UFC Gatekeepers

Yes		27%	(6)
No		73%	(16)

Hey you guys I want to come on here and do this little segment about gatekeepers. I define a gatekeeper as an " A " level fighter who can either make or break a new fighter. Someone like Stephen Bonnar.

Heavyweight Gatekeeper

Cheick Kongo

Lightheavyweight Gatekeeper

Stephen Bonnar

Middleweight Gatekeeper

Drew Mcfedries

Welterweight Gatekeeper

Chris Lytle


Lightweight Gatekeeper

Grey Maynard

Tell me who you guys think are the Gatekeeper in each weight class

I like some of your choices. Lytle most definetly since the last two people (possibly three now with Alves) are getting title shots now Kongo is arguable as I dont think he could be a champ. Maybe a better choice is Sylvia if he loses to nog cause I dont see him coming back up. Rich Franklin would be a gate keeper in the middleweight if he wasnt waiting for Silva to lose the title.
lol I bet he hoping so Bad that Henderson wins

WHy do you think Maynard isnt getting a break? Hes an up and coming fighter who just scored a 9 second Ko in his last fight?

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Posted by hotrodttt

Hey you guys I want to come on here and do this little segment about gatekeepers. I define a gatekeeper as an " A " level fighter who can either make or break a new fighter. Someone like Stephen Bonnar.

Heavyweight Gatekeeper

Cheick Kongo

Lightheavyweight Gatekeeper

Stephen Bonnar

Middleweight Gatekeeper

Drew Mcfedries

Welterweight Gatekeeper

Chris Lytle


Lightweight Gatekeeper

Grey Maynard

Tell me who you guys think are the Gatekeeper in each weight class

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by gatekeeper you mean the guy in #10 spot in the ranking that almost every new guy have to fight to see if they are for real or no ready yet ?

or the guy in #5 spot who is not good enough to be champ but is still at a respectable level to maintain himself in the middle of the top 10 ?

I don't really agree with most fo them dude.

IMO they are...

Heavyweight- AA and Vera because they can beat anybody but anybody who's ranked ahead of them IMO. They have great skills but I can't see them beating Nog or Randy and they proved they can't beat Big Tim. Frank Mir is another because he's doin it to Brock.

Light Heavyweight- Bonnar is a good choice but he has one last serious run IMO. He has skills but he can't beat the elite. I would say Tito Ortiz. Besides Ken and Chuck he's faced Rashad and Forrest to see if they belonged in the elite in which they somewhat did.

Middleweight- Rich Franklin. As long as Hendo and Anderson are still there he will keep getting KTFO. He can beat the rest though.

Welterweight- Lytle is a great choice. I agree with you. He's tough and I give him MAD respect for the credit he never gets. He just don't have the skills to beat the elite. But you beat him you get respect KARO is a better choice though. He's never gotten that title shot and if you beat him you are elite ala Diego and GSP who fight elite after they beat him. You beat him you are elite but nobody else CAN!

Lightweight- WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN GRAY MANARD? Sorry for the caps but NO WAY he's a gatekeeper. He's young and he just started dude. There's no way hes' one. He hasn't faced anybody to prove he can't beat the elite. Last I check he KO'd a guy in 7 seconds. I believe he is a serious contender and needs to be taken seriously. I'd say Spencer Fisher. You beat him and you belong in the elite ala Frankie and Hermes even though hermes is on steroids. Fisher is a tough fighter to beat but can't beat the elite IMO.

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Posted by tuvok500

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Posted by hotrodttt

Hey you guys I want to come on here and do this little segment about gatekeepers. I define a gatekeeper as an " A " level fighter who can either make or break a new fighter. Someone like Stephen Bonnar.

Heavyweight Gatekeeper

Cheick Kongo

Lightheavyweight Gatekeeper

Stephen Bonnar

Middleweight Gatekeeper

Drew Mcfedries

Welterweight Gatekeeper

Chris Lytle


Lightweight Gatekeeper

Grey Maynard

Tell me who you guys think are the Gatekeeper in each weight class

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by gatekeeper you mean the guy in #10 spot in the ranking that almost every new guy have fight to see if they are for real or no ready yet ?

or the guy in #5 spot who is not good enough to be champ but is still at a respectable level to maintain himself in the middle of the top 10 ?

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I have to ask but who in that list is top 5? Now for me Kongo isn't a good gate keeper, his stand up isn't that good, and if you watch him and Cro Cop's round #1 he was getting demolished, and his ground game is dispicable.

