I cannot see any active UFC fighter rivaling the run Jon Jones, GSP, or even Anderson Silva had.

[Rio Ferdinand]

Islam Makhachev?

Potentially Aspinall?

Leon hasn't lost since 2015.

Alot of guys are doing pretty well.

 

[Elvis.]

If Bo Nickal lives up to his perceived potential, and that’s a very big “if” I could see him going on a pretty impressive run

 

[Cartiac]

We already know no active fighter comes close to Jones, it is not a question. It is the same as guys like Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, etc. When very special athletes like that came into a sport they seperate themselves very quickly and it is obvious.

A recent example that comes to mind in UFC is Khamzat. He came in very hot and fast, quickly jumped to the top levels but then clearly hit his limit and stalled out, that never happened to Jon Jones.

 

[OldBoy91]

Paddy will be better than all of them.

 

[HHJ]

I mean, The Greatest Ever doesn't come around every couple of years...

Exactly.

Of course there will be people who surpass them eventually.

But they dont fucking grow on fuckin trees,and it hasnt even been that long yet.

The only record that would never be broken,is Fedor at HW obviously.

 

[HHJ]

A recent example that comes to mind in UFC is Khamzat. He came in very hot and fast, quickly jumped to the top levels but then clearly hit his limit and stalled out, that never happened to Jon Jones.

Stalled?

He hasnt even lost yet lmao

calm down bruva

 

[Cartiac]

Stalled?

He hasnt even lost yet lmao

calm down bruva

Definitely Stalled my boy. He went backwards after the Burns fight. If Khamzat was on the level of Silva, Adesanya, Jones, etc he would have confidently beaten Burns and fought for the title in his next fight. Instead he struggled against Burns and took a major step down after because he clearly needed some remedial schooling before it was reasonable for him to take another shot at going for the summit.

 

[HHJ]

Definitely Stalled my boy. He went backwards after the Burns fight. If Khamzat was on the level of Silva, Adesanya, Jones, etc he would have confidently beaten Burns and fought for the title in his next fight. Instead he struggled against Burns and took a major step down after because he clearly needed some remedial schooling before it was reasonable for him to take another shot at going for the summit.

Not everyone's path is the same to achieve the same results. Anderson Silva lost to Daiju Takase and Ryo Chonan. Khamzat remains unblemished.

 

[no fat chicks]

You remember he was called chicken legs by all the roster until he prove to be much better.
He was not favourite within Forum against
Bader shogun and rampage
After these he became unbeatable in the eyes of many except cops and judges

Who the hell was picking Bader over him!? The shogun one I was very wrong on. I even told Greg Jackson I was picking Shogun lol. Rampage was a pretty 50/50.

I bought into the Jones hype along with many others immediately after the spinning elbow on Bonnar.

I don't remember him being doubted too much after dominating shogun tbh.

 

[Gamer2k4]

Vitor, Machida, Gusmao, Gus 1, DC 2 early, Reyes, and Santos off the top of my head.

Keep in mind the context here is the line "they all looked vulnerable and built their image gradually," so Reyes and Santos for sure are irrelevant here. Vitor had one deep armbar attempt and was otherwise trounced (and ultimately finished). Machida had a couple of good punches that surprised Jones but didn't ever put the outcome of the fight in doubt. Gus 1 was Jones's seventh title fight, and DC 2 was Jones's tenth, so again, neither of those are examples of early vulnerability that was forgotten as Jones's resume strengthened.

With all that as context, pull back for a second and realize just how thoroughly dominant Jones has always been. It's at the point that when he's "only" 50-45ing fighters (like OSP) or someone gets a submission ATTEMPT on him (Vitor) that people think he's vulnerable. How crazy is that? These aren't losses; they're not even close fights. They're instances of the opponent having a single good moment in a 25-minute fight. If that's the worst your critics can say about your performance, you're doing alright.

