Prime Fedor simply had a level of athleticism that is still unmatched in HW MMA

[Natural Order]

Love Fedor and all but he'd look like a fish out of water in a boxing ring with Joshua too

I'd pay a lot of money to see a Joshua vs prime Aleks E. boxing match! Of course AJ still a huge favourite but Aleks has some serious boxing fundamentals and moved very well. Much more of a threat than Frank imo.

 

[nonoob]

1- Yes, big deal, CC was K-1 great and beat almost everyone in Pride, Randleman was a fluke he avenged later with sub.
In UFC CC was outta prime.
KOing former UFC champs in Silvia and Arlovski is a big deal.

2- Only 1 legitimate loss is Werdum.
Silva was on TRT and 50+ pounds heavier.
Bader fight was very late Fedor was 45+

3- Let's hear from more competent people than 99% or Sherbros:

edor is the best pound for pound fighter in the world.

-Randy Couture, UFC HW Champion



Fedor is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world aside from BJ Penn, those 2 are the best fighters in the world.

-Rampage Jackson, UFC LHW Champion



As far as Fedor, I think that guy is the baddest motherfucker on the planet, that guy's a savage. He's one of those rare HW's that's dangerous on all positions....His submissions are nasty...he can fuck you up from any position.

-Joe Rogan, UFC commentator and BJJ brown belt



When asked who the best pound for pound fighter in the world is in 2008: "Fedor Emelianenko."

- George St. Pierre on INSIDE MMA



Fedor has no weakness! I have seen so many fights, and even the best fighters in the world have a flaw in their game but I have yet to find one in Fedor Emelianenko.

– Bas Rutten, former King of Pancrase and UFC HW Champion



Probably the best ever lived….he’s a living legend right now and I don’t think there’s a man on this planet who can beat him; the man is unreal. Pound for pound the best in the world

–Diego Sanchez, on hooterandgreenway radio show



"What do I think of Fedor? I think Fedor is a phenomenal fighter. He's extremely well-rounded.... And skill-wise he's probably the top guy in the world right now"

-Big John McCarthy, legendary referee



Fedor is my favorite

-BJ Penn, former UFC Welterweight Champion and BJJworld Champion, NWFS 7/9/06



Fedor is just too dominant, too good at punching people in the face. The way he punches people man he's trying to kill people, with both hands. He's in a whole different class by himself.

-Brandon Vera



NOBODY wants to fight fedor

-Wanderlei Silva, former Pride MW Champion and GP winner



Our great champion, he is the BEST in the world.

-Josh Barnett, former UFC HW Champion and adcc Champion



He hasn't really ever lost and he's pound-for-pound the best fighter.

-Jeff Monson, ADCC Submission Wrestling World Champion



He is the BEST.

-Mark Coleman, former UFC HW Champion and Pride GP Champion



"...and obviously Fedor"

-Dana White, UFC President on who the best fighter is



The best in the world, no doubt.

-Phil Baroni



Look, I’ve fought many people from around the world, so I’ve seen many strong fighters. But like him, never.

-Renato Sobral



Fedor would be absolutely great in K-1

-Ernesto Hoost, 4-time K-1 World Champion



Fedor is the most incredible fighter you'll ever see.

-Frank Trigg



Fedor is pound-for-pound best in the world.

-Shamada (Pride referee)



The best fighter to climb into ANY areana is Emelianenko Fedor. He is in his own league and you can't compare nobody.

-Kevin Randleman, former UFC HW Champion



He is the best and undefeated... His striking game and his ground game is the best, so that's why he is the best... He is the shit

-Mark Hunt, K-1 World Champion



He’s the total package; looks can be deceiving. He’s incredibly strong, his hips are amazing, probably his best asset. Hard to hold down, hard to do anything with the guy………shit he’s just the best, that’s why he’s the best. He gets in position to throw the big bombs, he throws just as hard on the ground as he does on the feet. That’s why he’s the world Champion.