I don't agree with Maynard. It's too early in his UFC career. Not sure who though. Maybe Garcia

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Posted by cmill21

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Posted by tuvok500

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Posted by hotrodttt

Hey you guys I want to come on here and do this little segment about gatekeepers. I define a gatekeeper as an " A " level fighter who can either make or break a new fighter. Someone like Stephen Bonnar.

Heavyweight Gatekeeper

Cheick Kongo

Lightheavyweight Gatekeeper

Stephen Bonnar

Middleweight Gatekeeper

Drew Mcfedries

Welterweight Gatekeeper

Chris Lytle


Lightweight Gatekeeper

Grey Maynard

Tell me who you guys think are the Gatekeeper in each weight class

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by gatekeeper you mean the guy in #10 spot in the ranking that almost every new guy have fight to see if they are for real or no ready yet ?

or the guy in #5 spot who is not good enough to be champ but is still at a respectable level to maintain himself in the middle of the top 10 ?

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I have to ask but who in that list is top 5? Now for me Kongo isn't a good gate keeper, his stand up isn't that good, and if you watch him and Cro Cop's round #1 he was getting demolished, and his ground game is dispicable.

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I was asking a precision !!

but to answer your question, actually Kongo is the guy who should be consider a good fighter with some good win under his belt in 2007,but not good enough to become the champ i think.
if he beat another top fighter, i will have to consider him a real title contender like i was considering Crocop before.

i don't think Maynard is a gatekeeper, he will be a top fighter in the futur i think.
as for Bonnar, well this one can be consider a gatekeeper like a guy who make the top 10 but barely .

Lyttle is below the top 10 so the gatekeeper is not him .

i am not sure about the ranking of a gatekeeper should be, so it is hard to say, i think it depend of the division, a stacked one like the LHW and the WW have alot more good fighter in the top 10 that the MW division .

Grey Maynard will be an awesome fighter and I think Drew will be a contender someday as well.

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Posted by cmill21

I have to ask but who in that list is top 5? Now for me Kongo isn't a good gate keeper, his stand up isn't that good, and if you watch him and Cro Cop's round #1 he was getting demolished, and his ground game is dispicable.

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I want to generalize this point made because I think it's a good one. A good gatekeeper is not necessarily the #10 ranked guy or a guy just out of title contention.

I think a good gatekeeper is a fighter that has an all around ability in MMA. Decent standing, decent grappling. A good gatekeeper is someone that can finish the average fighter on most nights, but tend to lose by decision to better fighters.

A good gatekeeper also has to be well known enough for fans to say, well, so and so beat the gatekeeper so they must be pretty good. If the putative gate keeper is just another name, then they cannot really be called a gate keeper.


Bonner and Lytle are good choices IMO. AA and Werdum are better than Kongo for HW. LHW, I think Bisping would be good. MW, I'm not sure.
Other WWs IMO would be Karo or Nick Diaz.

LW, maybe Huerta or Din Thomas.

I thought Tuvok was saying one of the guys listed was top 5. I don't think Kongo is a great gatekeeper because anyone with a good sub game should beat him. Gray Maynard I could see, he's got a decent all around game and yeah he's early in his career but he's not a really young guy, he's 28.

you meen JOE ROGAN defines a Gatekeeper as being a I define a gatekeeper as an " A " level fighter who can either make or break a new fighter. Someone like Stephen Bonnar.... LOL his exact words from last night's Ultimate Knockouts 2 on spike hehe.

cept for Kongo n' Mcfederies all the other guys are TUF lol... download some older stuff or watch some older UFC's or something cause yeah... seems a lil' shaky

HW: Seems like Heath Herring

LHW: Tito seems to fit

MW: Jason Macdonald

WW: Looks like it's Karo for the time being

LW: Guida maybe

isn't it sad that some people are seeing karo as a gatekeeper (not that it is a bad observation, just that is is true and it shouldn't be). i think joe silva doesn't like him very much.

my definition of a gatekeeper is a fighter who has always (or will face) faced top competition, has had mixed results but has always put on a solid performance and will never reach the top of the division despite his talent and is a good benchmark to see how talented you are.

anyway here are my gatekeepers:

HW: Mirko. i don't want to say it because i know he is a lot better than he is showing but...i have to go with Cro Cop. right now he seems to be the UFC's gatekeeper and he does fit my criteria so for the time being he stands out as a gatekeeper for me.

LHW: Tito. he fits my description by being a solid fighter who imo will never achieve the top spot he once had.

