Who is the greatest MMA fighter of all time?

[BigElephant]

Voted Jon Jones, but I'm admittedly a casual and only started watching within the last 10 years, so my opinion is not going to be as valuable as some of the more avid fans here. I like GSP too but I haven't watched all of his fights yet.

What's with people voting Conor?

[kusok]

Voted Jon Jones, but I'm admittedly a casual and only started watching within the last 10 years, so my opinion is not going to be as valuable as some of the more avid fans here. I like GSP too but I haven't watched all of his fights yet.

What's with people voting Conor?

Trolls or total noobs LOL


This is a normal thing thou. When AA was on top people legit posted that AA is GOAT. Machida too. Saku. BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, all these guys were voted by noobs as GOATS. Just all depends on when people started watching.

Entire armies of fans thought Tito was GOAT. Frank Shamrock etc. And they would argue with you just like the current Connor or Jones or GSP noobs. In 10 years new fighters will have noob fans who will call them GOATs too, but Fedor will still be in the poll at or near the top, same as he was 20 years ago LOL

Gee golly.. I wonder why there is only one fighter who is always in every such poll while other fighters keep changing. Hmmm... it’s almost as if there is a hint there.

[kusok]

Its just simple mma though. Fedor never went 27 and 0, he lost his 5th fight. He has never fought in ufc and also guys like big nog and crocop were met with disaster when they went on a ufc run...

How many times did Jon Jones defend his belt? Literally when Ufc became mainstream.


Pride is very special but to name a fighter who has never fought in the Ufc is just weird.


Also to retire while on top is definitely a hallmark for goat discussions.

Not sure why you chose to discredit yourself in such a way. Fedor did not lose, because if you count that obvious NC as a loss then Jones also legitimately lost (which of course he did not)

At the time of Fedor’s reign UFC was bankrupt and all top HWs were in PRIDE. You have to know your history and not just vomit whatever Dana White shoved down your throat. Fedor going to UFC at his peak would be him taking a massive inexplicable downgrade. Why would he do that? He would be rightfully considered a chicken sheit running away from prime Crocop and from top competition etc.

Retiring on top has nothing to do with GOAT status. Because then Ali, Tyson and other greats can not be GOAT boxers. In fact, if you do not lose, you did not fight tough enough people, and got out because you are scared to keep going.

[zhengterry]

Not sure why you chose to discredit yourself in such a way. Fedor did not lose, because if you count that obvious NC as a loss then Jones also legitimately lost (which of course he did not)

At the time of Fedor’s reign UFC was bankrupt and all top HWs were in PRIDE. You have to know your history and not just vomit whatever Dana White shoved down your throat. Fedor going to UFC at his peak would be him taking a massive inexplicable downgrade. Why would he do that? He would be rightfully considered a chicken sheit running away from prime Crocop and from top competition etc.

Retiring on top has nothing to do with GOAT status. Because then Ali, Tyson and other greats can not be GOAT boxers. In fact, if you do not lose, you did not fight tough enough people, and got out because you are scared to keep going.

It was a doctor stoppage loss, just watched it. Kosaka threw a punch 15 seconds in and grazed Fedor with an elbow. This is apple to oranges compared to Jones who had Hamill on his back and hit him with an illegal elbow.

You're really looking back at it with nostalgia, and besides Fedor signed with Strikeforce and preceded to lose 3 fights in a row, which btw were all stoppages.

[superman704]

I voted Khabib, second place is Jon ''bones'' Jones, but I believe prime Tank Abbot could destroy anyone

[kusok]

It was a doctor stoppage loss, just watched it. Kosaka threw a punch 15 seconds in and grazed Fedor with an elbow. This is apple to oranges compared to Jones who had Hamill on his back and hit him with an illegal elbow.

You're really looking back at it with nostalgia, and besides Fedor signed with Strikeforce and preceded to lose 3 fights in a row, which btw were all stoppages.

Hold on... you JUST watched that Fedor fight, thou you posted on this topic BEFORE you actually even bothered to research it???

Come on man...

That particular strike was ILLEGAL under those rules, thus obviously it should have been a NC.

Everyone eventually looses (unless they retire before that happens). Fedor lost after his prime was over. Dah... it’s just not an argument.

[Gizzyhardcore]

You make no sense. Fedor was still undefeated after almost a decade of sitting on top of the rankings before Jon Jones even had his first MMA fight.

When Jones fights people his size and goes 27-0 without multiple failed steroid tests, THEN you can start thinking about him being greater than Fedor. You would still be wrong of course since Golden Age of Heavyweight MMA is long gone, today’s heavyweights are a joke compared to GOATS like Big Nog and Crocop, and this age of PRIDE HW division will never return. So Fedor cemented his spot in history as GOAT since he ruled THE flagship division in the greatest era.

I think GSP fought the higher qaulity opponents, based on their win / loss records.
Fedor fought some great guys, but also a tonne of cans to get his undefeated streak

Jones is the only other guy dominating high level competition, but hes tainted by roids

actually wtf, Adesanya is 20-0 in MMA is on his way to building a resume of beating the best (Anderson, Gastellum, Whitakker, Romero, Costa) , + with a career of over 100 pro combat fights in boxing, mma and kick boxing, Doing stuff like fighting 3x in one night at HW while MW and winning. Only 5 losses, with only one of those being a knockout.

If he beats Jan its hard to argue hes not just the MMA goat but the all time combat sports athlete GOAT. Who else has that sort of resume?
If he beats Jones in a super fight he IS the all time GOAT combat sports athlete.

