Stipe has 3 record at HW and still underrated

[Hitman]

- 3 title defense streak

- Won 6 title fight

- 1285 days UFC HW champion ( In progress )

- 15 trimester ranked Number 1 of the world at HW ( 2nd best behind Fedor and in progress )

He beats the best at or near their prime :

- Werdum : UFC Champion, 2 x ADCC Champion, 10 wins streak ( victory on Fedor, Cain when they were undipsuted, and near Ubereem ( lost controversy ) )

- Reem : He was at his technical and tactical prime, and maybe confidence prime ! Phyicaly, he was faster and more agility abd cardio than Ubereem, even if less stronger or explosiveness....

- JDS : OK he wasn't at his prime with USADA, but still dangerous and kick very well !

- Ngannou : Green but he destroyed him every second ! Media told Ngannou will be the GOAT and Stipe toys with him

- DC : Best trilogy and rivality af all time ! Technicaly DC was at prime, and physically, he was stronger, more durable and chin and heavier ( 247 lbs ) with more punch and hands speed than ever !
Maybe he lost speed, explosiveness and angility
For his cardio, at 247 lbs he was very good, it is diffucut to say if his cardio was at prime or not !


In 2021, if he beats prime Ngannou and HW Jones, i think he could be in the discussion for surpassed Fedor like the GOAT

 

[Beherit]

yet Ngannou will KO him. Stipe's chin can not take it like 2 years ago.

 

[McSpikes]

His fights and personality are boring. Plus Fedor nuthuggers will never change

 

[Sweater of AV]

He beats the best at or near their prime

 

[JustOnce]

Fedor GOAT.

There are reason why no professional fighters claimed Stipe was Goat on twitter after beating DC last time.

 

[Hitman]

I forgot :

Prime Roy Nelson : He won very confortably

War very close to draw with Prime JDS : Stipe wasn't at his prime, if current version of Stipe he would win this fight

Near to Prime Arlovski : On 6 wins streak ( KO BigFoot, Prime Travsi Browne,, victory on Franck Mir ) , he was on ressurgence, nobody can tell he has washed up at this time

Near to prime Mark Hunt : He fought for interim title belt last fight and KO Prime Nelson who was impossible to KO'

 

[Herwald]

His fights and personality are boring. Plus Fedor nuthuggers will never change

Wait, what? I mean, the Francis fight devolved into not much, but what other fight was boring?

 

[Hitman]

yet Ngannou will KO him. Stipe's chin can not take it like 2 years ago.

wait and see ! Currently Stipe is the champion and proved more than Ngannou

 

[MMA fan93]

Stipe is GOAT if he beats Ngannou and Jones (AND retires on top - cry all you want but GSP did it right and Silva destroyed his legacy)

 

[BFoe]

Well let’s see.
Fedor had 5 title defenses, was victorious in 7 title fights, and did it in one undefeated streak. He was undefeated for 7+ years after winning the PRIDE title. So I don’t think Stipe is underrated. He’s considered the UFC HW GOAT, but not the overall HW GOAT, which seems fair to me.
Also you’re crazy if you think DC and Overeem were in their prime.

edit: saw some of the other fighters mentioned. “Near to prime Arlovski”?? In Arlovski’s 17th year as a pro, and 37th pro fight? Stop it.
An arguable draw with JDS? I was at that fight and Stipe arguably lost 49-46 (I scored it 48-47 JDS personally, but he had an argument for 49-46).
I mean, come on. Stipe is great, but this is silly.

 

[G10]

Stipe is a great champion who's fought mostly great competition, and I agree he's under-rated in some ways, but over-rated in others.

In terms of his skills, I think he's pretty over-rated. He's a rangey striker with good wrestling, and that's it; basically, he's just an improved version of Tim Sylvia.

What Stipe doesn't get enough credit for is his mental game. He's excellent at always showing up to fights in shape and a good gameplan. He rarely makes mistakes in fights, at least critical ones, and he's proven to be able to fight through adversity. I think that's been the key to his success.

 

[Perry Willits]

- 3 title defense streak

- Won 6 title fight

- 1285 days UFC HW champion ( In progress )

- 15 trimester ranked Number 1 of the world at HW ( 2nd best behind Fedor and in progress )

He beats the best at or near their prime :

- Werdum : UFC Champion, 2 x ADCC Champion, 10 wins streak ( victory on Fedor, Cain when they were undipsuted, and near Ubereem ( lost controversy ) )

- Reem : He was at his technical and tactical prime, and maybe confidence prime ! Phyicaly, he was faster and more agility abd cardio than Ubereem, even if less stronger or explosiveness....

- JDS : OK he wasn't at his prime with USADA, but still dangerous and kick very well !

- Ngannou : Green but he destroyed him every second ! Media told Ngannou will be the GOAT and Stipe toys with him

- DC : Best trilogy and rivality af all time ! Technicaly DC was at prime, and physically, he was stronger, more durable and chin and heavier ( 247 lbs ) with more punch and hands speed than ever !
Maybe he lost speed, explosiveness and angility
For his cardio, at 247 lbs he was very good, it is diffucut to say if his cardio was at prime

In 2021, if he beats prime Ngannou and HW Jones, i think he could be in the discussion for surpassed Fedor like the GOAT

Great info......I agree with you!!

 

[DS7]

edit: saw some of the other fighters mentioned. “Near to prime Arlovski”?? In Arlovski’s 17th year as a pro, and 37th pro fight? Stop it.