MW: Jason Macdonald. he has shown that he is better than most fighter in the division but also that he can't break through the top 3 in the division with losses to okami and franklin but with wins over herman, leben and rory

WW: Lyle. puts on a great fight every time and has the heart of a champion. unfortunately heart only takes you so far so i am afraid is heart will never be awarded the champion status it strives for. alves fight solidified this for me.

LW: Spencer Fisher. always one of the fighters you have to look at when talking UFC LW division, however he won't get to the top as shown by his fights with hermes franca and frankie edgar but has shown his fighting prowess with victories over stout and alves. great benchmark for the LW division and fits the role of gatekeeper perfectly

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Posted by jiujitsufreak74

isn't it sad that some people are seeing karo as a gatekeeper (not that it is a bad observation, just that is is true and it shouldn't be). i think joe silva doesn't like him very much.

my definition of a gatekeeper is a fighter who has always (or will face) faced top competition, has had mixed results but has always put on a solid performance and will never reach the top of the division despite his talent and is a good benchmark to see how talented you are.

anyway here are my gatekeepers:

HW: Mirko. i don't want to say it because i know he is a lot better than he is showing but...i have to go with Cro Cop. right now he seems to be the UFC's gatekeeper and he does fit my criteria so for the time being he stands out as a gatekeeper for me.

LHW: Tito. he fits my description by being a solid fighter who imo will never achieve the top spot he once had.

MW: Jason Macdonald. he has shown that he is better than most fighter in the division but also that he can't break through the top 3 in the division with losses to okami and franklin but with wins over herman, leben and rory

WW: Lyle. puts on a great fight every time and has the heart of a champion. unfortunately heart only takes you so far so i am afraid is heart will never be awarded the champion status it strives for. alves fight solidified this for me.

LW: Spencer Fisher. always one of the fighters you have to look at when talking UFC LW division, however he won't get to the top as shown by his fights with hermes franca and frankie edgar but has shown his fighting prowess with victories over stout and alves. great benchmark for the LW division and fits the role of gatekeeper perfectly

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i don't think Crocop can be call a gatekeeper at this point, maybe if he lose his next fight but not now, his last defeat was because of a broken rib ( i can not believe i am defending crocop LOL ), so if he lose another fight , it will be 3 in a row and 2 of them without being injured.

i desagree with Tito for sure, he is still a top fighter, he did not lose to anybody else than Liddell in the past 2 years . i don't think that the gatekeeper should be a guy who beat everybody except the champ in the last 2 years !!

i agree with macdonald !!! LOL

i think that Lytle is to low in the ranking to be the gatekeeper.

i have to agree about Fisher, even if it is hard for me to accept it, he will never be a top fighter in the LW, the competition is just to strong and the wrestler are doing what they want with him !!

pretty much, IMO, a gatekeeper = benchmark

all my fighters i listed were fighters i think that are benchmarks for other fighters to see if they are in the top part of the division or if they are not quite there yet.

mirko proved that kongo has talent, GG has talent but sanchez should just hit the gym against top competition. again, i hate to call mirko a benchmark, but as of late he seems to fit the mold

tito, imo, proved that rashad and forrest have potential to be great in the LHW division but fighters like shamrock and cote have no place in the divison (cote dropped down to MW). even though forrset and rashad weren't losses, they pretty much were in my eyes.

i explained macdonald pretty thoroughly i believe.

lytle is a good benchmark in the ufc because he is a solid veteran who has put on good performances against good fighters and in his last fight provced that thiago alves is for real. the fact that we were all impressed with thiago after the fight with lytle is an indication he is a benchmark for a stacked WW division.

i believe i explained fisher thoroughly as well.

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Posted by D0wnUnd6e6r

cept for Kongo n' Mcfederies all the other guys are TUF lol... download some older stuff or watch some older UFC's or something cause yeah... seems a lil' shaky

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I've been watching Pride since 02 and the UFC since 03

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Posted by hotrodttt

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Posted by D0wnUnd6e6r

cept for Kongo n' Mcfederies all the other guys are TUF lol... download some older stuff or watch some older UFC's or something cause yeah... seems a lil' shaky

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I've been watching Pride since 02 and the UFC since 03

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i'm talking more 90's style UFC , but yeah 02 aint' bad.

HW: sylvia (now a days), imes, herring, mir
LH: sinosic, bisping, bonnar, griffin, ortiz, irvin, sakara, sobral (no longer)
MW: almost the whole division
WW: dirty sanchez, hughes (now a days), lytle, gono
LW: guida, gurgel, c. miller, fisher