What is ironic about this whole discussion is that Gustafson is a boxing background fighter. From Wiki:
Gustafsson started training MMA in 2006, and before that he trained in boxing which he started when he was around 10 years old.[9] In 2008-2009 he made a quick return to boxing, winning some amateur tournaments in Sweden and defeating the Swedish heavyweight boxing champion in an amateur fight.
Marciano490 said:
Yes, I just got home and rewatched it. This is the sequence I'm talking about. Rumble had hurt Gus about ten seconds early, Gus was able to land a decent punch in return and was still in good shape. At 3:28 both fighters are fine and on their toes. Rumble does a high left leg kick that Gus blocks. Rumble follows up with a couple shots that miss but put Gus's back against the octagon. With his back against the wall, Gus bends completely at the waist, head by his knees, face looking straight downward FOR NO REASON LIKE A TOTAL AMATEUR. He isn't hurt here yet, just being pressed and in trouble.
While he's bent over at the waist, not reeling from a punch, but just losing his cool like a rank amateur, Rumble catches him with an uppercut that he doesn't see coming because he's checking out his pedicure, and it's game over. He bends at the waist a few more times, takes some more uppercuts and down he goes.
This had nothing to do with the difference between MMA and boxing or Gus reeling from a punch. It was putrid technique and defense that lead directly to him getting knocked out.
Case closed. All apologies accepted.
Then why all of the other noise about Floyd & Lidell, how much money fighters make, the jack of all trades comments etc? If you want to talk about how Gus fucked up and got himself beat and hurt... here is your answer, provided by II in post 92:
Infield Infidel said:
I understand where you are coming from and agree that striking isn't as tight as in boxing, but Gus was probably on Cloud City after that first overhand right. I imagine he wanted to go for a takedown, which a lot of guys go to when in trouble, but he wasn't all there enough to execute. He was in trouble in the Jones fight but didn't crumble as bad.
He was indecisive and got caught between two courses of action. It cost him beating and another shot at the title.
Marciano490 said:
It's like this: a decathalete is probably a better athlete than a sprinter, but I'd rather watch Bolt run than someone else be pretty damn awesome in ten events. The UFC fighters are insanely talented across a lot of disciplines, but I don't know enough about wrestling or jiu jitsu to appreciate what they do in clinches, so for me the striking aspect is the most intriguing, and when they're on their feet I find most UFC fighters have the same skill level as a midlevel amateur boxer.
This might be true (you can say better than me, I have incredibly low level wrestling and jiu jitsu experience and know very little about boxing) but probably isn't that relevant. I believe wrestling, judo or Jiu Jitsu skills are much more important disciplines for fighters in MMA. There are a huge number of experts in those disciplines who could be taught to strike in order to be successful in MMA, but hardly any boxers who have been taught to fight with their whole body or on the ground. I can't find a definitive list of Olympians in MMA, but from what I can tell, only one was a boxer and he only fought two fights.
http://www.ufc.com/news/Olympians-in-the-Octagon-BTN
This UFC specific article has 10 Free Style Wrestling Olympians, 4 Greco Olympians and 3 Judo Olympians
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1277008-13-mma-and-ufc-olympic-gold-medalists-and-those-who-fell-short/page/2
This non UFC specific article notes 6 Freestyle Olympians, 2 Greco Olympians and 3 Judo Olympians
The only two elite boxers I can find / think of with any MMA experience are an old and washed up James Toney who was helpless against a five years older Randy Couture and Boxing Olympian Ray Mercer who was choked out by Kimbo Slice (!) and knocked out Tim Sylvia.
So, one of two things are possible:
1. Boxing is the least important fighting discipline for an MMA fighter to master, and a background in other combat sports that are not so specialized and constrained by the rules is much more important.
2. The money is so much better in boxing that any good boxer isn't going to go fight MMA.
I think option 1 is much more plausible.
This was some great work though, I am honored to share a message board with you. The trolling followed by "why can none of your peasants converse on my level?" is pretty awesome internetting.