Best P4P chins in MMA in 2021

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Sheepdog

Protecting America from excessive stool loitering
Dec 1, 2015
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It's been a while since I've seen one of these threads. I'm interested in chins that are still holding up in 2021, not people living on past glory like Frankie Edgar or Roy Nelson.

Here is my list. It's weighted towards people we've seen take plenty of abuse, so I'm leaving guys like Khabib (retired anyway) and Francis off, even though I suspect Francis' chin is elite mainly off the Stipe fight.

1. Max Holloway - guy has fought killers, gets tagged all the time by them and has never even been dropped. Clear number 1.

2. Jon Jones - see above, but has taken less abuse.

3. Kelvin Gastelum - never been TKOd/KOd despite fighting dudes way bigger than him. Ate a flying knee from Heinish the other day like it was nothing.

4. Gegard Mousasi - an underrated one. Urijah Hall smashed him with a spinning kick, flying knee combo and Moose still never went fully out. Dude has had 65 pro MMA and kickboxing fights, often fighting HWs (even if he is beating on midgets now), and has only been TKOd by a combo that would have flatlined most.

5. Jorge Masvidal - has a stoppage loss on his record, but if you've seen it, it's a disgracefully early one. Guy has never been properly TKOd or KOd in his long career.

6. Tony Ferguson - Gaethje had to beat him to death to get the stoppage. Takes an enormous amount of abuse.

7. Yoel Romero. Got stopped once at LHW and got badly rocked by a cheating Kennedy. But has also taken some unbelievably heavy strikes without getting dropped.

8. Brian Ortega - His chin hasn't had to hold up as long as the above but could climb the ranks. Holloway fight was ridiculous.

9. Li Jingliang - He kind of sucks, which makes his chin even better. Never been stopped despite getting hit all the time.

10. * Edit* Vincente Luque

11. Al Iaquinta

12. Nate Diaz
 
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M

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Nick Diaz probably has one of the best chins ever but he doesn't fight. But the shots he took from Paul Daley without going out were insane.

Nate has a good chin but he was finished by Thomson. Never went out though.
 

Sheepdog

Protecting America from excessive stool loitering
Dec 1, 2015
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Nick Diaz probably has one of the best chins ever but he doesn't fight. But the shots he took from Paul Daley without going out were insane.

Nate has a good chin but he was finished by Thomson. Never went out though.
Nate is certainly up there for active fighters. Nick of course had a great chin too, but that guy last won a fight in 1978.

For me, we've seen Yoel eat shots like the one Thomson landed on Nate. Moose and Masvidal get dropped less. Ferguson gets dropped like Nate but eats more clean shots, and Gaethje didn't finish him as cleanly as Nate was by Thomson (wasn't flatlined, but was as close as you get to it). Ortega was also never put out in the Max fight. But Nate is right there with these guys.

And I've just realised, I'm missing someone else from the top 10 - Vincente Luque.
 
M

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Nate is certainly up there for active fighters. Nick of course had a great chin too, but that guy last won a fight in 1978.

For me, we've seen Yoel eat shots like the one Thomson landed on Nate. Moose and Masvidal get dropped less. Ferguson gets dropped like Nate but eats more clean shots, and Gaethje didn't finish him as cleanly as Nate was by Thomson (wasn't flatlined, but was as close as you get to it). Ortega was also never put out in the Max fight. But Nate is right there with these guys.

And I've just realised, I'm missing someone else from the top 10 - Vincente Luque.
Idk if they've fought enough to be top 10, but Kevin Holland and Eryk Anders also deserve some credit.
 
M

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Jon Jones is arguably #1. Yeah Max has taken more punches, but those punches were also from midgets.

The closest I've seen Jones to even wobbled was against Machida, and even that's debatable. He ate shot after shot from guys like Glover and Cormier, who have shown in other fights that they have knockout power.

I remember Glover talking about how tough Jones was after their fight. He said something like "Man, I hit that guy with my best punches and he still didn't fall."

We'll see how that chin holds up at heavyweight, but I'd put him above Max.
 
M

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I would put Masvidal above Mousasi as well. Both have iron chins but Mousasi has a more recent KO/TKO loss, and one that was not even close to early, even if it was a clear fluke that was later avenged.
 

SongExotic2

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Nick Diaz probably has one of the best chins ever but he doesn't fight. But the shots he took from Paul Daley without going out were insane.

Nate has a good chin but he was finished by Thomson. Never went out though.
Daley knocked nick out, the canvas woke him back up
 

Sheepdog

Protecting America from excessive stool loitering
Dec 1, 2015
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Jon Jones is arguably #1. Yeah Max has taken more punches, but those punches were also from midgets.

The closest I've seen Jones to even wobbled was against Machida, and even that's debatable. He ate shot after shot from guys like Glover and Cormier, who have shown in other fights that they have knockout power.

I remember Glover talking about how tough Jones was after their fight. He said something like "Man, I hit that guy with my best punches and he still didn't fall."

We'll see how that chin holds up at heavyweight, but I'd put him above Max.
I tend to agree in principle about midgets and chins. But Max has taken a shitload more punches than Jones, so I have to give him the nod if I am going to attempt a 'P4P' list. I agree about the Glover and Cormier fights - Jones eats punches so easily that people don't even realize how hard he is getting hit.

But the same goes for Max. Max had no business surviving the first two rounds of Aldo 1, and yet not only did he survive, he was so unfazed that 99% of MMA fans don't even remember that Aldo was lighting him up with what should have been multiple KO shots.

Also, at the end of the day, Jones is still fighting in a midget division until he steps up at HW too.

