I don’t agree that he was past his prime. I think it had a lot to do with his focus on religion and his personal life. I dunno how old you are and if you’re one of the kids who watched Fedor’s history on FightPass or if you actually watched him come up in the early 00s until 2009/10. If you’re the first, you’re probably unfamiliar with him starting to have a priest around at all times and being more focused on his family. Fedor was once a complete savage. Look no further than the Randleman fight where he gets almost decapitated by him and comes right back and destroys him. I think once he got married, had kids, and got in tune with his faith he lost that edge of savagery and that’s exactly around the time he fought Tim, Brett, Fabricio, etc etc. He just wasn’t that scary guy entering the Pride ring and anything could happen.
As far as GSP, I truly believe he walked away because of the juicing. It couldnt have been a better time because we all know he lost to Johny. His head like Fedor wasn’t in there going against Hendricks but at no time do I discredit Hendricks for going in there and lighting him up and shutting down every aspect of his game.
Fedor will always be GOAT because he fought in the most dangerous division where one punch can end your reign. The same as Rocky Marciano (49-0) is still considered the GOAT in boxing over Floyd because he also fought in the biggest division.