Dave Terrell

[INDYjon22]

Dave Terrell was once upon a time a very promising mixed martial artist. However, many injuries mounted up and his fighting career was cut very short.

He came into the UFC with a ton of speed when he knocked out Matt Lindland in mere seconds and in brutal faction. He was put in line and was being pushed to be the next phenom of the UFC and was given a Middleweight title fight against Evan Tanner in his second UFC fight. Terrell looked very good in the early minutes but ended up being knocked out by Tanner. Terrell rebounded from that lose with another win but then the injuries began. Every time he was scheduled for a fight he would come up with some sort of injury and was eventually let go by the UFC. Shortly after that Terrell retired from mixed martial arts.

Terrell was once touted as the future of the UFC but turned into a massive bust. He had all the skill in the world and really could have gone far in this sport. My question is this, how do you think his career would have panned out if was not injury prone. Would he have lived up to all the hype that surrounded him or would he have just had an above average career. Also, do you think he would still be fighting with the UFC or do you think he would have moved on to another company?

 

[Frozentrash75]

I really don't think that he would of lived up to the hype i think he would of been a solid fighter maybe get another title shot or two but i don't think that he would have been a champion but hey he knows but in my opinion i think he would have been another over hyped fighter who quite didn't live up to his potential.

 

[INDYjon22]

I really don't think that he would of lived up to the hype i think he would of been a solid fighter maybe get another title shot or two but i don't think that he would have been a champion but hey he knows but in my opinion i think he would have been another over hyped fighter who quite didn't live up to his potential.

I am in pretty much complete agreement. In retrospect he was incredible over hyped and if you compare him to the talent he would have to face now in the MW division I think he would not be able to compare at all. Anderson Silva would beat him, Vitor Belfort would beat him and Rich Franklin would beat him. Those are the top guys and have been for a while now. Terrell was very good with great jiu jitsu but I really don't think he could have ever lived up to all the hype that surrounded him.

 

[Frozentrash75]

I am in pretty much complete agreement. In retrospect he was incredible over hyped and if you compare him to the talent he would have to face now in the MW division I think he would not be able to compare at all. Anderson Silva would beat him, Vitor Belfort would beat him and Rich Franklin would beat him. Those are the top guys and have been for a while now. Terrell was very good with great jiu jitsu but I really don't think he could have ever lived up to all the hype that surrounded him.

I mean if you think about it he lost to an Evan Tanner and i like tanner but he is half the fighter of some of the people he would have to fight today like a Belfort, Bisping, or a Silva i mean those guys would have destroyed Terrell in my opinion i think he would have been a fighter that other fighters would have used as a stepping stone from the pretty good plateau to the really good plateau.

 

[INDYjon22]

I mean if you think about it he lost to an Evan Tanner and i like tanner but he is half the fighter of some of the people he would have to fight today like a Belfort, Bisping, or a Silva i mean those guys would have destroyed Terrell in my opinion i think he would have been a fighter that other fighters would have used as a stepping stone from the pretty good plateau to the really good plateau.

Actually I don't even think he would still be with the UFC. I think the odds are that he either would have been cut or would have decided he was sick of not being the top guy. I think he would have jumped to Strikeforce and he still wouldn't be a top guy their either. Henderson, Shields, Miller, Lawler, and Diaz are all still way better then the Dave Terrell of 2004/05. He would have gotten stuck in mid card fighter limbo somewhere along the way.

 

[jmt225]

I remember digging Dave Terrell back in the day. However, I don't think he had it in him to be a some huge superstar and a champion.

The fact is, he never really defeated anyone that impressive. Matt Lindland, in my opinion, is one of the most overrated fighters of all time. And the only other recognizable names that he has defeated are Scott Smith and Joey Villasenor, both of whom were pretty young and aren't that special to begin with.

Evan Tanner, God rest his soul, was a great fighter no doubt, but he was someone who could never beat the big names. Yet, the one really big fight he won... was against Dave Terrell. To me, that shows that Terrell was vulnerable in big fight situations. Sure, he was still young at that time and all, but I think he would have been one of those guys like Tanner, Jeremy Horn, Babalu, etc. who won all the fights he was supposed to win, but never reached that gold platform.

Of course, I could be completely wrong here, and it's a true shame we'd never be able to find out, but that's my answer. I think he would have been a very good, well-respected journeyman in the sport, but not a champion.