Official UFC Thread - Part 5

[Fallen Angel]

So this post inspired from something in another thread.

Who would you guys consider the GOAT? The greatest MMA fighter in history. I personally would have Fedor Emelianenko at #1 with Anderson Silva at #2.

Jon Jones could get there if he continues at the rate he's going in a few years.

 

[TheVileOne]

I got to go with Anderson Silva. He's the closest thing the sport has to a Michael Jordan.

Listen, I like Fedor, and Fedor was great. But he never accomplished what Silva did. He defended his belt 10 times. Fedor did it what, three times?

 

[E-Man]

MMA GOAT list IMO

1. The Spider
2. GSP
3. Fedor
4. Matt Hughes
5. Jon Jones

I think that Bones will take the title of GOAT soon, but I don't underestimate Mighty Mouse and Aldo. Cain is someone I've been tooting the horn for years that he'll finally be the heavyweight that tops Fedor as the heavyweight GOAT.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Jon Jones probably would need to step up to Heavyweight and be sucusseful for him to be universally considered the GOAT.



You know who I thought would be an absolute superstar when I first saw him? Lyoto Machida thought that guy would be great seems that star dust has gone from him lately with other guys stepping up.

 

[brainchild81]

Silva until Jones takes that spot

 

[DoomsdayApex]

I'm gonna go with the guy that Aldo, A. Silva (himself), GSP, Sylvia, Wanderlei, Pettis, Werdum, Hendo, Rampage, Shogun, Penn, Couture, etc still call the best:

Fedor Emelianenko

There's only been one Michael Jordan in MMA and clearly The Last Emperor has been 'it'. Silva and GSP are a close second and third.

Jon Jones is far from being considered an all-time great. He's way too overhyped in a shallow division. Jones struggles against any opponent with considerable size and reach. There's a reason why Jon and Jackson are focusing on the Light Heavyweight division despite needing to cut 10-15 lbs to stay.

 

[B]

Without question the greatest MMA fighter ever is currently Anderson Silva. People question the UFC's MW division's depth, it speaks volumes that not only was he able to hold onto that title for so long, but also his winning streak in said division & simply put the sheer domination & stranglehold he had of that division. With Anderson on top it made the MW division look shallow.. when in reality it's a competitive division that he made look weaker than it was by his dismantling of opponents. Look at it now, with a guy like Weidman on top who doesn't have the same sort of aura or reputation as Silva did as champion, there's about 4 or 5 guys you could say might have a shot at being champion.. which they probably wouldn't had Silva still been on top.

Followed behind Silva would be GSP, he might not have been the most exciting to watch at times during his run as WW champion, but was so well rounded & dedicated to his art that he pretty much was capable of crushing anyone that challenged him. Was capable of striking with dangerous strikers & grappling with dangerous grapplers. Could fight pretty much anywhere that he wanted.

Behind GSP in 3rd place would be Jon Jones. It makes me laugh when people call his run overhyped & the LHW division shallow. Beat a rising contender to earn a shot after a pull out & since the Bader fight has beat Shogun, Rampage, Machida, Rashad, Vitor, Sonnen, Gustafsson & Teixeira. That's 5 former champions, a guy that took the greatest Anderson Silva to the wire & 2 more worthy contenders.. not only beating them, but finishing 5 of the 8 title fights he's had. It's inevitable he will surpass Silva as being the greatest if he can continue along his current path.

Followed by Jones I'd probably say Matt Hughes, in his prime he was a force, much like GSP he was well rounded, took fights where his opponents didn't want them to be taken & grinded them down to a halt with his superior skill set.

Finally, Jose Aldo. Wonderful to watch him fight, superb grappling ability & he's a flawless striker with easily the most savage leg kicks in MMA. Waiting for him to move up to LW as the prospect of him fighting Showtime are absolutely mouth watering given how good both guys are.

Fedor & Velasquez aren't in my top 10 for the simple fact that I don't think there have been enough good heavyweight fighters to rank either ahead of any of those top 5. Fedor was at one point the HW on the planet, but at a time when the division was nothing.. it was either fat LHW's, unskilled giants or just in general poor quality opponent.. IMO. If you took Fedor in his prime physical & mental condition, I still think he'd have been beaten by the 3 men that beat him eventually. It's actually good that he didn't go to the UFC to fight Lesnar when he was champion because the Fedor fan boy's heads would have imploded if Lesnar had beat him.. which would have been a real possibility given how well Antonio Silva smothered him. I'd rank Velasquez higher on a top 10 all time heavyweight list ahead of Fedor simply because even though the HW scene is still pretty shallow.. it's got higher calibre talent than it did 10 years ago when Fedor was dominant in the division.