– Mark Coleman, former UFC Champion and GP winner



He’s the fastest I’ve ever seen. Much faster than Mirko. And he’s got a great reaction. Technically he may not have such a big advantage, but physically he is the fastest heavy guy in MMA history. He tries a punch, misses it, then immediately shoots again, Cro Cop for example didn’t even see them coming. He must practise that a lot, because it’s not easy to improvise that kind of thing. He is really with a good combination of styles, he can go from one art to the other, that’s what makes him different.

– Antonio Rodorigo Nogueira, former Pride Champion



He has a fast eye, good for counter-attacking. And in every fight he shows up with something new under his sleeve. Against Filipovic he used a great clinch-strike combo: he’d go for the uchi-mata, quickly following with a powerful hook.

- Pedro Rizzo



-"Fedor is just too dominant, too good at punching people in the face. The way he punches people man he's trying to kill people, with both hands. He's in a whole different class by himself."

- Brandon Vera



Chuck Liddell: 'I'll fight anyone, Silva? Yeah sure, Quinton Jackson? Sure, Randy Couture? Sure'



Reporter: 'What about Fedor Emelianenko?'



Chuck Liddell: 'Well if I'll have to...I'll fight him...if I have to'



-"If there's one man I'd ever question fighting, it's him [Fedor]."

- Dan Henderson



-"I was amazed at how good Fedor is... I don't even think he's human.", "I've never been hit that hard before." "This guy is unreal, I don't think anyone's gonna beat him for a while."

- Tim Sylvia

No one compares to Fedor. Dana shills lie, for money, and disparage the GOAT.

 

[Greyscale]

1- Yes, big deal, CC was K-1 great and beat almost everyone in Pride, Randleman was a fluke he avenged later with sub.
In UFC CC was outta prime.
KOing former UFC champs in Silvia and Arlovski is a big deal.

2- Only 1 legitimate loss is Werdum.
Silva was on TRT and 50+ pounds heavier.
Bader fight was very late Fedor was 45+

3- Let's hear from more competent people than 99% or Sherbros:

edor is the best pound for pound fighter in the world.

-Randy Couture, UFC HW Champion



Fedor is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world aside from BJ Penn, those 2 are the best fighters in the world.

-Rampage Jackson, UFC LHW Champion



As far as Fedor, I think that guy is the baddest motherfucker on the planet, that guy's a savage. He's one of those rare HW's that's dangerous on all positions....His submissions are nasty...he can fuck you up from any position.

-Joe Rogan, UFC commentator and BJJ brown belt



When asked who the best pound for pound fighter in the world is in 2008: "Fedor Emelianenko."

- George St. Pierre on INSIDE MMA



Fedor has no weakness! I have seen so many fights, and even the best fighters in the world have a flaw in their game but I have yet to find one in Fedor Emelianenko.

– Bas Rutten, former King of Pancrase and UFC HW Champion



Probably the best ever lived….he’s a living legend right now and I don’t think there’s a man on this planet who can beat him; the man is unreal. Pound for pound the best in the world

–Diego Sanchez, on hooterandgreenway radio show



"What do I think of Fedor? I think Fedor is a phenomenal fighter. He's extremely well-rounded.... And skill-wise he's probably the top guy in the world right now"

-Big John McCarthy, legendary referee



Fedor is my favorite

-BJ Penn, former UFC Welterweight Champion and BJJworld Champion, NWFS 7/9/06



Fedor is just too dominant, too good at punching people in the face. The way he punches people man he's trying to kill people, with both hands. He's in a whole different class by himself.

-Brandon Vera



NOBODY wants to fight fedor

-Wanderlei Silva, former Pride MW Champion and GP winner



Our great champion, he is the BEST in the world.

-Josh Barnett, former UFC HW Champion and adcc Champion



He hasn't really ever lost and he's pound-for-pound the best fighter.

-Jeff Monson, ADCC Submission Wrestling World Champion



He is the BEST.

-Mark Coleman, former UFC HW Champion and Pride GP Champion



"...and obviously Fedor"

-Dana White, UFC President on who the best fighter is



The best in the world, no doubt.

-Phil Baroni



Look, I’ve fought many people from around the world, so I’ve seen many strong fighters. But like him, never.

-Renato Sobral



Fedor would be absolutely great in K-1

-Ernesto Hoost, 4-time K-1 World Champion



Fedor is the most incredible fighter you'll ever see.

