Fedor had 9 pounds on Chael Sonnen.

[JoshR86]

Okay, Rumble must be welterweight then. Since he spent majority of his career there.

Makes sense. What's your Iq, is it two digits or one digit

Chael is a legit MW.

AJ was always a huge WW, it was obvious that the weight cut was diminishing his ability in the cage and is why no one considers him a WW. Anyone can starve themselves to make a lower weight but its how you perform at that weight that is significant...

Chael is a legit MW, and made it to a title shot 2x, never had any problems making weight.

Fedor has never fought below HW, to insinuate now that Fedor is a legit MW is moronic

 

[ultramanhyata]

I'm not surprised.
According to Jenna Jameson, Tito always finishes fast.

 

[VERBAL-FEDOR]

Tito finished Chael faster than Fedor.

Tito is GOAT.

But Tito got tapped by Liam Mcgreary, Liam Mcgreary is unquestionably the GOAT.

 

[Luvhawky]

I think we should stop and consider if what we picture as elite is actually a reality. There sure are a lot of old men still lingering around and finding success here and there.

Sorry, I am not sure I follow. Are you suggesting the best fighters of this era aren't impressive, especially when compared to the elite guys say 15 years ago?

 

[lalaland]

Functional weight

Wanderlei out-weighed Cro Cop by 5lbs when they last fought, who is bigger tho?

Clearly Wanderlei. 5 lbs heavier at a lower body fat percentage. He cut water weight to avoid HW's. Crocop did not. That's the only meaningful difference between them.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Sorry, I am not sure I follow. Are you suggesting the best fighters of this era aren't impressive, especially when compared to the elite guys say 15 years ago?

I'm pretty positive he's saying the HWs during the Pride era are better than the HWs today and it's kind of hard to argue against that when most HWs are less well rounded now then they were back then.

 

[sapporo ichiban]

Sorry, I am not sure I follow. Are you suggesting the best fighters of this era aren't impressive, especially when compared to the elite guys say 15 years ago?

The impressive fighters are all in lower weight classes. The hw class has always had a majority of lumbering oafs with a few good fighters.

To be fair it is easier to show brilliance in skills when gravity is not an issue. My answer is yes but with that said, I would like to clarify by stating that I am talking about hw divisions.

The lighter weight classes have turned into a place where the number 10 ranked by can be a well rounded whirlwind from hell and the hw divisions are not all that and a bag of chips compared when talking about evolution.

 

[tenniswhiz]

It wasnt even a good 9 pounds considering it was all fat lol

Russians need that extra fat for the cold winters.
Igor V was also blessed to withstand cold weather.

That’s how the Russians were able to drive the Nazis back.
Winter set in, and those 15-20 extra pounds carried by the grandfathers of Fedor, Igor V, and Khabib, among others, were the difference in defeating the Nazis.

 

[Luvhawky]

I'm pretty positive he's saying the HWs during the Pride era are better than the HWs today and it's kind of hard to argue against that when most HWs are less well rounded now then they were back then.

I think on the whole yeah, I have DC on top of the pile at any era though. But that is my biased opinion.

 

[Luvhawky]

The impressive fighters are all in lower weight classes. The hw class has always had a majority of lumbering oafs with a few good fighters.

To be fair it is easier to show brilliance in skills when gravity is not an issue. My answer is yes but with that said, I would like to clarify by stating that I am talking about hw divisions.

The lighter weight classes have turned into a place where the number 10 ranked by can be a well rounded whirlwind from hell and the hw divisions are not all that and a bag of chips compared when talking about evolution.

Yeah, that feels about right, like I said to the other guy, I think DC is the best HW we have ever seen (and yes I am biased here), but on the whole, I think you are right.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

I think on the whole yeah, I have DC on top of the pile at any era though. But that is my biased opinion.

I think he would be one of the best in the Pride era for sure but I think Fedor beats him and he would have trouble Cro Cop and with Big Nog pre Bob Sapp(he was much faster then and had really good boxing and clinch work to go along with his ground game). Sergei(back then he could hang on the ground with freaking Werdum) and Aleks would be issues too but I would favor DC over them.