 

[E-Man]

I'm gonna go with the guy that Aldo, A. Silva (himself), GSP, Sylvia, Wanderlei, Pettis, Werdum, Hendo, Rampage, Shogun, Penn, Couture, etc still call the best:

Fedor Emelianenko

There's only been one Michael Jordan in MMA and clearly The Last Emperor has been 'it'. Silva and GSP are a close second and third.

Jon Jones is far from being considered an all-time great. He's way too overhyped in a shallow division. Jones struggles against any opponent with considerable size and reach. There's a reason why Jon and Jackson are focusing on the Light Heavyweight division despite needing to cut 10-15 lbs to stay.

Fedor was great in his day, but he was nowhere near as good as Michael Jordan to be close to that comparison. MJ was exceptionally great at everything. Fedor was good at most things, but not at the level that MJ was at. Jordan also played against legends himself in a deep league, and he was the reason many greats like Barkley, Malone and Stockton, Reggie Miller, etc. don't have a ring. Fedor's comp was good for what it was, but it's easily the weakest of all the other greats. To be a "Michael Jordan of something" means that you have to be god like in every area against monsters while making it look easy.

Plus Jones has only struggled once in his career, and that was to a top guy. It happens, and cutting 10-15 pounds isn't much at all. Most fighters cut that anyway, so the only thing Jones really has on these guys is reach. Reach isn't anything unless you know how to use it, and it has proven that it can be beat time and time again in many different combat sports. Jones also has to choose between what you call a shallow LHW division, and an even weaker heavyweight division that only has about 5 guys worth a damn.

 

[B]

Plus Jones has only struggled once in his career, and that was to a top guy. It happens, and cutting 10-15 pounds isn't much at all. Most fighters cut that anyway, so the only thing Jones really has on these guys is reach. Reach isn't anything unless you know how to use it, and it has proven that it can be beat time and time again in many different combat sports. Jones also has to choose between what you call a shallow LHW division, and an even weaker heavyweight division that only has about 5 guys worth a damn.

Jon Jones isn't a heavyweight. He weighs like 230 or something like that when he's in between camps and taking a relaxed approach to his diet & training. Once he starts his camp & just by his intensity alone ignoring diet, his weight falls to about 215-220.

Cutting 10-15 pounds isn't that much at all, GSP cuts something similar to make WW, Silva also cuts something similar to make MW.

You can tell just by looking at someone if they belong in a weight class at the weigh in, if they look severely drained & their performances after look drained, then they are in the wrong weight class.. 2 things Jones doesn't or hasn't shown thus far.

I think Jones would be significantly undersized as a HW as he currently stands. He isn't built enough to be a HW, he'd need to add I'd say a good 15lbs or so to his legs/upper body in order to stop himself being vastly undersized at HW.

 

[E-Man]

When it comes to size and weight classes I think that everyone is in the right weight class unless they start having problems making weight. Anthony Johnson is the perfect example. He would have weight problems because his frame wasn't supposed to be that small. When he fought Dan Hardy they looked about the same size, but Hardy cut weight better and more healthier, so he's had no problems at welterweight. Rumble did, and he finally moved up when he had to. Jones has no problems making weight at all, so it's no issue to me. He's pretty tall and all, but he's not the heavyweight picking on smaller middleweights that some guys try to make him out to be.

 

[NicoSuave]

Alright, is the place to be in order to discuss who wins on tomorrow's Fight Night card in New Mexico, between Benson Henderson and Rustam Khabilov?! I'm upset that I'm gonna be out of the house, missing the event, but it's still a pretty good card! Bendo is facing someone with incredible suplex power, in Rustam, who could really put him in danger of losing his number 1 spot! But Bendo is motivated by us annoying fans to get a finish, now more than ever, and he has the heart, technique, and athleticism in order to do so!

 

[E-Man]

Alright, is the place to be in order to discuss who wins on tomorrow's Fight Night card in New Mexico, between Benson Henderson and Rustam Khabilov?! I'm upset that I'm gonna be out of the house, missing the event, but it's still a pretty good card! Bendo is facing someone with incredible suplex power, in Rustam, who could really put him in danger of losing his number 1 spot! But Bendo is motivated by us annoying fans to get a finish, now more than ever, and he has the heart, technique, and athleticism in order to do so!

