Thad Jean believes he’s one of the best Welterweights on the planet.
Undefeated at 12-0, the 28-year-old “Silverback” picked up a sensational knockout win over short-notice replacement Ernesto Rodriguez over the weekend to become PFL Welterweight champion (highlights here). Jean was supposed to face highly touted Russian ace Shamil Musaev, but unfortunately weight cut issues cancelled that matchup at the last second.
Regardless, Jean is an athletic talent with power in his hands, and he’s already beaten
tough competition like Jason Jackson, Logan Storley, and Mukhamed Berkhamov. Unfortunately, PFL athletes don’t always receive the respect they deserve since relatively few people are tuning in, it can be tough to sell their top fighters as legitimate world-class talent.
Sounds like “casual” thinking.
“I’m up there. I’m top 3,” Jean told Uncrowned after going down the list of UFC rankings. “I know people talk trash about the PFL and say, ‘Oh, because you’re in the PFL, you’re nothing.’ The level of fighters in the PFL are just as high as the people in the UFC. The reason you don’t understand that and the reason you don’t think so, is because you’re a casual. You’re not a true MMA fan. You don’t understand the game as much as you hope or think you do.
“I’m at the top of the PFL division. I’m the champion, and there’s nothing that would stop me from being the welterweight champion in the UFC as well.”
In recent years, we have seen plenty of non-UFC champions come over to the Octagon and immediately make waves, like Yaroslav Amosov. There’s no denying that talent exists outside of the UFC roster, but for better or worse, it’s hard to get most fight fans to really care. In order for anyone to really buy Jean as a Top Three Welterweight, he’s going to need to rack up some title defenses over quality opposition.
Rebooking the Musaev fight would be a great start.
