Who were your first favorite fighters?

[killakillakilla]

There were 2 fights that occurred within a week of each other in 2005 that made me a true fan of the sport and the winners were my 2 first favorite fighters.

- Chuck Liddell iced Randy couture in their rematch. Their trilogy fight would go down shortly after and that fight was awesome too.

- then like a week later, Shogun wrecks Rampage to open the famous Pride 2005 MW Grand Prix in the most brutal beat down I had ever witnessed at that time. Shogun went on to win the Grand Prix and would always be a favorite of mine since.

Shortly after those two, I added

- BJ Penn for wrecking GSPs face in the first round of their first fight. I was never a fan of GSP even when he was more karate than wrestling and was happy to see him bloodied up. This might be the fight that birthed 50-45 yeah?

- Anderson Silva after he destroyed Rich Franklin. Anderson went on to become my favorite fighter of all time for his UFC title run.

-Nick Diaz after his fight with Gomi, probably still my vote for greatest fight of all time. I was a fan of Nick Diaz prior to that fight when he was in the UFC, but he really became a favorite of mine when he fought Gomi.

Sorry for the long post, 300 has me running down memory lane I guess. Who were your first favorite fighters?

 

[Tweak896]

Cro cop. I knew nothing about fighting or even kicks. I saw Cro cop highlight on youtube beating Bob Sapp and LHKing everyone else out cold. Technically probably watched kimbo slice street fights before cro cop, but he didn't get me into mma.

 

[Marko Polo]

Chuck


Joe Lauzon - I was a noob at the time and had no idea who Jens Pulver was, they were making out like Lauzon had no chance, came right out and starched him


Cain


Poatan

 

[Chomsky Honk]

BJ Penn, Diaz bros, Shogun, Gomi, Fedor. I got into MMA around 2007/8 and was the type of fan to watch a lot of old fights so it was cool to experience the second half of these legends' careers live.

 

[Rationality]

Cro Cop, GSP, Lesnar.

 

[Contempt]

Royce Gracie + Ken Shamrock.

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Royce , Frank and Ken , Bas , Tank , Coleman and Kerr

But probably Tito for the showmanship

 

[DelanoRunnymede]

Fedor, Aldo, and Gustafsson.

 

[OldBoy91]

Takanori Gomi made me fall in love with the sport.

Watching him run through everybody on Bushido, Pulver, Sakurai, Gracie, Kawajiri etc. The feud with Chute Box, fantastic times in the sport.

 

[AmonTobin]

BJ Penn, Nick Diaz. These guys were so fun to watch wherever the fight went. I was impressed with how talented they were. They could piece guys up and they could submit them. They both were gutsy and didn’t shy away from a scrap.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Rashad Evans - I started consistently watching MMA during TUF 2. I loved how athletic Rashad was, that he was overcoming such size deficits. It really inspired me.

Fedor Emelianenko - I had family from Russia and the Ukraine, again loved the size deficit he consistently overcame, his stoicism and explosive punching. Fedor was a big inspiration for me, I literally went and found a Sambo bases gym when I was 15.

 

[killakillakilla]

Takanori Gomi made me fall in love with the sport.

Watching him run through everybody on Bushido, Pulver, Sakurai, Gracie, Kawajiri etc. The feud with Chute Box, fantastic times in the sport.

He was brutal!

 

[PEDRO IVO RUSSO MIRANDA]

Anderson Silva
He basically introduced MMA to Brasil

 

[killakillakilla]

Rashad Evans - I started consistently watching MMA during TUF 2. I loved how athletic Rashad was, that he was overcoming such size deficits. It really inspired me.

Fedor Emelianenko - I had family from Russia and the Ukraine, again loved the size deficit he consistently overcame, his stoicism and explosive punching. Fedor was a big inspiration for me, I literally went and found a Sambo bases gym when I was 15.

I remember Rashad on TUF lol. It looked like he was fighting guys in a heavier weight class and refused to be defeated. It was pretty cool.

 

[Conor Strickland]

Robbie Lawler

 

[Mackenzie Dern's Accent]

Cro Cop, Koscheck and Da Spyder.

No, not Anderson Silva.

Kendall mfkin Grove.

 

[Bork Neslar]

Ryu and Ken.

 

[2004 account]

Royce then big nog and don frye

 

[Van Daz]

Royce , Frank and Ken , Bas , Tank , Coleman and Kerr

But probably Tito for the showmanship

Pretty much my list since I started watching long ago. Frye, Dan, Pat Smith, Hackney, Ruas, Varlens are other I'd add to the above list.

 

[Van Daz]

Ryu and Ken.