It should be an interesting match between two good grapplers. I don't think Rustam could suplex a guy with a good, strong base like Bendo, but if it happens it sure would be something. I think Bendo will take it, but I like the matchup.

 

[TheVileOne]

I like the match-up a lot. I think Henderson needs to be a little more aggressive like before he won the title. He can't rely on his philosophy of taking the win however he can.

 

[NicoSuave]

I like the match-up a lot. I think Henderson needs to be a little more aggressive like before he won the title. He can't rely on his philosophy of taking the win however he can.

That's what happens when you become champion. You start to pull back a little on the reigns, because you're more concerned about not losing your title than you are winning in the awesomest way possible.
The only exceptions to that rule I can think of are my girl Ronda Rousey, and my dude Demetrious Johnson. They keep kicking it into a whole 'nother gear with every title defense!

Benson has to snap himself back to his glory days, where he was guillotining people with toothpicks in his mouth!

 

[TheVileOne]

But I mean look at his last fight with Thomson. I mean, I thought he won that fight, but he just didn't seem to have that same fire he did against say Jim Miller or Clay Guida.

Renan Barao also got some finishes when he became champion. He finished Michael McDonald, Eddie Wineland, and Urijah Faber in consecutive fights.

 

[E-Man]

I love Diego, but that was a terrible decision. That was some Leonard Garcia level ****.

 

[B]

LOL @ Diego beating Ross Pearson.

I would love to get the judges that thought Diego won & sit them down to explain why he won.. because Pearson peppered him with strikes & for the majority of the fight controlled the octagon.. so I've literally no clue how Diego was awarded the win. None.

 

[thefranchise03]

I love Diego, but that was a terrible decision. That was some Leonard Garcia level ****.

Yeah for real

 

[CrypticOne]

Yeah, don't know how the judge had it 30-27 for Diego. *sigh

 

[E-Man]

It's really sad how Diego went from this awesome prospect to top 10 guy around 2005-2008 to being a sloppy striker who windmills his way to horrible decisions like Leonard Garcia. I wish he'd use more of his grappling nowadays, but it's like it's a lost cause. He's taken so much damage that I fear for his future. After the Melendez fight he sounded like Holyfield. That fight was great and all, but he doesn't have to keep doing that. Hell his best fight was a grappling fest with Karo that's still one of my favorites to this day. It's too bad that the judges reward his poor behavior.

 

[B]

It was a crazy bad decision as well, probably one of the worst I can remember in MMA for the simple fact that it shouldn't have even been a tough fight to score. I like Diego as well for his heart & willingness to scrap with people, but Ross Pearson schooled him with his superior technical standup. Diego was in truth never really in the fight.

I'd love to know the backround on the judge(s?) that scored the fight 30-27 in favour of Diego, because I for the life of me have no clue how he even won 1 round, let alone 3.

 

[NicoSuave]

How Diego won that fight, I have no idea, but HOORAY for Demetrious Johnson!

 

[Maxim]

Anyone excited for UFC 175: Weidman vs. Machida? I have a feeling Weidman is going to have his hands full. I'm also very interested in seeing Alex Caceres vs. Urijah Faber. That should be a good match up.

 

[E-Man]

UFC 175 looks really good. My boy Urijah isn't on the main card, but I'm not complaining since I'll see the fight anyway. I have Machida taking the belt, but I won't count out Weidman having the ability to use his size well.

 

[Batmannerism]

Kia Ora UFC fans,

we don't get anywhere near enough UFC down here in NZ.
Although the first UFC event in NZ is being held soon,
James Te Huna takes on Nate Marquardt.

I would think Marquardt should win it, but if it comes to a decision
I think Te Huna will probably get the judges' votes (local boy).

Did catch a fair bit of "TUF Nations" and being from Canada originally,
I loved watching the Aussies get whooped.

The question is, why ? Why did the Canadians dominate the Aussies so much ?

I know UFC is big in Canada, and growing in Aussie, but if any of my peeps up there in the Great White North have any theories about why the Canadians were so dominant, I'd love to hear them.

And what about Anderson Silva ? Do people think he should make a comeback or just walk away....while he can still walk. After two defeats, one "pride goeth before a fall" and the other a freakish accident, is a third go at Weidman (or anyone else) just tempting fate ?