-Frank Trigg



Fedor is pound-for-pound best in the world.

-Shamada (Pride referee)



The best fighter to climb into ANY areana is Emelianenko Fedor. He is in his own league and you can't compare nobody.

-Kevin Randleman, former UFC HW Champion



He is the best and undefeated... His striking game and his ground game is the best, so that's why he is the best... He is the shit

-Mark Hunt, K-1 World Champion



He’s the total package; looks can be deceiving. He’s incredibly strong, his hips are amazing, probably his best asset. Hard to hold down, hard to do anything with the guy………shit he’s just the best, that’s why he’s the best. He gets in position to throw the big bombs, he throws just as hard on the ground as he does on the feet. That’s why he’s the world Champion.

– Mark Coleman, former UFC Champion and GP winner



He’s the fastest I’ve ever seen. Much faster than Mirko. And he’s got a great reaction. Technically he may not have such a big advantage, but physically he is the fastest heavy guy in MMA history. He tries a punch, misses it, then immediately shoots again, Cro Cop for example didn’t even see them coming. He must practise that a lot, because it’s not easy to improvise that kind of thing. He is really with a good combination of styles, he can go from one art to the other, that’s what makes him different.

– Antonio Rodorigo Nogueira, former Pride Champion



He has a fast eye, good for counter-attacking. And in every fight he shows up with something new under his sleeve. Against Filipovic he used a great clinch-strike combo: he’d go for the uchi-mata, quickly following with a powerful hook.

- Pedro Rizzo



-"Fedor is just too dominant, too good at punching people in the face. The way he punches people man he's trying to kill people, with both hands. He's in a whole different class by himself."

- Brandon Vera



Chuck Liddell: 'I'll fight anyone, Silva? Yeah sure, Quinton Jackson? Sure, Randy Couture? Sure'



Reporter: 'What about Fedor Emelianenko?'



Chuck Liddell: 'Well if I'll have to...I'll fight him...if I have to'



-"If there's one man I'd ever question fighting, it's him [Fedor]."

- Dan Henderson



-"I was amazed at how good Fedor is... I don't even think he's human.", "I've never been hit that hard before." "This guy is unreal, I don't think anyone's gonna beat him for a while."

- Tim Sylvia



-"Fedor has no equals in Sambo or MMA."

- Aleksander Mikhailin, 3-time World Judo Champion and Fedor's former training partner





Last but not least: “Fedor is a farce.”

- Dana White

1. About one and a half dozen Cro Cop fights pre-UFC were against cans, non-fighters or non-heavyweights. Apart from beating Barnett (sometimes questionably) he lacks trademark wins in this period. Igor was nearing decommission, AE was very green. Had each and every one of his opponents been at least a HW, his record would look even more humble. And, of course, he immediately lost his prime after moving to the US as he got cut off from those juicy Japanese welterweights supply.

2. Zulu was 170 lbs heavier, so what? Choi, too. I keep hearing that Fedor was a natural middleweight, why did he choose to fight at HW then? Maybe fighting actual middleweights would be a better idea. Which he did, and it didn't pay, as he was outwrestled and knocked out by a 41-yo MW.

|t's also symbolical that he fought Bader at 45+ years old. He beat Coleman for the first time very convincingly, yet he had to subject a very past his prime 42-yo Coleman to another beating instead of fighting contemporary top opposition. He sorta became a Coleman himself. That's, by the way, is a direct consequence of his bad life choices. He retired from MMA to do movies, politics and business and failed at absolutely everything. That's why he had to resort to receiving concussions for a paycheck at a rather advanced age in a sport he never even liked.

3. Joe Rogan once said that Ronda Rousey would beat Floyd Mayweather. Some fighters say that Bruce Lee is the greatest fighter of all time. Fighters get concussed on the job and prone to saying dumb shit sometimes. Plus, the vast majority of those quotes date back to pre-2010 period. I would like everyone who said dumb shit like that go watch the Hendo fight, go watch the Maldonado fight, go count the actual number of worthy opponents on his record. The man they idolized didn't just get past his prime, he simply never existed.