[kusok]

I think GSP fought the higher qaulity opponents, based on their win / loss records.
Fedor fought some great guys, but also a tonne of cans to get his undefeated streak

Jones is the only other guy dominating high level competition, but hes tainted by roids

actually wtf, Adesanya is 20-0 in MMA is on his way to building a resume of beating the best (Anderson, Gastellum, Whitakker, Romero, Costa) , + with a career of over 100 pro combat fights in boxing, mma and kick boxing, Doing stuff like fighting 3x in one night at HW while MW and winning. Only 5 losses, with only one of those being a knockout.

If he beats Jan its hard to argue hes not just the MMA goat but the all time combat sports athlete GOAT. Who else has that sort of resume?
If he beats Jones in a super fight he IS the all time GOAT combat sports athlete.

There was quality of opposition stats checker website, and Fedor’s opposition was up there with GSPs. It’s all perception. Strangely there was a website that tracked who is the hardest MMA fighter to hit, and obviously everyone and their grandma thought Machida was going to win, since at his prime it was his specialty not to get hit, and yet the website gave Fedor as the hardest guy to hit if you actually count up the strikes etc., it’s all perception. You may feel GSP is this or that, but stats say otherwise.

I can’t in good conscience say GSP Or Jones had better opponents than Fedor when GSP and Jones enjoyed size and reach advantage over most, while Fedor was severely handicapped in HW division, and yet took on all these monsters. It’s like GSP spending his career at 185 or Jones fighting all of his fights at HW.


Speaking of perception, unlike any other fighter Fedor had the aura. Like Mike Tyson. And you can never make a HL reel video of GSP or Jones that would rival Fedor’s. His peak fights were not normal MMA fights, they looked like a wild animal attacking a visitor in the zoo that fell inside the cage by accident. Dude was special. Pity that time beats everyone eventually. So many injuries, Fedor should have hung’em up long ago.

[Gizzyhardcore]

There was quality of opposition stats checker website, and Fedor’s opposition was up there with GSPs. It’s all perception. Strangely there was a website that tracked who is the hardest MMA fighter to hit, and obviously everyone and their grandma thought Machida was going to win, since at his prime it was his specialty not to get hit, and yet the website gave Fedor as the hardest guy to hit if you actually count up the strikes etc., it’s all perception. You may feel GSP is this or that, but stats say otherwise.

I can’t in good conscience say GSP Or Jones had better opponents than Fedor when GSP and Jones enjoyed size and reach advantage over most, while Fedor was severely handicapped in HW division, and yet took on all these monsters. It’s like GSP spending his career at 185 or Jones fighting all of his fights at HW.


Speaking of perception, unlike any other fighter Fedor had the aura. Like Mike Tyson. And you can never make a HL reel video of GSP or Jones that would rival Fedor’s. His peak fights were not normal MMA fights, they looked like a wild animal attacking a visitor in the zoo that fell inside the cage by accident. Dude was special. Pity that time beats everyone eventually. So many injuries, Fedor should have hung’em up long ago.

I agree with most of what you are saying, I just don't think the size thing is as much of a factor at heavyweight. Unless someone is super athletic, I think being bigger past maybe 250 has progressively diminishing returns and is actually a detriment past a certain point.

Him beating athletic skilled guys 20-40 lbs bigger is a feat yes, but % wise is not as significant as say when Frankie Edgar was fighting at light weight.

The stats thing thats what i was referring too, but when I googled Fedors record he did beat a lot of legit guys, even if there are some "pride" pro wrestling inserts he also beat.

How far off do you think Adesanya is from being in this conversation. Should he beat Jan he's a 2 division undefeated champ AND then add in his extensive pro combat record prior....

[kusok]

I agree with most of what you are saying, I just don't think the size thing is as much of a factor at heavyweight. Unless someone is super athletic, I think being bigger past maybe 250 has progressively diminishing returns and is actually a detriment past a certain point.

Him beating athletic skilled guys 20-40 lbs bigger is a feat yes, but % wise is not as significant as say when Frankie Edgar was fighting at light weight.

The stats thing thats what i was referring too, but when I googled Fedors record he did beat a lot of legit guys, even if there are some "pride" pro wrestling inserts he also beat.

How far off do you think Adesanya is from being in this conversation. Should he beat Jan he's a 2 division undefeated champ AND then add in his extensive pro combat record prior....

I can’t comment on Israel, since I haven’t seen much of him yet. I gotta look at a few more of his recent fights.

Yeah, size and reach advantage is a weird thing, it’s really important, but once they go above certain size it can be a bad thing, like in case of Bigfoot Silva. Reduces speed etc. But the size difference in that fight was just ridiculous, AND Silva popped for steroids right after the Fedor fight.

The thought of facing someone like Mark Coleman (first fight) is just nuts, you got a roided out 250 lbs or whatever he was at the time dude with a 500 lbs bench press who took silver in freestyle wrestling world championships. And Fedor is someone who would certainly fight at 205 Lbs weight class if he was from USA or fought in more recent times, they just didn’t know anything about weight cutting at that time in Russia. That’s f*cking terrifying.

Some of these early guys who faced 265 lbs Mark Kerr WITH HEADBUTTS... bro... I would think many fighters would just straight up sheit their pants and refuse to fight.

[WannaBeYoooge]

GSP or Jon Jones are 1 and 2.

I think with GSP winning a title at 2 weights makes him number 1. I also really like the guy and dislike JJ so maybe that makes me biased.

My fave fighter is Connor. No other fighter has burned as brightly as him when he hit the scene. He bulldozed his way through top fighters.

With Conor also he kept taking massive steps each fight where you thought can he pull this off or not. Always had me guessing.

[ProEra]

Gsp

[Deathstroke]

Brock Lesnar albeit for a short time.