 

[Cartiac]

Not everyone's path is the same to achieve the same results. Anderson Silva lost to Daiju Takase and Ryo Chonan. Khamzat remains unblemished.

Daiju and Ryo? Are you talking about Street Fighter II?

We are talking about paths in comparison to the greatest. Anderson won the UFC title in his second fight by attempted murder and continued to terrifying everyone for a long time. Khamzat could eventually do OK, but it is clear he will not have the long term dominance of the greats.

Khamzat's frequency and desire to fight also does not match the same level as the greats who fought as frequently as possible against whoever they needed to to become champ.

 

[HHJ]

Daiju and Ryo? Are you talking about Street Fighter II?

Ok well I can see this wont be a serious conversation. Good Day,casual.

 

[TR1]

Belal will break all their records.

 

[Skarsgard]

Keep in mind the context here is the line "they all looked vulnerable and built their image gradually," so Reyes and Santos for sure are irrelevant here. Vitor had one deep armbar attempt and was otherwise trounced (and ultimately finished). Machida had a couple of good punches that surprised Jones but didn't ever put the outcome of the fight in doubt. Gus 1 was Jones's seventh title fight, and DC 2 was Jones's tenth, so again, neither of those are examples of early vulnerability that was forgotten as Jones's resume strengthened.

With all that as context, pull back for a second and realize just how thoroughly dominant Jones has always been. It's at the point that when he's "only" 50-45ing fighters (like OSP) or someone gets a submission ATTEMPT on him (Vitor) that people think he's vulnerable. How crazy is that? These aren't losses; they're not even close fights. They're instances of the opponent having a single good moment in a 25-minute fight. If that's the worst your critics can say about your performance, you're doing alright.

Okay. Even by your goalpost shift, he still arguably lost to Gusmao early.
If you didn't think the Machida fight was in danger before he landed the takedown and rocked him, you were never going to be convinced otherwise. Machida was in control of the stand-up and was winning it. Jones' aura of dominance doesn't mean he's automatically winning those fights.

 

[kalabula]

Really? Islam and Volk seem like the definitely could.

 

[Cartiac]

Ok well I can see this wont be a serious conversation. Good Day,casual.

Sorry I'm not impressed by your irrelevant, obscure references to insignificant, losing fighters in a thread specifically about the context of the greatest UFC fighters of all time. Maybe if Khamzat fought guys like Laffmy Titsoff or Wilma Dickfit before jumping into the UFC he could be like Anderson.

 

[HHJ]

Sorry I'm not impressed by your irrelevant, obscure references to insignificant, losing fighters in a thread specifically about the context of the greatest UFC fighters of all time. Maybe if Khamzat fought guys like Laffmy Titsoff or Wilma Dickfit before jumping into the UFC he could be like Anderson.

Casual Powers activate!

 

[BowserJr]

Silva will never be repeated cuz he was absurd
GSPs run is as impressive as Silva but it could be repeated

Jones merely repeated what Fedor did and still had a few fights to go to surpass Fedor. Plus Fedor arguably had tougher competition at a higher weight class. He faced opponents who where all bigger and taller then him except Cro Cop who was a better more accomplished more elite striker than anyone Jon faced

 

[Trabaho]

Let see what happens between Volk an the Top-Dog on February the 17th... I can be the beginning of something awesome...

He already got stomped vs Islam. That counts

Israel had a lot of defenses. But nobody touches the eras of dominance GSP Jones and Anderson had. Khabib retired early.

 

[Trabaho]

Vitor almost broke his arm, Machida rocked him and was beating him to the punch for a round and a half before Jones took him down and opened up a bad cut, he looked like the elephant man after the first Gus fight, Santos blew out his knee and it was still a split decision, the majority of media scorers thought he lost to Reyes.

Dude Machida and Vitor got brutally wrecked. Lyoto landed one good punch and got heaped. In 2 rounds. Dropped with a punch then brutally choked. Vitor got dominated too. You expect someone to fight the best for a decade and never be in trouble.