I would put Masvidal above Mousasi as well. Both have iron chins but Mousasi has a more recent KO/TKO loss, and one that was not even close to early, even if it was a clear fluke that was later avenged.
I was only really sure about my top 3. The others all tend to have a pretty good case.
 
M

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I tend to agree in principle about midgets and chins. But Max has taken a shitload more punches than Jones, so I have to give him the nod if I am going to attempt a 'P4P' list.
You also say that P4P fighter lists are dumb and the best P4P fighter will always be a heavyweight, as he would beat the other guys in a fight.

This is of course a different metric but it follows a similar pattern. Jones is getting hit by harder punches than Holloway, so he should be considered as having a better "P4P chin."

A heavyweight with zero knockout losses and an equally impressive history of not really being dropped or wobbled would rank above Jones using this logic, but said heavyweight doesn't really exist. Francis Ngannou, as you say, hasn't taken enough abuse for us to know how good of a chin he has.
 

BeardOfKnowledge

The Most Consistent Motherfucker You Know
Jul 22, 2015
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It's been a while since I've seen one of these threads. I'm interested in chins that are still holding up in 2021, not people living on past glory like Frankie Edgar or Roy Nelson.

Here is my list. It's weighted towards people we've seen take plenty of abuse, so I'm leaving guys like Khabib (retired anyway) and Francis off, even though I suspect Francis' chin is elite mainly off the Stipe fight.

1. Max Holloway - guy has fought killers, gets tagged all the time by them and has never even been dropped. Clear number 1.

2. Jon Jones - see above, but has taken less abuse.

3. Kelvin Gastelum - never been TKOd/KOd despite fighting dudes way bigger than him. Ate a flying knee from Heinish the other day like it was nothing.

4. Gegard Mousasi - an underrated one. Urijah Hall smashed him with a spinning kick, flying knee combo and Moose still never went fully out. Dude has had 65 pro MMA and kickboxing fights, often fighting HWs (even if he is beating on midgets now), and has only been TKOd by a combo that would have flatlined most.

5. Jorge Masvidal - has a stoppage loss on his record, but if you've seen it, it's a disgracefully early one. Guy has never been properly TKOd or KOd in his long career.

6. Tony Ferguson - Gaethje had to beat him to death to get the stoppage. Takes an enormous amount of abuse.

7. Yoel Romero. Got stopped once at LHW and got badly rocked by a cheating Kennedy. But has also taken some unbelievably heavy strikes without getting dropped.

8. Brian Ortega - His chin hasn't had to hold up as long as the above but could climb the ranks. Holloway fight was ridiculous.

9. Li Jingliang - He kind of sucks, which makes his chin even better. Never been stopped despite getting hit all the time.

10. * Edit* Vincente Luque

11. Al Iaquinta

12. Nate Diaz
Have we not seen Nate dropped a gang of times? or are we just referring to having a chin as KO/TKO's?
 

Sheepdog

Protecting America from excessive stool loitering
Dec 1, 2015
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You also say that P4P fighter lists are dumb and the best P4P fighter will always be a heavyweight, as he would beat the other guys in a fight.

This is of course a different metric but it follows a similar pattern. Jones is getting hit by harder punches than Holloway, so he should be considered as having a better "P4P chin."

A heavyweight with zero knockout losses and an equally impressive history of not really being dropped or wobbled would rank above Jones using this logic, but said heavyweight doesn't really exist. Francis Ngannou, as you say, hasn't taken enough abuse for us to know how good of a chin he has.
Then it's settled. The P4P best chin is Weili Zhang. Seriously, that jawline is impressive.

But yes, P4P is nonsense. I just wanted to give my plump little dwarf Kelvin some props for being able to take punches from grown men and I couldn't think of many 2021 HWs that are like prime Huntos or Roy Nelson.
 

Sheepdog

Protecting America from excessive stool loitering
Dec 1, 2015
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Have we not seen Nate dropped a gang of times? or are we just referring to having a chin as KO/TKO's?
Eh, I think you can combine knockdown avoidance and knockdown recovery into a general category of 'chin'. But yes, I think it's also fair to penalize a habitual knockdown sufferer like Nate compared to guys who just outright don't get knocked down.
 

Sex Chicken

Exotic Dancer
Sep 8, 2015
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My first reaction was Gastelum.

I know he doesn’t have the track record and fights in a small man weight class, but I think Moreno is up there. Figueiredo cracks and Moreno didn’t care.
 

Robbie Hart

All Biden Voters Are Mindless Sheep
Feb 13, 2015
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You also say that P4P fighter lists are dumb and the best P4P fighter will always be a heavyweight, as he would beat the other guys in a fight.

This is of course a different metric but it follows a similar pattern. Jones is getting hit by harder punches than Holloway, so he should be considered as having a better "P4P chin."

A heavyweight with zero knockout losses and an equally impressive history of not really being dropped or wobbled would rank above Jones using this logic, but said heavyweight doesn't really exist. Francis Ngannou, as you say, hasn't taken enough abuse for us to know how good of a chin he has.
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SongExotic2

ATM 3 CHAMPION OF THE WORLD. #FREECAIN
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Jan 16, 2015
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My first reaction was Gastelum.

I know he doesn’t have the track record and fights in a small man weight class, but I think Moreno is up there. Figueiredo cracks and Moreno didn’t care.
That's all that Mexican food, makes you tough, like me.
 

crowbar

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Jan 27, 2015
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I think that Joe Warren is retired,but go back and watch his fight against Pat Curran & see how much of a chin he has.