I actually just saw him last night at King of the Cage. He owns a gym now. he had a couple of guys fighting last night.
I'm a big fan of Stevenson but the truth is that he just isn't very good at any particular aspect of the game. He's a black belt in both Jiu-Jitsu and Judo but the guy doesn't seem like he applies either very well in the cage. He is dropping down to 145 for his next fight in June and I think that is a good move for him. He can certainly stand to be leaner and his style is better suited to having a strength advantage. At 155, guys are as strong or stronger than him. There are few guys in the UFC that could get away with going 3-6 and still have a job. This is especially true when you figure that 3 of the 6 were stoppages. I think his featherweight debut is essentially a 'must win' for Joe.
I really like Joe too, I've always liked him and thought he was a good fighter. I agree his BJJ isn't great, to be honest I've always thought he was best at wrestling/GnP, and he IS a very physically strong guy. The funny thing is Trpl, I'm not sure I agree about the weight. I recently watched TUF 2, and ironically I thought Joe looked better than ever when he was a fat little lesbian walking around at 190 pounds :: He was like a little tank, strong as fuck, do you remember the 1 hours of 50 minutes he did climbing around that Whitehead guy, and also EFFORTLESSLY picking up 6'7 Brad Imes? Physical strength is probably his best asset. I've never seen anyone look much stronger than him in the ring, more just better grappling skills and of course standup. I hope he does win his next fight at 145 though.
That was the challenge right? To see who could do it the longest. I had forgotten about that, but you're right, Joe was a little monkey. And you might be right, maybe he is a guy that is stronger with additional weight. I just want to see if he carries that crushing power down to 145. If he does, there aren't many that will be able to deal with it if Joe gets a hold of them.
Bob and I saw him the other night at a KOTC event. He's rocking the Gilbert Melendez Mexi-fro these days. His fighters all did very well.
