Who is truly the GOAT?

[nvrstopworking]

Hard to knock what Jones has done IMO.

- hasn't lost a fight in 6 years (lettuce be cereal... he was destroying Hammill before the DQ)
- fought FIVE former champs in a row with 5 wins (Shogun, Rampage, Machida, Rashad, Vitor) and put down 4 out of the 5 in convincing fashion.

[teflonwig]

Can't wait until GSP comes back to have Lawler and Hendricks destroy him.

[MaximusPlatypus]

This^^^ The most well rounded fighter ever, didn't point fight, didn't cut weight to fight smaller opponents, fought at opponents strengths, longest win streak at most dangerous weight class and that unmatchable aura. GOAT.

agreed. Fedor

So.. why would count beating a 0-1 scrub as part of some amazing winning streak? That's the entire point. He didn't win 28 fights in a row against top-shelf opponents. Not even top 20 guys. Many of them were complete scrubs. I'm not hating on him for it.. I'm just saying that needs to be accounted for when we're talking about who's the best and who isn't it.


Well you can't really say that because he didn't actually beat everyone. We can speculate.. just like everyone on this board speculated overeem would destroy bigfoot and rothwell.. how'd that turn out? The reality is Fedor could've potentially had a much better record and much better accomplishments, but chose not to.

fighting in open weight is not like other weight classes... Discounting wins like Hong man choi is ridiculous... Sure, on paper he didn't have much mma experience and was an underdog... But in reality, he's still a 350lb dude over 7 feet tall that did pretty well in kickboxing and knew how to handle himself.... I think you have no idea what it's like having a trained fighter on top of you, pounding you with fists the size of a toaster, and out weighing you by like 150lbs

I bet you would discount Nog's win over Bob Sapp too, Lmao. Get your head out of your ass and use some common sense and critical thinking.

Your "tire changer" Brett Rogers was an athletic 265lbs with solid wrestling and bricks for fists who had been running through opponents... But I suppose Fedor is a bum for almost losing because the guy had a normal day job and didn't have 10+ wins over top 10 opponents

Andy and gsp are amazing, but throw them in the cage with guys 30-150lbs heavier than them, and see how comfortable they are

[jamez123]

Andy and gsp are amazing, but throw them in the cage with guys 30-150lbs heavier than them, and see how comfortable they are

Pretty sure forest had at least 30 lbs on Anderson come fight night and andy looked plenty comfortable giving the best performance of his entire career

[MaximusPlatypus]

Pretty sure forest had at least 30 lbs on Anderson come fight night and andy looked plenty comfortable giving the best performance of his entire career

Alright? That's one fight. Not a very productive response

[trainreqq]

I will always have GSP as #1 GOAT. I say it time and time again he cleaned the entire WW division out. The division that is still considered the most "lethal" behind LW. When people thought he could be beat, time and time again he proved the wrong and completely dominated his opposition in every aspect. Out struck Pitbull Alves when Alves was considered the best striker at WW. I believe being a GOAT in MMA relates to how well rounded a fighter is and GSP is that.

[jamez123]

I believe being a GOAT in MMA relates to how well rounded a fighter is and GSP is that.

Aldo is also pretty damn well rounded. You could say GSP certainly lacked submission skills considering how much time he had top control and never finished many guys.

Silva was certainly not the most well-rounded yet he always found a way to win despite that, at a higher age, and with a much better finishing rate even in a higher weight class.

GSP's 25 pro wins include only 8 TKO/KO and 5 subs... with nearly 50% being decisions.
Silva's 33 pro wins (8 more wins than GSP) include 20 TKO/KO's and 6 submissions.. only 7 decisions (21%)... he finished more fights than GSP has won.

[trainreqq]

GSP's 25 pro wins include only 8 TKO/KO and 5 subs... with nearly 50% being decisions.
Silva's 33 pro wins (8 more wins than GSP) include 20 TKO/KO's and 6 submissions.. only 7 decisions (21%)... he finished more fights than GSP has won.

I also stick with the theory that GSP turned into a point fighter after being knocked out by Serra. I still wonder to this day what could of been if he hadn't of lost that night in such fashion. I agree that GSP's lack of finishes and 'going for the kill' has hurt him but no one can deny his overall prowess in each aspect of MMA.

[jamez123]

no one can deny his overall prowess in each aspect of MMA.

cough.. submissions... cough...

[Stray94]

cough.. submissions... cough...

He did submit Matt Hughes who wasn't a complete slouch when it comes to grappling. Aldo is pretty well-rounded but his wrestling is entirely defensive, not to mention that his cardio isn't great. GSP turned to point fighting after Serra TKO'd him, so even though opportunities for subs were there, he didn't take them out of fear that he might get into a bad position and lose. Cain also doesn't go for submissions, but he is very well-rounded.

Also, finishing rate doesn't matter if you finish guys with less skill. Anderson did finish more fights and he did fight at a higher weight class, but he didn't face the same level of talent as GSP and higher weight doesn't necessarily mean a better weight class. Heavyweight has larger guys than Light Heavyweight, but LHW is most certainly the more talent-filled division.

[Stray94]

Can't wait until GSP comes back to have Lawler and Hendricks destroy him.

Hate much? We've established that GSP is one of the greatest of all time, but simply can't compete with the younger guys. I dislike Anderson Silva, but I don't wish for him to return to the cage to get wrecked by Diaz. Seeing any legend get beaten (especially in a dominating fashion) is somewhat saddening, regardless of whether I liked or disliked them.

[Stray94]

Hard to knock what Jones has done IMO.

- hasn't lost a fight in 6 years (lettuce be cereal... he was destroying Hammill before the DQ)
- fought FIVE former champs in a row with 5 wins (Shogun, Rampage, Machida, Rashad, Vitor) and put down 4 out of the 5 in convincing fashion.

I don't like Jones as a person, but he's an amazing fighter. I agree with almost everything except that beating 5 former champs doesn't have the same powerful meaning that it does at another weight class. He did beat 5 former champs (4 in dominant fashion), but the belt at LHW was passed around almost every title fight before Jones arrived so IMO it isn't as amazing of an accomplishment as it sounds.

[SwolenBro]

Tough, can make a case for all but I'm gonna go

1. Silva
2. Fedor
3. GSP
4. Jones

Jones has potential to move up to #1 though by the end of his career.