User blog comment:Godisme/The Buckbeard/@comment-4469678-20120308040020/@comment-4026406-20120308040313

He wasn't necessarily weak, we just haven't seen him in action. It's entirely possible that he is actually extremely amazing, or even has gained Bankai during the 17 month gap, but Kubo hasn't given him a real fight yet in the whole series. And this fight got Kensei'd.