 

[OldBoy91]

This will probably come sounding pedantic AF, but what do we mean by “notable”? Like, if I'm listing any decent win Fedor has ever had, I’ll list Rogers, sure. I wouldn’t call him a can, although I agree he’s not really elite either. Like we said, it was a fine fight to make at the time and a fine win, but I’ll bet I could easily list 15 names or more on Fedor’s resume from his initial 2000-2012 run that are better than Rogers, maybe even 20 names, I dunno.

He may not be a full fledged can, like Jaideep Singh or Hong Man Choi, but he's on the verge.

He has losses to guys with 50/50 records.

One good win in your career doesn't make you a good win for somebody else.

To use an example, my favourite fighter ever is Takanori Gomi. He was still considered to be one of, if not the best lightweight in the world when he somehow lost to Sergei Golyaev. Would you consider Sergei Golyaev a legit win for any top lightweight in the world at any point?

Of course you don't, nobody does, because nobody besides Fedor fans try to prop up mediocre and straight up bad wins as some kind of great achievement for their guy.

And Sergei Golyaev is actually a better win comparative to weightclass than Brett Rogers is. Because Golyaev also managed to get a win against Ivan Buchinger, who is a fantastic fighter. Brett Rogers never beat anybody worth a damn besides Arlovski. Who even is his 2nd best win? Kawaguchi? James Thompson?

 

[BFoe]

He may not be a full fledged can, like Jaideep Singh or Hong Man Choi, but he's on the verge.

He has losses to guys with 50/50 records.

One good win in your career doesn't make you a good win for somebody else.

To use an example, my favourite fighter ever is Takanori Gomi. He was still considered to be one of, if not the best lightweight in the world when he somehow lost to Sergei Golyaev. Would you consider Sergei Golyaev a legit win for any top lightweight in the world at any point?

Of course you don't, nobody does, because nobody besides Fedor fans try to prop up mediocre and straight up bad wins as some kind of great achievement for their guy.

And Sergei Golyaev is actually a better win comparative to weightclass than Brett Rogers is. Because Golyaev also managed to get a win against Ivan Buchinger, who is a fantastic fighter. Brett Rogers never beat anybody worth a damn besides Arlovski. Who even is his 2nd best win? Kawaguchi? James Thompson?

Who is “propping up” Brett Rogers? I’m certainly not.

• I said he is a legitimate ranked win, and he is.
• I said he’s a legitimate defense of Fedor’s WAMMA title, and he is.
• I said that considering Rogers’ undefeated record at the time, all by 1st round KO, including Arlovski who was #6 in the world at the time (and was #2 before losing to Fedor) made it a perfectly fine fight to make at the time, and it was. In fact, if you look back at the rankings I posted, Rogers was the highest ranked Strikeforce HW listed. While SF would get an influx of fighters and have a great HW division in 2011 & 2012, it wasn’t at that point yet in November 2009.
• I said that based on the above factors, it was reasonable to list Rogers as a “notable” win, although with hindsight—hindsight—we can say that it was not an elite win.

So what exactly is your disagreement?

 

[DayV]

1. About one and a half dozen Cro Cop fights pre-UFC were against cans, non-fighters or non-heavyweights. Apart from beating Barnett (sometimes questionably) he lacks trademark wins in this period. Igor was nearing decommission, AE was very green. Had each and every one of his opponents been at least a HW, his record would look even more humble. And, of course, he immediately lost his prime after moving to the US as he got cut off from those juicy Japanese welterweights supply.

Nonsense. You could say that for basically all UFC champs, that they lack signature wins of their period.

Who did Cain beat apart from JDS and Lesnar?
Who did Francis beat apart from Stipe and Gagnae?
Who did JDS beat apart from Cain, Mir, Stipe and Werdum?
etc...
Cro Cop with 3 wins vs Barnett and wins vs Wanderlei (who was on equal terms as Jones & Cormier getting HW title shots as LHW champs) does not lack of trademark wins than them.