Just because Arlovski wasn't in his prime doesn't mean he was washed. People in this board sometimes seem to only have been watching MMA for like 2 years or something. Arlovski when he returned to the UFC had a great run, stopped Travis Browne and Bigfoot and was on a 5 or 6 fight win streak and his fight with Miocic was a N1 contender fight. It was the last time Arlovski was actually elite in the HW division, after that he was done but if it wasn't for Stipe Arlovski was super close to have fought for the title so far from being washed up or a bad win for Miocic.

 

[Raymundo Alvarado Guevara]

I´m a big Stipe fan, I just want to believe that this Francis fight would be good

 

[LilNicky95]

- 3 title defense streak

- Won 6 title fight

- 1285 days UFC HW champion ( In progress )

- 15 trimester ranked Number 1 of the world at HW ( 2nd best behind Fedor and in progress )

He beats the best at or near their prime :

- Werdum : UFC Champion, 2 x ADCC Champion, 10 wins streak ( victory on Fedor, Cain when they were undipsuted, and near Ubereem ( lost controversy ) )

- Reem : He was at his technical and tactical prime, and maybe confidence prime ! Phyicaly, he was faster and more agility abd cardio than Ubereem, even if less stronger or explosiveness....

- JDS : OK he wasn't at his prime with USADA, but still dangerous and kick very well !

- Ngannou : Green but he destroyed him every second ! Media told Ngannou will be the GOAT and Stipe toys with him

- DC : Best trilogy and rivality af all time ! Technicaly DC was at prime, and physically, he was stronger, more durable and chin and heavier ( 247 lbs ) with more punch and hands speed than ever !
Maybe he lost speed, explosiveness and angility
For his cardio, at 247 lbs he was very good, it is diffucut to say if his cardio was at prime or not !


In 2021, if he beats prime Ngannou and HW Jones, i think he could be in the discussion for surpassed Fedor like the GOAT

 

[Fight Professor]

Wait, what? I mean, the Francis fight devolved into not much, but what other fight was boring?

Fedor had quicker pace, more aggression, wild striking and subs. He would not always fight to his strengths either.

But his nuthuggers confuse that with skill.

 

[BFoe]

Just because Arlovski wasn't in his prime doesn't mean he was washed. People in this board sometimes seem to only have been watching MMA for like 2 years or something. Arlovski when he returned to the UFC had a great run, stopped Travis Browne and Bigfoot and was on a 5 or 6 fight win streak and his fight with Miocic was a N1 contender fight. It was the last time Arlovski was actually elite in the HW division, after that he was done but if it wasn't for Stipe Arlovski was super close to have fought for the title so far from being washed up or a bad win for Miocic.

I don’t think Arlovski is a bad win by any means, but I do take issue with him being called “near to prime.” I agree that Arlovski made some great adjustments while at Jackson’s, and put together a nice run. But let’s keep it in context: Schaub was one fight away from retirement; Bigfoot wasn’t totally washed, but had already started the losing streak that basically persisted until the end of his career; Travis Browne had a lot of potential but never really accomplished much, and he nearly stopped Arlovski in a crazy, sloppy (and super fun) fight. Mir was an ok name in 2015, but had lost 4 of his last 6 before the Arlovski fight. His 2 wins were the aforementioned so-so Bigfoot, and Todd Duffee.

So if I list Stipe’s notable wins, I definitely include Arlovski. But I try to keep it in context.

 

[Romo Gracie]

He beats the best at or near their prime :

- Werdum : was more or less done by the time he got KO’d even if he just beat Cain, who I believe was a little bit overrated.

- Reem : Econoreem was/is nothing compared to Uberreem. Uberreem beats everybody, even Prime Fedor.

- JDS : JDS hasn’t been dangerious since the 3rd Cain fight.

- Ngannou : Ngannou went Tesla acceleration on Stipe, batteries got empty, with no Superchargers available, he was done.

- DC : DC should’ve wrestled Stipe, he became a kickboxer, got caught in a fight he was winning.

 

[mjfan23]

So he has officially surpassed Timmeh as ufc hw goat? What an accomplishment!

also you forgot to mention all those guys were well past their prime and eligible for senior citizen discounts when stipe fought em. Only guy he beat in his arguable prime was werdum but if you recall Stipe was underdog and the only takeaway from that fight was Werdum fought like an idiot. He ran into a backtracking stipes punch flush.
All those criticisms aside Stipe is very under appreciated. Some of it might be due to his personality, his tendency not to fight very often, fight only the elderly, and his mic skills.

But there should be no denying when he does fight he should be considered the best active HW in the world.

 

[Hitman]

Stipe is a great champion who's fought mostly great competition, and I agree he's under-rated in some ways, but over-rated in others.

In terms of his skills, I think he's pretty over-rated. He's a rangey striker with good wrestling, and that's it; basically, he's just an improved version of Tim Sylvia.

What Stipe doesn't get enough credit for is his mental game. He's excellent at always showing up to fights in shape and a good gameplan. He rarely makes mistakes in fights, at least critical ones, and he's proven to be able to fight through adversity. I think that's been the key to his success.

Partially ageee with you ! Thats right he is not the best technical fighter, but he is not a poor technical fighter !

- Great boxing => former Golden Gloves wxith close fight against Bryann Jenning ( former number 2 of the world )

- Great Wrestling => Former NCAA

- Purple Belt In BJJ => Fought a competition last year ( even if he lost ), and show he improved aganst DC 2, first round he had very good defense on the ground )

- Improved Kicking, Knee since last fight

His mental game is exceptionnal, Physicaly he is very solid everywhere ( One of the best chin ever on his last 2 fight, great punching power, goods hand faster, moved very well, fast, strong, very good cardio etc... )

He would say he is a version near to Prime JDS ( more skilled ( better wresler and kicker and BJJ Game, stronger, punch harder, best chin, but Prime JDS was faster, explosiveness, more accurate )