I am just wondering what was the better LHW era???? UFC/Pride Era Early to Mid 2000s Notable fighters Chuck Liddell Shogun Rua Wandy Rampage Arona Couture Tito Babalu Hendo etc.. Current Notable Fighters Jones Gus Cormier Rumble Johnson Hendo Mousasi Machida Phil Davis Glover Bader etc..
More fun to watch UFC/Pride era. But the top guys are more skilled now. Further down the rankings you go the more depth there was in the UFC/Pride era so that would be more even (#5-#20)
Tito, Vitor, Randy and Chuck. Mix and match to your hearts contentment. Wand, Rampage, Shogun, Arona, Lil Nog? Mix away. Those were some of the best years I recall in MMA.
UFC/pride era because nostalgia, the current era will inevitably seem better than the one that will eventually follow it though and so on and so on....
Better by what standard? More talented or just generally entertaining? Today's guys are way more well rounded and talented, but as per which I'd rather watch Pride Era LHW is goat.
I have been watching since 1996 and since 2000 I have been a reasonably hardcore MMA fan. I think most people on here would be the same. We just have some leftover from the Brock explosion and now the throngs of Connor-forsaken "McGoat" fans are having their loud and irritating day in the sun. Things will get back to normal once Aldo beats Connor and then a wrestler smothers him into defeat. A few will stick around and even become hardcore.
I guess now. Unfortunately Jones won all the fights, but we got to see him against a good chunk of that era, plus all the top dogs now. But that's including the transition period as the current era... Comparing your two lists as presented though, TS, I prefer the Chuck era.
Bones>Chuck/Vitor Gus>Shogun Rumble>Tito DC>Wandy Rashad>Couture Glover> Rampage Bader>Lil Nog Clearly today's breed beats the old lions.
Better is tough. Jones is the LHW goat, Gus and DC are excellent, but pride in 05 had more depth as far as elite fighters. As a fan my favorite time to watch the lhw division was like 2007-2012 (Jones, Shogun, Chuck, Rampage, Rashad, Forrest, Lyoto etc were all exciting and relevant during that time)
I think that Jones may be the best 205er ever. But other than Jones I think it's very close. I don't think the fighters have evolved since like 2002(the fighters over 200 pounds, excluding Jones). I would love to see an 05 Rampage, Chuck, Wand, and Shogun fight Jones though.
