More on MMA Underachievers

Tanner? Evan Tanner underachieves? The guy is closing in on 40, and never even really got rolling until he was well into his 30’s. For years, he fought bigger guys at 205 and above. Moreover, he chalked up a very respectable resume, considering he really isn’t outstanding in any one respect. He has the jack of all trades, master of none arsenal that would expect out of a guy who trained himself with instructional tapes and then nomadically wandered in and out of training camps all over the place. The guy is a career overachiever.

And Frank Mir? Why? When did Frank Mir look great? Yes, he was UFC champion and snapped Sylvia’s arm in half, but that and a nifty inside shoulder lock aside, what had Mir ever done? He got absolutely pistol-whipped against Ian Freeman, and whether or not the cosmos were on Freeman’s side that night, Mir looked absolutely overwhelmed against a guy who is tough, but lasted the bat of an eyelash against a still fairly raw Arlovski a few months later. I fail to understand how a guy is an underachiever if in his prime, he showed career-long cardio problems, unremarkable stand-up and struggled with Wes Sims. Mir was in the right place at the right time for a positively anemic UFC heavyweight class.

Carter Williams? WTF?

Ricco and Terrell are EASY top ten guys. EASY. KJ Noons and Gabe Ruediger aren’t on the radar. And Chris Lytle? Why does he underachieve? He’s a small technically skilled slickster in a weight class dominated for the last 6 years by much bigger, physically imposing top position guys. I just don’t understand the rationale.