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I'd take Pride era if we could throw Machida in there too.
Better LHW era??
- Thread starter lloydrage
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That more 2009/2010
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I know! It was such a great time!
No Unified Rules, no cage hugging, no "NO REASON" TD's, no 10-9 rounds, TUF was barely getting started, legendary fights in Pride, it was such a great time!
There wasn't a whole new generation of fans telling me who won what round, or that this or that is "part of the sport", etc.
The sport that existed was closer to what it should be.
(in no way am I saying there weren't BS decisions or boring fights in Pride as there certainly were, but the great ones were so memorable)
I stopped watching American MMA for a while.
The first fight I ever saw under the Unified Rules was some IFL fight I happened to catch on cable TV in a hotel room somewhere.
These two guys circled, had a very ineffective kickboxing match, surprised each other with a couple of TD's from which they bounced right back up, and then one guy "won" the decision at the end. I f'n hated this new sport!!! The whole essence of fighting had been taken away.
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The UFC/Pride era was legendary MMA fighters in their prime, in the prime of MMA.
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Better is a silly blanket term.
More interesting: the golden age
Better talent: today
More interesting: the golden age
Better talent: today
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Much more interesting in the Pride/UFC era. Two different rule sets. Lots of speculation and interest with two big competing orgs.
The UFC-dominated MMA scene with the same old stale top contender roundabout is boring as fuck in comparison. Compare the current 'product' of mainstream saturation to massively stacked LHW tournaments, big fights with actual emotion behind it, the occasional crossover match, absolute tournaments with LHW fighting HWs... the established big names Tito/Randy/Chuck in the UFC in the primes... fighters actually FIGHTING, not point scoring to satisfy the judges according to the criteria - that was the golden era.
Skills have aligned to suit the cage/unified but IMO overall 'peak' skills have not vastly improved from the UFC/Pride era. The average skill and depth of quality guys has marginally improved though. A top 20 guy now would likely beat a top 20 guy of back then, although likely not under the Pride/ring rules as the game has moved away from that style of fighting. Fighters nowadays would be worse at fighting in the ring/pride rules w/soccers etc compared to back then...
The UFC-dominated MMA scene with the same old stale top contender roundabout is boring as fuck in comparison. Compare the current 'product' of mainstream saturation to massively stacked LHW tournaments, big fights with actual emotion behind it, the occasional crossover match, absolute tournaments with LHW fighting HWs... the established big names Tito/Randy/Chuck in the UFC in the primes... fighters actually FIGHTING, not point scoring to satisfy the judges according to the criteria - that was the golden era.
Skills have aligned to suit the cage/unified but IMO overall 'peak' skills have not vastly improved from the UFC/Pride era. The average skill and depth of quality guys has marginally improved though. A top 20 guy now would likely beat a top 20 guy of back then, although likely not under the Pride/ring rules as the game has moved away from that style of fighting. Fighters nowadays would be worse at fighting in the ring/pride rules w/soccers etc compared to back then...
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~2005 205 was the golden weight class in the golden age of mma.