Cro Cop beat all 4 semi-finalists of Pride 2000 Grand Prix for example, so he is guilty of beating the best fighters of previous era, same as every other champion ever since.
All of his opponents were heavyweights, Cro Cop fought all his fights without weight limit. There was no minimum weight required for HW. Also size is overrated due to cage, where it is used for fence clinching-wrestling and reach in big cage. Those fights were in the ring. Barnett, Herring, Waterman, Alex Emelianenko... had 15-20 kilos over Mirko. Beeing able to use Gi kimono as a weapon in 10 minute round is a far greater advantage to certain fighters than extra pounds.

Bigfoots, Rothwells, Blaydeses, Lewises that others beat are of equal value as top contender Herring or undefeated Fujita (who was basically lineal UFC champion), in their time.

Cro Cop has significantly more good HW wins than modern UFC champs like Cain, HW DC, Francis, Stipe...
https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/tck-star-rating-system-the-heavyweights.4106864/
Cro Cop fought 27 fights in Pride/Japan till coming to America, out of them only 6-7 were cans, and he had no previous ground experience himself, 20 of those opponents were good and dangerous, and he fought them all in only 5 years. That is a crazy strong schedule, it is like 15 years of fighting in UFC.

Of course that he lost his prime when he faced complete change of rules overnight, and with huge mileage and injuries had allready started taking their tool. Cro Cop spent his life in ring in K-1, boxing and Pride MMA, and then he suddeny found himself in strange newly fabricated creation of cage, of course he was not the same as in the ring.

 

[Greyscale]

Cro Cop with 3 wins vs Barnett and wins vs Wanderlei (who was on equal terms as Jones & Cormier getting HW title shots as LHW champs) does not lack of trademark wins than them.

Wins vs Wanderlei... right.

Who did Cain beat apart from JDS and Lesnar?
Who did Francis beat apart from Stipe and Gagnae?
Who did JDS beat apart from Cain, Mir, Stipe and Werdum?
etc...

Cain beat Nog, Kongo, Rothwell, Lesnar, JDS, Browne and, unlike Fedor, Bigfoot Silva. He also had 0 fights with middleweights and circus freaks.
Ngannou beat Overeem, Stipe, Gane, Rozenstruik, JDS, Blaydes and Arlovski. Even 1 win over Stipe is worth more than all Fedor's wins over Nagatas, Singhs, Zulus and Chois.
JDS beat Werdum (unlike Fedor), Cain, Mir, Nelson, Gonzaga, Carwin, Nelson, Rothwell, Lewis. Each of those wins is worth more than all Fedor's fights against Japanese cans in PRIDE.
etc..

Cro Cop has significantly more good HW wins than modern UFC champs like Cain, HW DC, Francis, Stipe...
https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/tck-star-rating-system-the-heavyweights.4106864/
Cro Cop fought 27 fights in Pride/Japan till coming to America, out of them only 6-7 were cans, and he had no previous ground experience himself, 20 of those opponents were good and dangerous, and he fought them all in only 5 years. That is a crazy strong schedule, it is like 15 years of fighting in UFC.

That's BS. 7 out of his first 9 fights were against either cans or middleweights. And this is even before we get to the fights against Yamamoto, Oyama, Kanehara and Minowa. Fighting those guys is a blot on any HW's record.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Wins vs Wanderlei... right.

Cain beat Nog, Kongo, Rothwell, Lesnar, JDS, Browne and, unlike Fedor, Bigfoot Silva. He also had 0 fights with middleweights and circus freaks.
Ngannou beat Overeem, Stipe, Gane, Rozenstruik, JDS, Blaydes and Arlovski. Even 1 win over Stipe is worth more than all Fedor's wins over Nagatas, Singhs, Zulus and Chois.
JDS beat Werdum (unlike Fedor), Cain, Mir, Nelson, Gonzaga, Carwin, Nelson, Rothwell, Lewis. Each of those wins is worth more than all Fedor's fights against Japanese cans in PRIDE.
etc..

That's BS. 7 out of his first 9 fights were against either cans or middleweights. And this is even before we get to the fights against Yamamoto, Oyama, Kanehara and Minowa. Fighting those guys is a blot on any HW's record.

Yes, beating Ben Rothwell, Travis Browne, or Derrick "I've fallen and can't get up" Lewis is worth much more than beating prime Nog, CC, Coleman, or Randleman. Terrible wikiposter.

