1. Anderson Silva
2. Jon Jones
3. GSP
4. Demetrius Johnson
5. Fedor
2. Jon Jones
3. GSP
4. Demetrius Johnson
5. Fedor
OT: Best MMA fighters of all time
- Thread starter moralvictories
- Start date
The thing with MMA…obviously best guys now beat the old school guys and are the best ever.
I still love the old school stuff though…I could watch Royce Gracie, Dan Severin, and Ken Shamrock all day. Those guys laid the framework for what is rolling now.
Side note: I think Dan Severin is in one of my favorite all time movies…Public Enemies.
I still love the old school stuff though…I could watch Royce Gracie, Dan Severin, and Ken Shamrock all day. Those guys laid the framework for what is rolling now.
Side note: I think Dan Severin is in one of my favorite all time movies…Public Enemies.
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I think GSP from that list. It sucks that he and Anderson never figured out a way to fight at a catch weight for no belt, just fan enjoyment. MMA is evolving so fast, it is difficult to list somebody as the goat. Demetrius may have been the best on this list, but I don't think his body of competitors he had to beat were nearly as tough as 170 and 185.
Anderson in his prime would have destroyed GSP if they had fought. I think Anderson Silva vs Jon Jones would have been a better fight.
Perhaps Khabib in place of either Demetrius Johnson or Fedor.
I’d put Khabib right behind Jon Jones and Silva.
Pride fighting back in the day was legit. Fedor, Belfort, Rampage, Vanderlei, etc - that was when the sport was amazing because it was still so mysterious. I remember Dana thinking he’d send his UFC fighters and they’d own the Pride tournament. Wrong
Pride fighting back in the day was legit. Fedor, Belfort, Rampage, Vanderlei, etc - that was when the sport was amazing because it was still so mysterious. I remember Dana thinking he’d send his UFC fighters and they’d own the Pride tournament. Wrong
Jon jones is almost certainly a narcissist and from what I’ve seen during interviews that he thought the camera was off and said to DC “I will literally kill you if you spit in my face, I didn’t say fighting” he’s most likely to also have anti-social personality disorder.
I’ve competed in wrestling, full contact TKD, football for most of the early years of my life and there’s a big difference between an opponent who is competing against you and someone that is trying to permanently injure or kill you.
Jon jones tries to kill his opponents on a level I’ve never seen in organized fighting, ever.
Jon Jones Documentary
I’ve competed in wrestling, full contact TKD, football for most of the early years of my life and there’s a big difference between an opponent who is competing against you and someone that is trying to permanently injure or kill you.
Jon jones tries to kill his opponents on a level I’ve never seen in organized fighting, ever.
Jon Jones Documentary
It would have been a really interesting (maybe not fun) fight to watch. Anderson was a stud in standup and embarrassed guys with his punching. Pretty good jiu-jitsu too. Chael Sonnen was a really good wrestler who beat the brakes off of Anderson until he got caught in a triangle with ten seconds left. GSP was not a wrestler or boxer by trade, but became really good at both of those things as he evolved in his career. He could easily take guys down and then turn it into a really boring fight by holding the guy down the rest of the fight. He would finish fights looking like he just got done doing cardio in the gym for an hour. A roided up really good wrestler Johnny Hendricks was the exception and probably won that fight, but GSP won that fight too. I suspect GSP would figure out how to get it on the ground and that is where it would remain. It would come down to who was able to do what they did best and keep at it.
Do you watch much MMA anymore? I've dropped off big time. Hardly know who any of these guys are anymore.
Tank Abbott.
Tank Abbot is a legend in his own right and was one of the toughest mf’ers to ever do it in that time period. Dude had gorilla strength and unmatched will power. But Jon jones would destroy his knees in about a minute and then elbow his head until he dies or a referee stopped it.
Frank Shamrock, Ken’s little brother was more reserved but a better fighter.
Chael is bigger and stronger than GSP and also had a wrestling background. No way GSP is able to hold Silva down for 5 rounds, which would have been his only chance of beating Anderson Silva.
Ken was better early in his career. Ken beat Bas Rutten, while Frank lost to Bas. However later in their careers, Frank was the better fighter. Frank beat Tito Ortiz, while Ken lost to Tito 3x.
Would have loved to see Tank vs Royce back in the early UFC's. I would also like to have seen Tank vs Shane Carwin. Shane Carwin was a wrestler with knockout power much like Tank.
I watch it regularly and still don't know who most of these guys are even at the top of the card. If Joe Rogan is at the event calling the fights, it is usually a pretty good line-up of fights. If Dominic Cruz and Michael Bisping are calling the action, it is probably not a great line-up. They had some woman that has been with the UFC since 2016 calling the action last week. She was pretty good. Ultimately, I find it fun and interesting to watch dudes beat each other up in an organized fight like these. I wish the UFC would have a totally stacked fight card once or twice a year to let the best fighters go toe to toe and give the fans a real show. Sort of his own UFC-Mania. Throw in a stupid match where some celebrity gets beat up by a lesser UFC guy for the views. Jake Paul is making bank beating up washed up UFC guys who don't know how to box. Bring him over and let him fight a smaller 170 guy. He would get twisted into a knot.
