UnderGround Forum >> Showboating aside, what does Rory's win mean?

WoodenPupa - "Rory's striking looked great and showed many diff tools - the jab, that Brazilian type kick (going upwards then downwards?), great combos, elbows, etc. He looks huge at WW, probably as big as any WW out there. But again, BJ is still a LW so not sure what this means for Rory."

Sometimes size matters in striking and sometimes not. We saw both types in this fight. Rory continually pressed BJ against the fence and then scored shots off the separation. BJ didn't do himself any favors by hanging out there though. By refusing to scoot back to the middle of the octagon when he had the chance, BJ allowed Rory to tee off at will because he got the range he wanted for his kick/punch combos.

On the other hand, Rory did well when they squared off in the center as well. His success there had nothing to do with size, at least in terms of weight. He used his reach advantage very well.

But as with Jones, and the people who cry about his wingspan, a fighter still needs to land the shots he's throwing, reach advantage or not. Rory timed BJ really well in the center.

BJ however, when he did have success, achieved it in out in the open. He landed a few shots, but they weren't combos or particularly clean that often. Nonetheless, I think his corner should have told him to stay the hell off the fence---if they did tell him this, I missed it.

Bottom line: the win means that Rory is unquestionably a consistent fighter against good competition, a minimum requirement for champions. Going into the fight we didn't know how BJ would look. We didn't know how well his corner would function, and we didn't know what level his cardio would be at. Good corner + cardio = dangerous BJ even at 170.

Lots of people expected BJ to look better than this, and even win, which is why the bout had buzz. Rory should have finished him though, so, that's a demerit.

It seems Rory has a propensity to make bouts personal, and that, combined with letting off his offense in order to enjoy his handiwork, could work against him in the future. Doing that against Condit, if they fight again, could get him smoked---again.

So this fight showed that he's a consistent top performer, but highlighted his weakness as well.

SHOGUN250 - 

Wasa-B - 

SHOGUN250 - It means he is indeed at the top of the WW food chain.

#5, to be exact

A win over BJ at WW bumps Rory to #5?

GSP
Hendricks
Diaz
Condit
Rory
Fitch/Kos/Ellenberger/Kampmann

looks about right