Whether you agree with his politics/viewpoints or not, I honestly don’t see why some of his fans think he was an elite kickboxer. Was he legit? Of course he was. But was he elite like Mirko Cro Cop or Alex Periera? Not even close. In fact, I think if you put him in there with any of those elite guys (especially Cro Cop in his prime) he would get murdered. Tate’s fighting style is kind of weird because he keeps his hands down but he got away with it during his career since most of the guys he faced weren’t elite in the level of skill that even guys like Israel Adesayna have.

His excuse is that his retina is messed up so that’s why he keeps his hands down. But in any form of fighting, especially when you get to the elite level, keeping your hands down is a huge no no. Plus there’s other ways to defend punches in kickboxing such as parrying. Even though he was 76-9, I think many of his wins were against lower tier competition. Case in point, some of his most recent wins were against a guy that was 2-1 and another guy was making his debut.

Even when he wanted to fight Jake Paul in a boxing match, I think Jake would’ve beaten him very easily because that style doesn’t work in boxing. And I say that as someone who cringes any time Jake Paul steps in a boxing ring. Even though people may use the argument of his punches coming from weird angles with his hands down, Tate doesn’t turn his punches over and he hits with his hands in a way that doesn’t connect with enough impact. Again, it’s not doubting his skill as kickboxer, but he’s not an elite kickboxer like some of his fans think he is. If he fought in Glory, I would give him more props as an elite level kickboxer.