 

[GiganticMeat]

Fedor was nimble and supple and most of that is genetics. When you get older, you lose that supple nimble attribute. There is no fitness regimen or training modality that gives you a natural level smooth relaxed flexibility and agile body movement.

Most people grow old, become stiff and their bodies muscle fiber does not fire up as quick. Fedor had that subtle physical attribute that he could move like a jungle cat but aging and wear and tear leads to the lose of those attributes.

Who knows, maybe some form of slow relaxed exercise and breath work build that attribute up but all and all, his attribute was just slick natural cat like movement with grace. Its youth athlete quality.

Wtf dude, I don't need some bro on a karate forum telling me Fedor was "nipple and succulent"

For real, I think you hit the nail on the head and those attributes are somewhat trainable

 

[DayV]

Wins vs Wanderlei... right.

Cain beat Nog, Kongo, Rothwell, Lesnar, JDS, Browne and, unlike Fedor, Bigfoot Silva. He also had 0 fights with middleweights and circus freaks.
Ngannou beat Overeem, Stipe, Gane, Rozenstruik, JDS, Blaydes and Arlovski. Even 1 win over Stipe is worth more than all Fedor's wins over Nagatas, Singhs, Zulus and Chois.
JDS beat Werdum (unlike Fedor), Cain, Mir, Nelson, Gonzaga, Carwin, Nelson, Rothwell, Lewis. Each of those wins is worth more than all Fedor's fights against Japanese cans in PRIDE.
etc..

That's BS. 7 out of his first 9 fights were against either cans or middleweights. And this is even before we get to the fights against Yamamoto, Oyama, Kanehara and Minowa. Fighting those guys is a blot on any HW's record.

BS, you are calling ranked fighters who had good status at those historic times as cans; it is like I declare Rothwell, Kongo, Browne, Bigfoot, Nelson... cans.
They are worth exactlly the same as their counterparts who had simillar status 20 years ago, if we compare fighters from different times and eras.
Wanderlei? In modern UFC Jones got HW title shot with 0 HW fights, if Gagne managed to beat him, guess you would call that an unworthy win. Same for Alex Pereira at LHW, Adesanya at LHW, GSP with MW title shot against Bisping. Wanderlei beat Top 10 ranked HW Fujita, and probably deserved a win vs Hunt, on top of beeing LHW champ.
Arlovski, Overeem, JDS, Cain in recent years on resumes of younger stars are exactlly the same thing and same status as Coleman, Randleman, Vovchanchyn in those historic times.

Cro Cop had 5-6 cans, and he had no previous ground experience, he started against top fighters immediatley. Modern UFC fighters have 10 cans before their first big fight. Mirko fought Kanehara 20 days after beeing KOd by Randleman with his body still in shock. Even Minowa beat good HW's like Yvel, Kimo Leopoldo, Frye, Sokodju and dozen others like Leko, Zimmerman, Choi... so fight is a lot more than weight in scale. Those were all HW fights with no weight limit.

Cro Cop had about 20 good & dangerous opponents out of 27 before coming to US in only 5 years + he fought Hunt, Bonjasky, Sapp in K1 paralell at the same time after his MMA debut. That is a crazy mileage and schedule, it is like 15+ years of fighting in UFC.

Cro Cop's good opponents in Pride:

Fujita - Top 5 ranked with wins vs Kerr, Shamrock, Yvel; udefeated, lineal UFC champion

Sakuraba - nobody expected K-1 fighter to win, huge upset in MMA world and disbelief & shock for MMA fans, in contrary to modern wiki weight relativization of history. Sakuraba had no problems with size of Conan Silvera, Ken Shamrock, Randleman, Belfort, Rampage, Royce, Mezger when he beat them.

Wanderlei - LHW champ

Fujita - Top 10 ranked

Herring - Top 5 ranked, top contender

Vovchanchyn - former #1 in the world, Top 10 ranked

Nogueira - former champ

Waterman - extremely big and strong, very good wrestler. Beat 2 UFC champions Randleman and Ricco Rodriguez while they were ranked and entered rankings few months after Cro Cop fight. Veteran of both Pride & UFC.

