In terms of caliber of fighter, yes he is 1 of the best of all time. He's -300 to -400 every time he goes out there similar to Jones. But his resume is pretty short, only really has 4 high level wins I'd say.
RDA/Poirier/McGregor/Gaethje
Fedor is just kindof a litmus test for MMA fans, they feel like they have to say he is 1 of the best of all time or they come off as if they don't know the history of the sport. But the dude was done being an elite fighter when he was like 32 which is really young for a HW, I mean him vs Stipe or Cain in his prime and he would get worked.
Guy was in trouble for Brett Rogers in Affliction.
And I think we all agree in retrospect that a lot of those Pride fights were fugazi considering the mob had a big piece of that thing.
RDA/Poirier/McGregor/Gaethje
Fedor is just kindof a litmus test for MMA fans, they feel like they have to say he is 1 of the best of all time or they come off as if they don't know the history of the sport. But the dude was done being an elite fighter when he was like 32 which is really young for a HW, I mean him vs Stipe or Cain in his prime and he would get worked.
Guy was in trouble for Brett Rogers in Affliction.
And I think we all agree in retrospect that a lot of those Pride fights were fugazi considering the mob had a big piece of that thing.
True, but he fought guys much bigger than him, which explains the shorter career. Plus it was much more brutal in Fedor's day. Remember the axe murderer with the soccer style kicks. Knees to the head on downed opponent's etc etc... Tough to have a long career with those rules. Plus he did seem to change priorities in late 2000's early 2010's. He got into politics, and graduated university, fighting didn't seem to be his sole priority.
Yeah, it was definitely the wild west with those rules. But I just can't ignore how much he basically sucked once coming over to America and not really being that old. Brett Rogers almost beat him and the guy wasn't top 30 HW at the time probably. Hendo knocked him out and he's a middleweight.
And while it is easy to say he was old or wasn't as interested in Strikeforce, none of the HW's from Pride really came over and dominated. Big Nog probably had the best run and he was never a top 3 guy. Crocop was pretty much a bust. It was just an inferior level of fighter then as the sport was in its infancy. Great fights but NGannou would knock those guys into the 9th row.
Not saying he wasn't great, but saying you have him in GOAT discussion is basically just a way for people to signal that they didn't start following the sport in 2014. That's kinda become a huge part of the push for him to be in the discussion.
I am going off memory here but, how many Pride heavy weights came over in their prime or before their prime? Seemed like most were already over the hill and at best, only had a few fights left in them. Overeem is the only one coming to mind that had some longevity. I believe Pride also had less strict testing?
Not quite, Werdum, even won the Belt, Big Nog (former interim Champ), and a few others that rose through the rankings and had decent UFC careers...
Not so much a Pride/age issue as it is an evolution issue
UFC started as a style vs style matchup.
Original intent was really to see the best style
Over the years people started training more and more in all styles.
Now even growing up with MMA...training all styles for years before becoming an adult
Even still we see new techniques being used more and more often
You are getting more athletic people and more people who have a variety of skills trained for longer periods of time
UFC started as a style vs style matchup.
Original intent was really to see the best style
Over the years people started training more and more in all styles.
Now even growing up with MMA...training all styles for years before becoming an adult
Even still we see new techniques being used more and more often
You are getting more athletic people and more people who have a variety of skills trained for longer periods of time
This is correct.
Cage vs Ring with ropes is way different as well. May not seem like much, but it is...
