Gotta give Cole Konrad props.....

Yes he's a flabby ass looking dude. Yeah he has put on some of the dullest fights I've ever seen. But at the age of 26 the guy is now Bellator Champ, and sports a 7-0 record. Every guy he fought along the way to the Bellator title came in with an impressive record, and each offered a different challenge(1 subission guy, 1 well rounded guy, 1 lge, heavy hitting striker). He has all the wrestling credentials one could ask for, he currently trains with Brocks crew, he stays very busy(all 7 wins have come in 2010). The dude is legit, and as he continues to learn the craft, honing his standup and submission skills, he will only get better. I don't see how, at some point in the near future, this guy will not be a top 10, or even top 5 heavy.

He won't ever be top five because wrestlers have given him problems before. He only got one takedown against a tiny D3 guy. He'd never contend for a title in a major org unless he laid on brett rogers or someone. He looked good against Grove and I didnt expect him to explode through those takedowns but I still don't think he is that great, and I dont trust him as a long term prospect.

That Bennet character hardly gave him problems. He stuffed a takedown or two, but Konrad was not going for a bunch of takedowns in that fight. And since that fight, Konrad has spent about 80% of the fights in top control.

And while we may question his takedown ability(looking like a soft critique at the moment) it's hard to argue against any other aspect of his wrestling.

Yeah Wolf you are looking at him with a bit of a chip on your shoulder. I wonder why?

Until now his shot has never been explosive and everything you've ever read about his wrestling in college talks about how he didn't shoot for the takedown hardly at all. My criticism is based on knowledge yall. I've never questioned his top control. That seems oppressively smothering.

Me and Capt. are on the same page with Konrad, while I don't necessarily think he makes the top 5, he'll probably be a top 10 guy down the road. All he needs to do is improve his striking, he's incedibly hard to takedown, watch his college wrestling days, and if he gets you down you get suffocated much like Brocky, improve the striking we got a top 10 HW.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

Until now his shot has never been explosive and everything you've ever read about his wrestling in college talks about how he didn't shoot for the takedown hardly at all. My criticism is based on knowledge yall. I've never questioned his top control. That seems oppressively smothering.

I've seen a bunch of his wrestling videos, and he is definitely not very good with his shots. He mostly just didn't worry about doing it. He'd wait until the second round, and he'd either just standup and get the escape points if he was down, or he'd ride his opponent for a point and win a low point decision. Occasionally he was able to roll his opponent over and get the pin. He did it to Steve Mocco to win his championship, so that's pretty impressive. He was able to beat Cain like 7 times without EVER taking him down. Anyways, instead of making a history lesson my point is, his shot isn't that great, but he has a lot of strength and real good control. I agree that that's not enough to beat the likes of Velasquez, Carwin, and Lesnar (if they'd ever fight). I even think a guy like Rothwell could be hell for him. But he would be a good addition to the UFC heavyweight picture if he could ever get out of his Bellator contract.

captain organic wrote:

Yes he's a flabby ass looking dude. Yeah he has put on some of the dullest fights I've ever seen. But at the age of 26 the guy is now Bellator Champ, and sports a 7-0 record. Every guy he fought along the way to the Bellator title came in with an impressive record, and each offered a different challenge(1 subission guy, 1 well rounded guy, 1 lge, heavy hitting striker). He has all the wrestling credentials one could ask for, he currently trains with Brocks crew, he stays very busy(all 7 wins have come in 2010). The dude is legit, and as he continues to learn the craft, honing his standup and submission skills, he will only get better. I don't see how, at some point in the near future, this guy will not be a top 10, or even top 5 heavy.

Thats the key right there guys. he is so young and will learn alot training with brock and the guys he brings in so he definitely could end up being top 10 and maybe sooner than later.

Meh, the guy has been fighting for 10 months, is 7-0 and Bellator Champ and some of us are really closing the book on him already? C'mon guys...give him a couple years before we say whether or not he will be a top 5 guy. While he wasn't known for leg attacks in college, he showed he can hit leg attacks in his last few fights and moves pretty well on his feet for such a large guy. I think in 2 years, you will see a different, more dangerous Cole Konrad.