I do totally agree that fighting Poatan was a big factor in his decline also. It was a stylistically terrible match up for Izzy, a scary hard hitting guy who was already proven to be better than him at the thing he does best.
JACK:
His descent started at 32 so he can’t blame age.
Never that good? Figured out? Unlucky? Or the game just passed him by?
I remember having to watch that bullshit ad with Israel on every commercial break of every event “I’m the GOAT… and it’s mind blowing”
Calibre of opponents IMHO especially in terms of their size.
He was usually the much taller rangier fighter before he started losing and had that extra time and space to more effectively use his tools.
Blachowiz was similar in terms of height and reach and suddenly Izzy didn’t look quite as good anymore and took his first loss.
Went back to fighting smaller fighters again and still looked like the old Izzy for a while until he fought Perriera.
I think as well the losses to Blachowiz and Perriera also showed how to beat him even if you are smaller than him. I doubt Strickland would have had the same effective game plan had Izzy still been undefeated when they met.
TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle:
He’d already had 100+ fights worth of mileage by that point though, and was trying to go up a weight class.
That Jan fight was the beginning of the 2nd half of his UFC career. Its interesting to look at the stats for how many strikes hes absorbed in the 2 halves.
First 9 UFC fights - 317
Seems like a pretty clear case of a fighter declining to me. Especially taking into account that his game was heavily based around reflexes and elusiveness.
Sound logic in this post. I knew I would be reading a bunch of “he was never that good” posts. Typical UG shit.
The guy has almost 120 fights in the combat sports of MMA, kickboxing and boxing. He has a lot of miles. Anderson didn’t have anywhere near 100 fights. If you watch Izzy’s last couple of fights his speed, reflexes and vision just aren’t what they used to be.
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James_III:
JACK:
His descent started at 32 so he can’t blame age.
Never that good? Figured out? Unlucky? Or the game just passed him by?
I remember having to watch that bullshit ad with Israel on every commercial break of every event “I’m the GOAT… and it’s mind blowing”
Calibre of opponents IMHO especially in terms of their size.
He was usually the much taller rangier fighter before he started losing and had that extra time and space to more effectively use his tools.
Blachowiz was similar in terms of height and reach and suddenly Izzy didn’t look quite as good anymore and took his first loss.
Went back to fighting smaller fighters again and still looked like the old Izzy for a while until he fought Perriera.
I think as well the losses to Blachowiz and Perriera also showed how to beat him even if you are smaller than him. I doubt Strickland would have had the same effective game plan had Izzy still been undefeated when they met.
The size thing is a myth…. He fought bigger fighters in kickboxing and beat them. Wrestling is a very big weapon and defense against striking. Jan was also better than people thought.
Everyone just likes to come up with excuses when a great champion starts losing. He’s the 2nd best middleweight ever and one of the best strikers we have ever seen in MMA.
MasterOfMartialArts:
James_III:
JACK:
His descent started at 32 so he can’t blame age.
Never that good? Figured out? Unlucky? Or the game just passed him by?
I remember having to watch that bullshit ad with Israel on every commercial break of every event “I’m the GOAT… and it’s mind blowing”
Calibre of opponents IMHO especially in terms of their size.
He was usually the much taller rangier fighter before he started losing and had that extra time and space to more effectively use his tools.
Blachowiz was similar in terms of height and reach and suddenly Izzy didn’t look quite as good anymore and took his first loss.
Went back to fighting smaller fighters again and still looked like the old Izzy for a while until he fought Perriera.
I think as well the losses to Blachowiz and Perriera also showed how to beat him even if you are smaller than him. I doubt Strickland would have had the same effective game plan had Izzy still been undefeated when they met.
The size thing is a myth…. He fought bigger fighters in kickboxing and beat them. Wrestling is a very big weapon and defense against striking. Jan was also better than people thought.
Everyone just likes to come up with excuses when a great champion starts losing. He’s the 2nd best middleweight ever and one of the best strikers we have ever seen in MMA.
Yes I’m not calling into question his kickboxing record but MMA is obviously a different beast.
He just isn’t quite the same fighter when he doesn’t have the size and reach advantage in MMA I’ve noticed.
I’m not saying Izzy was shit and never that good but like Jon Jones at light heavyweight I think he relied very heavily on his physical advantages.
I agree that he is the second best middleweight in MMA history so far.
JACK
February 2, 2025, 8:06pm
27
MasterOfMartialArts:
TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle:
He’d already had 100+ fights worth of mileage by that point though, and was trying to go up a weight class.
That Jan fight was the beginning of the 2nd half of his UFC career. Its interesting to look at the stats for how many strikes hes absorbed in the 2 halves.
First 9 UFC fights - 317
Seems like a pretty clear case of a fighter declining to me. Especially taking into account that his game was heavily based around reflexes and elusiveness.
Sound logic in this post. I knew I would be reading a bunch of “he was never that good” posts. Typical UG shit.
The guy has almost 120 fights in the combat sports of MMA, kickboxing and boxing. He has a lot of miles. Anderson didn’t have anywhere near 100 fights. If you watch Izzy’s last couple of fights his speed, reflexes and vision just aren’t what they used to be.
Really makes me appreciate Khabib
229 fights
went 229-1 with his one loss being a retardedly close decision in Sambo
never got scratched
JACK
February 2, 2025, 8:10pm
28
Alex’s black magic ended Israel
Never fuck with a Salamanca
TimDuncan:
I think Izzy may have been burned out in those losses to Alex and Strickland. He was very busy with fighting and promoting fights.
I think the other losses were just losses to better fighters. I’m not saying Alex and Stricklands wins should be diminished.
And he is driving mclarens, he is rich and if he doesnt starts to party like an idiot he is set for life
JACK
February 2, 2025, 8:22pm
30
He’s mostly queer though.
He’ll find wealth and happiness with men in brothels until he eventually gets aids.
Driving mclaranes will make you go broke if you are making millions a year.
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