HW top 10 (2005) vs HW top 10 (2017)?

coz ure forgettin´ 2 things:

1/ When Tom went to Pride, he was already past his physical prime (35-36 yrs old). This partly explains his sub-par performance against Heath (but Heath had been developping/changing his game too, since World Vale Tudo Championships)

2/ Since it was the "early" days of Vale Tudo/NHB, Tom E. had access to few tournaments. His draw against Bustamante was his 3rd bout of the night (Bustamante was an underrated ol´school fighter), Bustamante was younger than him, and had spent less time in the 2 previous bouts)

Now ure sayin´ Ben´s victory over Josh (past-his-prime) is greater than Tom´s victory over prime Randleman?

Well hey, when im wrong, I say I'm wrong. I have nothing to rebut with.
 
Well hey, when im wrong, I say I'm wrong. I have nothing to rebut with.
It was the early days and all props to Bustamante (seriously underrated, he often overrachived in the worst conditions, heavier opponent or short notice).
But u were right too.. Erickson should have done better than a draw against a MW (weight difference was less decisive back in the days, a Renzo could submit a Maurice Smith at Rings for instance).
 
If u love this sport, u should study its history. More.
I've seen the vast majority of the fights involving everyone listed in this thread. Some of them multiple times. Fightpass is a beautiful thing, to be honest.

I'm also in the gym on a regular basis.

I love the sport. I know the sport.
Nishijima > Stipe when it comes to hands. But yeah, Stipe is a stud. Doesn't mean he can't be KO'd by even a sort of middle of the pack scrub (Struve for ex)

Also, I'd take 2005 Sergei to KO Stipe.
Any guy capable of getting Stipe in trouble standing will be taken down and finished on their back. The only exception to this rule so far is Junior dos Santos. Althoough I believe stipe can outbox him and eventually get him down with the right timing. We'll see in may.
 
Stipe is the most vanilla HW champion MMA has ever had. The rematch with Dos Santos will make him or break him.
 
Cro cop Kills him.
Yeah totally

{<huh}

Stipe is a lot bigger with way better hands and also would crush him to dust on the ground if he ever felt like he was in danger standing
 
It was the early days and all props to Bustamante (seriously underrated, he often overrachived in the worst conditions, heavier opponent or short notice).
But u were right too.. Erickson should have done better than a draw against a MW (weight difference was less decisive back in the days, a Renzo could submit a Maurice Smith at Rings for instance).

I wasn't aware that Erikson fought Bustamante (who has my utmost respect because of the Lindland fight) in a tournament. I've only watched clips of that fight and read commentary on it.

Wasn't it Erikson that Coleman and Kerr had blackballed from the OWGP? Wasn't he originally scheduled to fight Kerr in the first round and Kerr didn't like the possibility of getting worn out/decisioned.
 
I like how everybody hates on "manlets" but the worst divisions by far are LHW and HW.
 
I wasn't aware that Erikson fought Bustamante (who has my utmost respect because of the Lindland fight) in a tournament. I've only watched clips of that fight and read commentary on it.

Wasn't it Erikson that Coleman and Kerr had blackballed from the OWGP? Wasn't he originally scheduled to fight Kerr in the first round and Kerr didn't like the possibility of getting worn out/decisioned.
Im not a huge follower of American Wrestlers, but I know the relationships btw Team Coleman & Erickson was a lil bit weird...

He 1st beat Randleman...

Then people started to say that no one wanted to sign a contract to fight him, he was pretty much ducked..
Then he lost to Heath, got a lil bit exposed, was already gettin´ old, and he started to train with Team Coleman, I believe..

But Tom kept sayin´Kerr didnt want him in the Pride Tournament.
 
Yeah totally

{<huh}

Stipe is a lot bigger with way better hands and also would crush him to dust on the ground if he ever felt like he was in danger standing
Stipe has very good wrestling, sharp boxing with nice combination punching, accurate counters with really good timing and he seems pretty damned durable - went to war with JDS and they gave it to each other. I think he beats everyone from '05 more often than not, with the exception of Fedor.

I think prime Fedor is a whisker faster, hit just as hard and has judo style takedowns couple with an excellent ground game, so he has a few ways to win. Just my opinion though.
 
Yeah totally

{<huh}

Stipe is a lot bigger with way better hands and also would crush him to dust on the ground if he ever felt like he was in danger standing


I don't see Stipe doing that to Cro Cop, if for no other reason that he idolizes him so much. He's a Cro Bro!
 
Any guy capable of getting Stipe in trouble standing will be taken down and finished on their back. The only exception to this rule so far is Junior dos Santos. Althoough I believe stipe can outbox him and eventually get him down with the right timing. We'll see in may.

Thus far Stipe has only done that to an old Hunt and a hurt Overeem who basically fell over, not exactly evidence he can take anyone down.

Really Stipe's recent run has been based on having the tools to target weaknesses in a declining division, Hunt's wrestling and Overeem/JS's boxing when pressured, Werdums poor boxing defence comign forward, he'd have a lot less chance to do that back in the day. Maybe Hunt still but I would be significantly harder to gas him and perhaps Werdum although back then he would have stuck more to his grappling and had a lot more agility when he comes to getting opponents down.

Defensively Stipe is pretty questionable for me, he definitely has power but back in the day I can see several fighters(Fedor, Crocop, Sergei, Arlovski, Hunt, Aleks, etc) finishing him, granted I can see him getting finishes as well but I don't think he'd manage an impressive run.
 
Fight matrix rankings are the worst fake rankings out there........

How the fuck is Mark Hunt ahead of Cro Cop in April of 2005???

They fought on December 31 2005 and it was a close controversial split decision loss for Mirko and you could even argue that Hunt shouldn't be ahead of him even then....

But in April with Hunt being 2-1 with only good(again controversial win over Wand) and Cro Cop being the next in line for a TS?? no way......
 
lmfao, i get that people are blinded by the youtube videos and nostalgia and all the hype surrounding fedor in his prime, so i can kind of accept that people believe fedor could beat stipe, even though theyre painfully and woefully ignorant.

but big nog? new low, bro.
and you've been exposed by this post
 
Gong back a matter of months to 2016, I think there'd be more guys from the old list in the contemporary list (Arlovski at least)
 
Fight matrix rankings are the worst fake rankings out there........

How the fuck is Mark Hunt ahead of Cro Cop in April of 2005???

They fought on December 31 2005 and it was a close controversial split decision loss for Mirko and you could even argue that Hunt shouldn't be ahead of him even then....

But in April with Hunt being 2-1 with only good(again controversial win over Wand) and Cro Cop being the next in line for a TS?? no way......
Jus´ curious..

Why do u believe Hunt´s win over Wand was controversial?
 
Fedor at number one tells you all you need to know about how lacklustre the 2005 list is.
 
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