 

[sapporo ichiban]

Chael is a legit MW.

AJ was always a huge WW, it was obvious that the weight cut was diminishing his ability in the cage and is why no one considers him a WW. Anyone can starve themselves to make a lower weight but its how you perform at that weight that is significant...

Chael is a legit MW, and made it to a title shot 2x, never had any problems making weight.

Fedor has never fought below HW, to insinuate now that Fedor is a legit MW is moronic

I don't know if I would call someone a moron for suggesting that Fedor could have cut to lhw or even lower. I think he could have easily made 205.

Yes, he is a heavyweight, always has been. Maybe he would have been shitty at 205, you are right, maybe not.

I think what the conversation is about is the fact that there are a lot of guys who fight at lower weight classes who are heavyweights when they are not cutting for a fight, there are guys at 205 who are bigger than Fedor, that is just the fact. If someone wants to call Fedor a small hw and suggest that he could have fought in a lower class then I would tend to agree. For his era, he did very well just the way he was.

 

[45ACP]

"Fedor had 9 pounds on Chael"

Fedor pounded on Chael 9 times more than he got pounded on?

(sorry idk why that's funny enough to me to post it - at least I'm capable of amusing myself)

 

[sapporo ichiban]

Yeah, that feels about right, like I said to the other guy, I think DC is the best HW we have ever seen (and yes I am biased here), but on the whole, I think you are right.

I have noticed that even these days where everyone thinks bigger is better, the very best hw's have always been between 235 and 245. That is just my opinion, I would be curious to know the stats on that.

 

[dormammu]

ALL FAT, if anything Chael has more muscle than Fedor.
Fedor just schooled the Lynn Gangster

 

[JoshR86]

I don't know if I would call someone a moron for suggesting that Fedor could have cut to lhw or even lower. I think he could have easily made 205.

Yes, he is a heavyweight, always has been. Maybe he would have been shitty at 205, you are right, maybe not.

I think what the conversation is about is the fact that there are a lot of guys who fight at lower weight classes who are heavyweights when they are not cutting for a fight, there are guys at 205 who are bigger than Fedor, that is just the fact. If someone wants to call Fedor a small hw and suggest that he could have fought in a lower class then I would tend to agree. For his era, he did very well just the way he was.

Again, i bet Fedor could've cut to 170 with enough malnourishment.

The question is how would have performed going through a weight cut, which is something that we can only speculate about.

Other HW's his size also never made the cut in Big Nog and CC.

So i dont see any tangible proof that Fedor was a LHW fighting at HW, its a sherbro argument that holds no weight.

 

[Luvhawky]

I have noticed that even these days where everyone thinks bigger is better, the very best hw's have always been between 235 and 245. That is just my opinion, I would be curious to know the stats on that.

Yeah I think there is an optimal weight and it is around that weight currently. But I do think that optimal weight goes up as the population available to the sport increases, just because you can start hitting that extra elite level of athleticism at the larger sizes.

 

[MileHigher]

Chael ragdolled Fedora at times.

Fedora is lucky Chael screwed up because the fight was starting to look like it was gonna be a long night for the Russian.

I hope this is a joke. Like saying Chael is undefeated and what not. I love Chael but he got wrecked.

 

[Shaddows]

Or we should look at what his natural size is and go from there. How much he was cutting weight. Like Chael Sonnen weighing at 227 when he didn't cut weight. It's all verbal, but facts are not dependant upon the way you word it.

Well, but it is.
IMHO I would abolish weight cutting.
All fighters should fight at their natural/optimal weight.

But Sonnen was not at his optimal weight. He was not even used to fight at that weight.
Fedor is/was (used to fighting with no weight cut).

Some would claim this to be an advantage for Fedor, others for Sonnen (after all, he didn't have to deplete himself by cutting weight).
In reality, I don't really care.
Fighters should fight at their natural weight.

 

[maxi diablo]

The guy moving up in weight who impresses me is Bader. Dude is weighing in at 230 and still sporting a six pack. That cut to 205 must be brutal for him.

They said he bulked up for it though. He's probably 220 at lightheavyweight.