Are Today's HWs Really Better than Yesteryear's?

[Peregrine01]

Honest question. I don't really see a gap at all. Actually, in terms of skill, I have the top HWs of the 2000s above the top HWs of the 2010s.

It's really interesting to see how Rogan has really toned down the "new breed HW" line after Brock and Carwin stopped fighting.

 

[Super Grover]

Today HW's and yesteryears HW are the same damn people for the most part.

 

[berimBOWLoh]

Today HW's and yesteryears HW are the same damn people for the most part.

Atreyu was awesome man, stop hating.

I think JDS and Cain run rough shot over all the HWs from the past minus Fedor which would be great fights.

 

[mlund**]

How would Cain be able to contend with prime Cro Cop, I wonder?

Or JDS with prime Fedor?

 

[Melilot]

I don't think so.

Monson, Fedor, Sylvia, Coleman, Barnett, Yvel, Schilt, Kerr, Vovchanchyn, Buentello, Crocop, Sergei, Nog,

would all have been able to compete with today's HW generation.

JDS and Cain in PRIDE HW GP would have a tough time.

 

[jlazer]

The "New breed" was ridiculously stupid.

And no, they are not better than HWs from like 8 years ago.

 

[Wanderlei4Life]

I would say yes minus a Prime Fedor and Nog.

Today's heavies are much more well rounded then the ones in the past who only had 1-2 skill sets.

 

[TheNinja]

The best of the best are no better or no worse IMO. Like Fedor, Nog, CC, Cain, JDS could fight in any era and do well. The talent pool is larger though IMO. Many of the 10 years ago UFC or Pride HWs would do horrible vs today's more athletic HWs.

 

[Mikeyz]

Atreyu was awesome man, stop hating.

I think JDS and Cain run rough shot over all the HWs from the past minus Fedor which would be great fights.

Can't say I disagree with this

 

[RoyJonesJr]

PRime Fedor Cro Cop and Big Nog would do fine. Fedor could be champ, but the rest of the pride hw's would get tooled.

 

[Jodocus_Quak]

Prime Coleman would wreck havoc among todays top HWs in the UFC. The jacked up Coleman from the late 90ies against Cain would be a nice fight.

 

[Peregrine01]

Today HW's and yesteryears HW are the same damn people for the most part.

Per Sherdog:

2003:

1) Fedor
2) Big Nog
3) Barnett
4) Cro Cop
5) Sylvia
6) Arlovski
7) Herring
8) Coleman
9) Wesley Correira
10) Travis Wiuff

2013:

1. Cain
2. JDS
3. Werdum
4. Cormier
5. Big Foot
6. Barnett
7. Mir
8. Big Nog
9. Travis Browne
10. Overeem

Ignoring rankings for a moment, but are the 2003 top 10 as a group better than the 2013 group?

 

[ali2013champ]

JDS has great strking with great TDD aka Cro cop but without kicks

Cain has awesome grappling Cardio and is well rounded Aka Fedor.

 

[hasar]

The best of the best are no better or no worse IMO. Like Fedor, Nog, CC, Cain, JDS could fight in any era and do well. The talent pool is larger though IMO. Many of the 10 years ago UFC or Pride HWs would do horrible vs today's more athletic HWs.

Big Nog destroyed athletic Schaub.

 

[jlazer]

The "New breed" was ridiculously stupid.

And no, they are not better than HWs from like 8 years ago.

 

[Peregrine01]

JDS has great strking with great TDD aka Cro cop but without kicks

Cain has awesome grappling Cardio and is well rounded Aka Fedor.

JDS is similar to CC in that they both often take out guys with just one shot and have great TDD. They're different in that CC was more elusive, had better footwork while JDS makes up for it by having a better chin.

I think all in all, these two are very comparable fighters in terms of abilities.

 

[Gerald Ford]

seems as though the heavy weights of today focus on being at the lighter end of the weight spectrum, the older heavy weights early 2000"s and prior seem to use there size and strength to smash there way through opponents, I personally believe the hw of today are greater athletes than the hw's of yesterday.

 

[jlazer]

I would say yes minus a Prime Fedor and Nog.

Today's heavies are much more well rounded then the ones in the past who only had 1-2 skill sets.

Being well rounded is over rated. It usually just means that a fighter had a special skill set.

Plus jds and Cain aren't well rounded in that sense since a lot of their game is unproven or lacking

 

[Peregrine01]

seems as though the heavy weights of today focus on being at the lighter end of the weight spectrum, the older heavy weights early 2000"s and prior seem to use there size and strength to smash there way through opponents, I personally believe the hw of today are greater athletes than the hw's of yesterday.

Except that the top HWs in both eras typically are in a pretty tight 225 - 240 range. Big enough to be very powerful while light enough to have cardio and quickness.

I think it's been shown that monsters like Kerr and Lesnar generally don't last very long.

 

[Jodocus_Quak]

seems as though the heavy weights of today focus on being at the lighter end of the weight spectrum, the older heavy weights early 2000"s and prior seem to use there size and strength to smash there way through opponents, I personally believe the hw of today are greater athletes than the hw's of yesterday.

What do you mean by "greater athletes"? Couture was an alternate olympian, Coleman was 7th in the Olympics in 1992. I would even says that the Pride 10 minutes first round (+ 2 x 5 minutes) needed way more cardio than the 5 x 5 minutes rounds today in the UFC. 10 minutes of constant war brings you to the point of exhaustion.