Randleman - former champ

Alex Emelianeko - sambo world champion, (had more experience as sambo basically = MMA) than Cro Cop who switched to full time MMA training in spring of 2003 after Sapp fight in K-1. Entered Top 10 few moths after Cro Cop fight with wins vs Baretto & Thompson

Barnett

Randleman - Top 10, former champion

Coleman - former champion, lost only to Fedor & Nogueira since he was #1

Magomedov - Top 15 ranked on genuine rankings of that time as M1 champion, something like ACA, PFL or ONE champion now

Fedor

Barnett

Hunt

Yoshida - ranked, wins vs Frye, Hunt, Abott, Tamura, Ogawa. Was allowed to use GI kimono as a weapon

Wanderlei - ranked HW, and LHW champion

Barnett

 

[moreorless87]

Honestly I think a lot of Fedor's wins which get downplayed were against fighters who were they around at HW today would probably be pretty relevant, people like Coleman, Randleman, Goodridge, Fujita, Yoshida, etc would I think very likely be top 10 HW's in the modern UFC.

Just looking at rankings alone is not a judge of achievement if the standard in a division has dropped off badly.

 

[BigOlJeet]

 

[MMonk]

At 34 he lost his unmatched atlethic ability ?

33 MMA fights at hte highest level with extensive background in Judo and Combat Sambo injures your body
and you lose a step or two... don't you get it?

 

[MMonk]

1. About one and a half dozen Cro Cop fights pre-UFC were against cans, non-fighters or non-heavyweights. Apart from beating Barnett (sometimes questionably) he lacks trademark wins in this period. Igor was nearing decommission, AE was very green. Had each and every one of his opponents been at least a HW, his record would look even more humble. And, of course, he immediately lost his prime after moving to the US as he got cut off from those juicy Japanese welterweights supply.

2. Zulu was 170 lbs heavier, so what? Choi, too. I keep hearing that Fedor was a natural middleweight, why did he choose to fight at HW then? Maybe fighting actual middleweights would be a better idea. Which he did, and it didn't pay, as he was outwrestled and knocked out by a 41-yo MW.

|t's also symbolical that he fought Bader at 45+ years old. He beat Coleman for the first time very convincingly, yet he had to subject a very past his prime 42-yo Coleman to another beating instead of fighting contemporary top opposition. He sorta became a Coleman himself. That's, by the way, is a direct consequence of his bad life choices. He retired from MMA to do movies, politics and business and failed at absolutely everything. That's why he had to resort to receiving concussions for a paycheck at a rather advanced age in a sport he never even liked.

3. Joe Rogan once said that Ronda Rousey would beat Floyd Mayweather. Some fighters say that Bruce Lee is the greatest fighter of all time. Fighters get concussed on the job and prone to saying dumb shit sometimes. Plus, the vast majority of those quotes date back to pre-2010 period. I would like everyone who said dumb shit like that go watch the Hendo fight, go watch the Maldonado fight, go count the actual number of worthy opponents on his record. The man they idolized didn't just get past his prime, he simply never existed.

1- CC had a career in K-1 before.
He fought 5-6 times a year in PRIDE, no one does that in UFC.
In retrospect, 90% of today's UFC HW will look like cans in 10 years.

2- This bs again... Hendo was juiced on TRT and 217 pounds.... off the TRT he got wrestlefucked by a WW Shields, lol.


3- It's not Rogan, these are quotes from the BEST FIGHTERS OF FEDOR ERA/

See the difference?

 

[Doctor Grudge]

First of all, let's get it out of the way: Fedor beat exactly ZERO UFC champions. Victories over people 2-11 years AFTER they lost the belt mean a little more than beating up a Royce Gracie in back alley in 2024.

Did I say that a fighter should always fight elite competition? Nevermind. Show me a UFC chamption who won the belt and then went to some other promotion to fight a circus acrobat with 0-1 record in MMA.

Well, they haven't done that because they're not allowed to, not because of some honor. UFC Champions cannot leave and fight in other promotions.

