Fedor is NOT the greatest HW of all-time. He was the first great HW.

John Creed

John Creed

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I'm tired of this argument about whether or not Fedor is the GOAT of the HW division. One camp says he was the greatest ever but got old, the other camp says even in his prime he would lose to some of the top contenders from today. Well both are kind of right.

Have you ever noticed how fighters themselves even refer to Fedor as the greatest HW of all-time? That amount of respect comes from the fact that Fedor was the first truly amazing fighter in the HW division. In the sports early days he was the best fighter in the world. I wish he would have faced Randy Couter or Josh Barnett at least once, two fighters that I always thought matched up well against him stylistically. And it was convenient that he only fight CroCop once. Having said that, he was still dominant and proved that he was the best fighter back then. Those other three guys all lost multiple times, including fights to each other.

Would Fedor have had a difficult time being as dominant today against the bigger more skilled heavyweights we have now? Absolutely. But I think a prime Fedor would have been competitive, he'd win and lose against the best and possibly get a title reign but he would certainly not be undefeated.

Fedor was not the greatest heavyweight of all-time, but he was the first truly great heavyweight.
 
John Creed said:
I'm tired of this argument about whether or not Fedor is the GOAT of the HW division. One camp says he was the greatest ever but got old, the other camp says even in his prime he would lose to some of the top contenders from today. Well both are kind of right.

Have you ever noticed how fighters themselves even refer to Fedor as the greatest HW of all-time? That amount of respect comes from the fact that Fedor was the first truly amazing fighter in the HW division. In the sports early days he was the best fighter in the world. I wish he would have faced Randy Couter or Josh Barnett at least once, two fighters that I always thought matched up well against him stylistically. And it was convenient that he only fight CroCop once. Having said that, he was still dominant and proved that he was the best fighter back then. Those other three guys all lost multiple times, including fights to each other.

Would Fedor have had a difficult time being as dominant today against the bigger more skilled heavyweights we have now? Absolutely. But I think a prime Fedor would have been competitive, he'd win and lose against the best and possibly get a title reign but he would certainly not be undefeated.

Fedor was not the greatest heavyweight of all-time, but he was the first truly great heavyweight.
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He's not the greatest heavyweight of all time, but he is the greatest of all time.
 
the greatest of all time doesn't get ktfo like that against meathead.
 
Anyone making any movement of Fedor on all-time lists on the basis of last night's fight is being silly.

The twighlight years don't matter to legacies and they certainly aren't used to subtract from legacies.

Jordan on the Wizards, Ruth on the Braves, Ali nearly getting pieced to death by Holmes, etc...these things don't matter and they certainly don't change what someone has already done.

If you thought he was the GOAT HW and arguably the GOAT MMAist before the fight, you should have thought the same after. Of course, the same applies if you thought the opposite.
 
He is the GOAT based on wins, legacy, time at the top.

I think prime Cain Velasquez is the best HW ever but he just couldnt stay healthy long enough to accrue the wins necessary to be the GOAT
 
Fedor is GOAT as much as BJ is GOAT... as in, they are not.

You don't have a .500 record or so against top competition and be named GOAT.
 
Evangelion said:
I think prime Cain Velasquez is the best HW ever but he just couldnt stay healthy long enough to accrue the wins necessary to be the GOAT
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Its an interesting question. The difference between GOAT in accomplishment and GOAT in actual ability.

It's like in boxing. Joe Louis accomplished many times what someone like Vitali Klitschko did, and is rightfully far, far higher on the GOAT list. However, Vitali would absolutely and inarguably destroy Louis.

It depends on your criteria, I guess. I think OP has the right general idea.
 
Dude Ali lost at the end of his career too. FEDOR is the GOAT and always will be
 
Evangelion said:
He is the GOAT based on wins, legacy, time at the top.

I think prime Cain Velasquez is the best HW ever but he just couldnt stay healthy long enough to accrue the wins necessary to be the GOAT
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I have always said this too about Cain. He beat prime JDS out of his prime, and did it twice.
 
losses at the end of your career dont define you its the body of work you accomplish in a career... fedors resume will always be considered one of the best ever across all weight classes, no on is the clear GOAT but he will arguable always be one of the men people consider the best ever. Last night doesnt change anything
 
I'm a huge Fedor fan and I called him getting KO'd quite easily by Meathead. Fedor fought the best of the best during his time and not only won, but was impressive and exciting while doing it. He came back from some seriously bad situations (Fujita, Randellman) and still found a way to win. He was brutal and aggressive all the time and his undefeated streak was the stuff of legend. You don't see anybody who has that kind of mystique in MMA now.

All of that being said I'm OK with people saying he's not a GOAT... I think he is, and I believe that anybody who was following MMA during his reign will feel the same way. I will also acknowledge that for UFC fans who didn't follow PRIDE back in the day probably have a hard time understanding the hoopla about Fedor. I think he's arguably the GOAT, but if not, he's certainly in the discussion. I'm OK with however others want to view it.
 
Fedor is the GOAT by a mile. Stop fucking judging someone at the end of their careers when they are out of their primes and then saying well he wasn't that great anyway.
 
"And it was convenient that he only fight cro cop once"

That's where I bailed.

And I probably should have jumped ship earlier.
 
You're right t.c just like ali was never goat or Anderson Silva, it's the new fighters that come in that are goat. P.s you're an idiot
 
I wish he didn't forget what sambo was.
 
IndyCovaHart said:
"And it was convenient that he only fight cro cop once"

That's where I bailed.

And I probably should have jumped ship earlier.
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You're an idiot. CroCop had to go through a gauntlet just to get a shot at Fedor. If he didn't win that tournament he would have NEVER faced Fedor. Imagine that? Meanwhile undeserving fighters including some with losing records all got to face Fedor. So yeah, it was convenient.
 
Roukas said:
Dude Ali lost at the end of his career too. FEDOR is the GOAT and always will be
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This. If you fight long enough you will eventually start losing. Hell, we see it in every sport. The only thing that could tarnish Fedor's legacy is if they found out he was cheating. Otherwise, a few losses at the tail end of someone's career, all of a sudden shouldn't define how good someone was in their prime. But unfortunately fight fans have a short memory.
 
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