can look at their fights with Faber and easily see the difference in quality is because Aldo's destruction of Faber had nothing to do with size. He was far more skilled in both striking and grappling and completely outclassed him. Meanwhile, Cruz outpointed Faber in an extremely competitive fight in which he was knocked down twice IIRC. Furthermore, look at the fighters they've faced: of Cruz's 3 most impressive wins, 2 are natural flyweights.

In summary, there is no rational argument that Cruz > Aldo P4P. Aldo is facing guys the same size as him and finishing them while Cruz is fighting to competitive decisions against smaller guys. Further, they have faced a common opponent whom Aldo beat in far more convincing fashion. There's a reason both Yahoo and Sherdog's rankings had Aldo ahead of Cruz. You're a "fan" of Cruz and I get that, but this isn't hard to see. If Edgar manages to beat him, you can start to build a case but at this time there's none.

You're right if you compare their records Aldo has been more dominant, but with the exception of Chad Mendes (who he may not have beaten if he didn't grab the fence), he hasn't beaten anyone truly best of the best - Faber is undersized for FW, Florian has lost basically every big fight he's ever had and his next best win is probably Cub Swanson. Cruz is a tough one since MM and Benavidez and McCall are all natural FLWs, once he gets to face Barao and/or McDonald (who are we kidding, it'll be Barao) and Aldo faces Edgar we'll have a better idea of where they stand relative to each other I guess, assuming Cruz is the same fighter he was pre surgery, and the same for Aldo after the injury and layoff.

Aldo has a loss to a nobody as a rookie and Cruz has one to Faber as a rookie which he avenged in a fight that while competitive, he clearly controlled and it wasn't close enough that a decision could ever be awarded to Faber.

I get the case that Aldo's accomplishments may be slightly 'better', but I can't help but feel like pre-a lot of LWs coming to FW, BW was a stronger weight class than FW over the time period Cruz/Aldo have ruled their divisions and I feel like if they were the same size, Aldo would struggle with Cruz's speed, movement and wrestling, and Aldo's only path to winning would be to knock him down with a punch and finish him.

They should both be facing their biggest challenger ever in their next fights against Edgar and Barao respectively, so I guess we'll know more after tomorrow and when Cruz gets back from injury assuming Barao defends the interim title against McDonald. Who knows, Edgar could make 135, and Barao is big enough to fight at 145 some day, so we may get to see both of them fight both Cruz and Aldo before their careers are done.

It's actually a pity Aldo is getting too big for FW, i'd have loved to see Aldo vs Cruz at a catchweight of 140 maybe a year or two ago.

Just checking in to say that I ended up parlaying Evans with a bunch of my other plays, added Kansas ML to a handful of plays to drive the juice down, and that I absolutely love the UFC discourse in this thread.

what I meant is any other night one or 2 shots connects and that fight ends completely different (as in BigFoot getting stomped).

Silva got the emperor down because of his size and not his BJJ chops. It was like watching a grown man wrestling a chubby teenager; it also showed how much the sport has evolved and how Fedor failed to adjust to the times.

Reem should be -550 against the slow Silva.

@Swoop For sure every fight gives you more information and they both have tough fights coming up. Don't see an argument that bantamweight was EVER better than feather tho...I mean MTB was considered a fringe P4P guy for a bit there. Neither are what you would call shark tanks for sure so tho.

Woodley decision +178 is just soooo tempting, though I was planning to stay away from this fight. But I mean how is that +178 when he is hardly ever going to finish Hieron? Ellenberger has way more power and he didn't finish Hieron, who has only been stopped 3 times in 30 pro fights and once was by cut. Seems like there's value here if the line on Woodley is at all accurate.

@Nick I realize that size was a major factor in that fight, but the fact of the matter is many (bigger) people have taken Fedor down over the years and none were able to do to him what Silva did. In fact, many ended up tapping out in relatively short order. The overall point is that the guys top game is very dangerous and Overeem is going to be in huge trouble if he gets taken down IMO.

Yeah I know we get to see the fights but by coverage I mean everything else that goes on. A while back I spoke to an American guy who was into MMA and he knew literally everything about the fighters on the card like who they were training with who they have sparred with etc.

In England all ESPN shows is the fights, TUF seasons and the odd build up show that focuses on the main events so when the fights come around there is a lot of fighters that are totally unknown to us even though they have records like 13-0-2 and train with current champions we don't know because we never hear of them until they fight.




Like this guy, I have a vague recollection of Dunham winning against someone when Jon Jones last fought but can't recall what actually happened. he is 14/1 for sub of the night though so could be worth a bet if he is particularly good at submissions.

Brock didn't take Overeem down, even post-illness Brock has a better chance of that than Silva.

I imagine we're either in for a round of Overeem keeping Bigfoot at distance followed by a R2 tko, or if Reem comes out aggressively then Bigfoot will be unconscious within 2 minutes of r1.

If Silva gets in grappling range we'll see Reems knees from the clinch, something he can't show in K1.

Tons of money coming in on Edgar? I was going to stay away from that fight but Also at -179 seems too good...

Wasn't expecting that i thought Aldo would firm. I got Aldo at -201 yesterday now he's at -167 on pinnacle

Reem firming slightly as expected, -351 to -377

I got Aldo like a week ago at -220 :/

Fitch wins by decision (-110)... thoughts? I think there is a ton of value IMO

Bovada has knockout of the night and submission of the night props flipped. Just got Overeem at 25/1 and Aldo at 40/1 for knockout of the night. Wonder how long it will take them to void those.

Only way Silva wins this fight is if Overeem decided he cba to train for the fight properly, somehow gets taken down, and gasses quick.

If you compare his physique in the Lesnar weigh-in to now he is significantly less ripped, although this isn't entirely surprising in the circumstances. Still, if he is over-confident and under-prepared, it could be a big upset.

He's WAY overconfident, he pretty much called Silva a tune up fight. Makes me worried for my ITD bet.

@Dayton yeah those are mistakes, Overeem is supposed to be +250 not +2500.

This Aldo price keeps getting better. I don't think I can pass him up now.

I have 4u on that at +106. Don't see fitch finishing, personally I think that line should be closer to -160. If not higher.

Overeem is 25/1 for KOTN? lol.

Naw, bookies mistakes see my last post.

Oh, damn!

That surely would have been bet of the decade.

so how will this work? will they just cancel the bet? would they have to honor it?

Speaking of that prop tho...I think there's some sick value in Aldo KOTN +675 on 5d. I mean Aldo by TKO prop is +240. Let's be real, with how the UFC gives out bonuses, unless there's an insane headkick or something, if there's an exciting KO in the main event that's gonna win the bonus. Just put a third of a unit on it.

They'll cancel it.

Agreed. Then again I have money on 5 favourites tonight so they're all bound to lose.