It's not like UFC championship fighters are above fighting freaks for money - Brock Lesnar fought top guys by his 2nd fight, so obviously if a UFC champ could leave to fight Lesnar in another promotion they would have done it.

 

[RonDante]

Who is “propping up” Brett Rogers? I’m certainly not.

• I said he is a legitimate ranked win, and he is.
• I said he’s a legitimate defense of Fedor’s WAMMA title, and he is.
• I said that considering Rogers’ undefeated record at the time, all by 1st round KO, including Arlovski who was #6 in the world at the time (and was #2 before losing to Fedor) made it a perfectly fine fight to make at the time, and it was. In fact, if you look back at the rankings I posted, Rogers was the highest ranked Strikeforce HW listed. While SF would get an influx of fighters and have a great HW division in 2011 & 2012, it wasn’t at that point yet in November 2009.
• I said that based on the above factors, it was reasonable to list Rogers as a “notable” win, although with hindsight—hindsight—we can say that it was not an elite win.

So what exactly is your disagreement?

Undefeated record where his only notable win is arlovski by running towards him and throwing punches as fast as he can. Not elite, not even good. 8 first round wins over guys who you’ve never heard of, and no one would remember brett Rogers if it wasn’t for fighting fedor

 

[Ladder Master]

Being the one of the best HW’s in world for almost a decade is not good enough for the armchair quarter backs here.

 

[BFoe]

Undefeated record where his only notable win is arlovski by running towards him and throwing punches as fast as he can. Not elite, not even good. 8 first round wins over guys who you’ve never heard of, and no one would remember brett Rogers if it wasn’t for fighting fedor

Well, he did fight Fedor obviously and that’s the fight we’re talking about. Millions of people watched that fight on CBS. I think it did like a 5.5 rating, which obviously isn’t Super Bowl numbers lol, but still pretty strong. Among 18-34 years olds I think CBS saw almost a 40% increase in viewership.

So again: Fedor Emelianenko fighting an undefeated first-round KO artist, one who had just KOed former UFC champ and #6 in the world Arlovksi, on US soil, on prime time network television, was a big deal at the time. It was also a defense of Fedor’s WAMMA title. It was a notable fight, it’s a notable win, and honestly when it comes to Fedor and a Rogers people just kind of need to get over it already.

 

[RonDante]

Well, he did fight Fedor obviously and that’s the fight we’re talking about. Millions of people watched that fight on CBS. I think it did like a 5.5 rating, which obviously isn’t Super Bowl numbers lol, but still pretty strong. Among 18-34 years olds I think CBS saw almost a 40% increase in viewership.

So again: Fedor Emelianenko fighting an undefeated first-round KO artist, one who had just KOed former UFC champ and #6 in the world Arlovksi, on US soil, on prime time network television, was a big deal at the time. It was also a defense of Fedor’s WAMMA title. It was a notable fight, it’s a notable win, and honestly when it comes to Fedor and a Rogers people just kind of need to get over it already.

When I say notable win I don’t mean people know it happened, I mean you count in for someone’s legacy as a serious win, and not just filler like beating an unranked guy

 

[BFoe]

When I say notable win I don’t mean people know it happened, I mean you count in for someone’s legacy as a serious win, and not just filler like beating an unranked guy

Right, but it’s not an unranked guy. It’s a legitimately ranked guy.

It’s a shame that Rogers couldn’t have had just ONE more elite win before Fedor; then he’d be like Shane Carwin, whom I don’t really hear anyone shit on that often. While posters ITT mock Rogers for James Thompson being his best win pre-Arlovksi, but I don’t think Carwin even had anyone at Thompson’s level prior to Gonzaga. He’s got Mir and Gonzaga for elite wins, and nothing else, yet doesn’t get nearly the hate that Rogers does.

Some of that is probably due to Carwin not fighting after 2011, so we don’t know what would’ve happened. I guess Strikeforce should’ve stolen a page from modern-UFC’s playbook and set Rogers up with an interim belt, and he’d magically have credibility

The whole thing with Rogers is just sort of overblown. Bummer he didn’t turn out to be elite. Still a notable fight, notable win, and legit ranked win and WAMMA title defense. I’m not sure what else to say about it.