So can we all agree that Stipe has surpassed Cain as greatest UFC heavyweight?

[Mr Moist]

First of all, a healthy Cain is Stipe’s biggest threat to the title, and is the fight I think that most of us would like to see next. But the notion that Stipe needs to beat Cain to become UFC heavyweight GOAT is false, and is actually the other way around. Looking at their records and some simple numbers show that while they’re close, Stipe is clearly already ahead of Cain as far as UFC resume:

Cain Velasquez (14-2)
UFC record: 12-2
Title fights: 6
Title fight record: 4-2
Title defenses: 2
Top 5 wins: 5 (Antonio Nogueira, Brock Lesnar, Junior Dos Santos x2, Antonio Silva)

Stipe Miocic (18-2)
UFC record: 12-2
Title fights: 4
Title fight Record: 4-0
Title defenses: 3
Top 5 wins: 6 (Mark Hunt, Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdum, Allistair Overeem, JDS, Francis Ngannou

Common opponents:
Fabricio Werdum- Stipe 1-0, Cain 0-1
Junior Dos Santos- Cain 2-1, Stipe 1-1

So in short Stipe has more top 5 wins, a perfect record in championship fights, and has more title defenses than Cain. Also, Stipe has a bigger advantage in diversity of opponents (Cain fought the same two guys defending), as well as Stipe staying fairly active and healthy. So imo, it is Cain who is the one who has to come back healthy and beat Miocic if he ever wants his Goat label back.

 

[BigMuffler]

Definitely.

 

[podsox]

Healthy Cain.... good one

 

[The guest]

Imo, he has. The domination in this streak, is impressive as fuck.

 

[KB Warrior]

How about we wait for them to fight eachother?

 

[Shaolin Bushido]

Well, don't wanna discount Stipes reign because it is no coincidence. He is tough as nails, skilled and a champion inside and outside the octagon. But 3 defenses is still 3 defenses. He may very well be the greatest or become the greatest but .. I'm not ready to declare him THE GOAT at this point. In other words if he retired now I'd think it was premature. Love the guy though. He does it the way it should be done with class and guts.

 

[chinarice]

His resume is easily better than Cain's.....

 

[Silverstar17]

For sure.

Cain had more potential. But he never lived up to it. Stipe is the most accomplished UFC HW champ ever despite usually being physically inferior. Impressive.

Edit: I want to add that Cain never "fully" lived up to his potential. He obviously had good success of his own. But he could have been much more.

 

[giusti825]

Cain was on the shelf for nearly 3 years while he was champ due to injury.....his championship resume isnt that good.

Stipe has surpassed him as the best all-time UFC HW.....i still have Fedor ahead of both however......

Cain shouldnt get a title shot unless he proves he doesnt need a year or two off between fights....

 

[BigMuffler]

For sure.

Cain had more potential. But he never lived up to it. Stipe is the most accomplished UFC HW champ ever despite usually being physically inferior. Impressive.

Is Stipe "usually" physically inferior or is he just white?

 

[Fullmount Triangle]

GOAT at what? In what area? Cain isnt even the best ufc heavyweight ever and wasnt in the conversation beforehand, let alone even close to the top 5 all time

 

[TheAmericanGazelle]

While I actually do think peak Cain is better than peak Stipe, none of that matters if you don't follow through with big wins.

Stipe's accomplishment simply outstrips Cains. Point blank and easy.

 

[SimonNova]

Antonio Nogueira

 

[Watermelonfresh]

First of all, a healthy Cain is Stipe’s biggest threat to the title, and is the fight I think that most of us would like to see next. But the notion that Stipe needs to beat Cain to become UFC heavyweight GOAT is false, and is actually the other way around. Looking at their records and some simple numbers show that while they’re close, Stipe is clearly already ahead of Cain as far as UFC resume:

Cain Velasquez (14-2)
UFC record: 12-2
Title fights: 6
Title fight record: 4-2
Title defenses: 2
Top 5 wins: 5 (Antonio Nogueira, Brock Lesnar, Junior Dos Santos x2, Antonio Silva)

Stipe Miocic (18-2)
UFC record: 12-2
Title fights: 4
Title fight Record: 4-0
Title defenses: 3
Top 5 wins: 6 (Mark Hunt, Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdum, Allistair Overeem, JDS, Francis Ngannou

Common opponents:
Fabricio Werdum- Stipe 1-0, Cain 0-1
Junior Dos Santos- Cain 2-1, Stipe 1-1

So in short Stipe has more top 5 wins, a perfect record in championship fights, and has more title defenses than Cain. Also, Stipe has a bigger advantage in diversity of opponents (Cain fought the same two guys defending), as well as Stipe staying fairly active and healthy. So imo, it is Cain who is the one who has to come back healthy and beat Miocic if he ever wants his Goat label back.

Nice post. Agreed!

 

[Mr Moist]

How about we wait for them to fight eachother?

Definitely, I just hope Cain can return, and if he’s anywhere close to his former self, then we have one hell of a fight on our hands.

 

[The Witcher]

The facts are indisputable

 

[croshad]

In his "dominant" era, Cain had 2 wins over JDS and 2 wins over Antonio Silva. If that was Stipe's run, the amount of shit he would get here would be unbearable. The 2 5 round beatings of JDS seems to be considered a far greater accomplishment then any 1st round KO Stipe does. So it seems that in the eyes of an average sherdoger, Stipe has to beat Cain and beat him like Ngannou beat Reem, to be considered a true HW goat.

 

[Bacco]

Title really need "ufc" between GOAT and heavyweight lol

Said that i don't know, i like Stipe but best performances of Cain still impress me more

A fight between the best version of themselves will be pretty much a 50/50 though

 

[Jizzer]

Disagree, he is the MMA heavyweight GOAT never mind the ufc

 

[Mr Moist]

GOAT at what? In what area? Cain isnt even the best ufc heavyweight ever and wasnt in the conversation beforehand, let alone even close to the top 5 all time

Keep in mind, I was speaking about the greatest in the UFC. I’m not putting Stipe over Fedor yet. But it seemed like the consesus around hear is that Cain had the better resume, and Stipe wasn’t in the conversation until he beat him. Who would you rank over Stipe and Cain in the UFC? Mir, Arlovski, Sylvia, and Couture are the only ones I can think of that you could at least argue, but none has had the length of success and domination as Stipe.