Agreed. UFC has come along way since the Tank Abbott days. We'd literally just go brawl with 4 dudes a night and now it is a full on spot with so much sophistication
Yeah. Khabib is a ****in animal... He's number 2 for me right behind Jon Jones.
1. GSP
2. Jon Jones
3. Anderson
4. Mighty Mouse
Khabib is not in my top 4. He is the most dominant fighter in the history of the lightweight division. But he only beat like 3 good guys. Conor, Gaethje, and Poirier. Jones GSP and Anderson dominated their divisions for years and years. He didnt have the track record over many years. I think he's in that next group of guys with McGregor and DC. If Volkanovski can knock off Islam he may be in that group too.
2. Jon Jones
3. Anderson
4. Mighty Mouse
Khabib is not in my top 4. He is the most dominant fighter in the history of the lightweight division. But he only beat like 3 good guys. Conor, Gaethje, and Poirier. Jones GSP and Anderson dominated their divisions for years and years. He didnt have the track record over many years. I think he's in that next group of guys with McGregor and DC. If Volkanovski can knock off Islam he may be in that group too.
He is the dirtiest fighter in UFC history. 12-6 Elbows, Knees to downed opponents, Eye pokes, kicking guys in the knee caps to tear their ACLs. POS person. Great fighter though. He doesnt have to be dirty to dominate though.
It was a lot of fun when the UFC absorbed pride guys and Strike Force. The overall level of talent went way up. Plus, a lot of those guys have natural charisma and star power. As average as Conor McGregor is, he certainly did make it entertaining.
Agree that they should stack some cards here and there. When there are multiple fighters with unpronounceable names and you know nothing about their background, it's just not enticing.
2nd best fighter after Anderson Silva.
As far as Jones being a dirty fighter, the only thing I find sketchy is the knee kicks. The eye pokes are accidental and the 12-6 elbows although technically illegal are no more dangerous than any other kind of elbow.
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Man, those were my favorite days. Henderson, Forrest Griffin, Frank Mir, Bonnar, Rampage Jackson, Randy Couture etc. I have no clue if it was the best era but it seemed like the most fun.
My favorite UFC fight was Anderson Silva vs Forrest Griffin. Forrest is a damn good fighter, but Silva made him look like an amateur.
UFC 101! The co-main event was BJ Penn vs Kenny Florian! Of course I had to look that up.
Those were the days like 2008 through 2012. The light heavyweight division was stacked. Then you had Brock Lesnar in the Heavyweights. GSP killing it in the welterweights. BJ Penn. Those guys had way more personality back then. UFC is much more corporate now but every now and then they still have an old old school scrap.
Diaz brothers weren't great. But entertaining almost wwe type personalities and showmanship
Fun fact- Frank Mir's daughter Bella is a freshman on the Iowa womens wrestling team. She is 3-0 as an amateur MMA fighter with her specialties being wrestling and jiu-jitsu. She was a four time state champ in Nevada prior to heading to Iowa. She is the first fighter to get a UFC NIL deal. Not sure how much, but good for her. Too bad she is a Hawkeye.
Those early Ultimate Fighter seasons were pretty entertaining. I think it was Nate who was in the house. It was always funny when he was getting visibly annoyed with the children in the house with him. "I'm gonna sock that dude if he keeps touching me." Those early seasons were VERY entertaining with what amounted to a TON of future UFC regulars fighting one another.
I saw that! And Lesnar's daughter Mya is doing shot/disc at Arizona St. Maybe she'll start whooping some ass some day too?Fun fact- Frank Mir's daughter Bella is a freshman on the Iowa womens wrestling team. She is 3-0 as an amateur MMA fighter with her specialties being wrestling and jiu-jitsu. She was a four time state champ in Nevada prior to heading to Iowa. She is the first fighter to get a UFC NIL deal. Not sure how much, but good for her. Too bad she is a Hawkeye.
Didn't Lesnar fight Mir? That would be hilarious if the daughters fought inside the cage. Think of the promos. Fyi I have no idea what weight the ladies are.
I was briefly in Jon Jones social circle before he was famous. He was a nice, funny and very humble. It was fun watching him rise and easy to root for him. Had no idea he would blow up the way he did. Who knows what caused him to change? Money, fame, drugs, the people around him, frontal lobe damage? Who knows, maybe all.
They fought twice. The first was Brocks first fight in the UFC after only a couple other MMA fights. They threw him to the wolves with a killer. Brock was beating Mir's butt but they separated the two when Brock kept hammer fisting him in the back(ish) area of the head while on the ground. Mir set him up and went in on a leg lock and Brock tapped very quickly. The second fight, Brock beat the crap out of Mir which was impressive considering how good Mir was. Size was a big factor, but Mir was famous for KO-ing dudes one week and ripping guys arms in half the next time through. Him and Nogeira were legendary fights. Dude just about crippled Nogeira the second go around, and Nog was probably a better jiu-jitsu fighter. Not that night. Dude got his elbow turned backwards.
