Ever notice that a large majority of MMA legends have just awful records?

[combobreaker]

That's because they were fighting other legends (who also had awful records) because those legends were too fighting other legends (who happened to have awful records) because they also, were...

 

[Headkicktoleg]

how does a 20 year old niche sport have like 30 legends

LOL exactly. Most of these guys will be forgotten with time. Only then will we really know who the legends were.

 

[jeff7b9]

This is MMA not boxing, the top guys fight each other way more often so they lose more often, plus many of those guys piled on losses when they were clearly passed their best.

For laughs I was looking up the current boxing champs yesterday.

There are 5 different boxing heavyweight "world champs"

4 of them are undefeated.

Every other weight class is nearly the same thing. 2-3 WBA champs (champ, superchamp, interim). Obviously the top guys aren't facing each other, and you look at their records and they were fighting cannon fodder for most of their careers.

In the UFC (or PrideFC, SF, etc) the top guys fight ranked fighters only. Once they break into the top 5 or top 3 they won't see an unranked opponent for years.

 

[HHJ]

There are good and bad about both. In boxing's way,for instance Couture and Fedor could have fought each other no problem,they wouldnt have needed the UFC to make that fight. Gilbert Melendez would have been able to fight the top contenders much sooner,same with Eddie Alvarez...Fedor and Cain would have fought allready...GSP probably would have not have had to retire....the downside is of course that beltholders can duck each other,and truly dangerous up and comers like GGG cant get any top fighters to fight him.

 

[chefa]

Doing something for a long time or being popular should not make you a legend. You have to be special from the rest otherwise the word losses all meaning. Legend should be reserved for someone who has accomplished everything they could, was instrumental in the sports growth, or had matches so far beyond everyone else you have to remember them. It's easy for us now to call all these people legends because they are fond in our memory but the ones who will stand the test of time those are legends, if you are still talking about them in 50 years those are legends.

On that list the only people that will be remembered in 50 years are

Randy Couture - will always have a foot note in history as first dual division champ
Kazushi Sakuraba - legendary rivalries with the gracies helped mould japnese mma and drive its popularity. Sakuraba was instumental in Prides growth and popularity.
Wanderlei Silva - Very high odds he will be forgotten to time but he deserves mention for his pride career.
Dan Henderson - Will always hod the foot note as the first man to hold two major divisional titles at the same time
Vitor Belfort - Very high odds of being forgotten but holds distinction of youngest title holder winning UFC tournament at 19
Chuck Liddell - Instrumental in rise of UFC popularity
Big Nog - Odds are he will be forgotten to history as well but his rivalry with Fedor and long standing as number 2 HW in the early years earn him mention
Frank Shamrock - Will be remembered as a dominant champ, one of the first true mixed martial art fighters, and the first to strike off on his own opening doors for fighters.
Jens Pulver - Will have historical foot note as first LW champ in the UFC other than that he will be forgotten

These are the only fighters on that list who have claim to being remembered in 50 years. The rest are just popular fighters. But remember when we are comparing pro athletes you are comparing a small sample size of the already best in the world for one to become legend they have to rise that much farther beyond them. Otherwise everyone is a legend

Everyone likes to throw the word legend around but it dilutes its meaning there is a vast difference between being popular and being a legend.

 

[HHJ]

Henderson Chuck and Wandy will both all down in history as legendary tough guys. I dont think Nogueira will ever be forgotten...too many historical fights and inhuman comebacks.

 

[$uicideboy$]

And everything else has improved since then as well. Training, coaching, research, game planing, etc. It doesn't change what I said.

well other than the whole padded record thing, which was your point, that goes out the window

For laughs I was looking up the current boxing champs yesterday.

There are 5 different boxing heavyweight "world champs"

fury, wilder, ortiz and martin
who am i missing?

 

[Cry0Therapy737]

Shogun's record isn't awful at all, his only real bad loss is OSP.

BJ is a fighter who wil probably get looked at funny because of his record but if you saw him fight when he had the Lightweight title you know how great he was.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

Almost half of those guys are not even close to being an MMA legend

Who isnt a legend?

 

[Wariowokecancel]

So very few managed to get out of the sport clean before the doors blew off.

Ken Shamrock 28-16
Randy Couture 19-11
Tito Ortiz 18-12
BJ Penn 16-10
Mark Coleman 16-10
Frank Mir 18-10
Mark Hunt 11-10
Kazushi Sakuraba 26-17
Kevin Randleman 17-16
Dan Henderson 31-14
Wanderlei Silva 35-12
Vitor Belfort 25-11
Chuck Liddell 21-8
Shogun Rua 23-10
Rampage Jackson 36-11
Big Nog 34-10
Cro Cop 31-11
Frank Shamrock 23-10
Pedro Rizzo 20-11
Maurice Smith 13-14
Mark Kerr 15-11
Gary Goodridge 23-22
Jens Pulver 27-19
Takanori Gomi 35-11
Don Frye 20-9

You are a boxing fan mark.

This is MMA, not boxing where dudes go through 20 cans before they fight for the title.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

Shogun's record isn't awful at all, his only real bad loss is OSP.

BJ is a fighter who wil probably get looked at funny because of his record but if you saw him fight when he had the Lightweight title you know how great he was.

Sonnen is a bad loss.

 

[otro]

Records don't tell you the whole story.

I agree that many will be forgotten over the years but the educated fans will always consider them legends.

Unless you consult the UFC hall of fame bullshit to make your opinion about it.

 

[LukeSkyRutten]

They also fight more top ranked fighters. That's what happens.

 

[Naos]

Weight classes and the lack of them.
Injuries and the lack of fighters pulling out.

 

[muaythaibeast]

All of those guys are legends of MMA. It's ok if you're new to this.

As much as I love Hunt, I don't see any way in which he's an MMA legend. Neither are Mir or Randleman. I wouldn't call Pulver or Maurice Smith legends either, they wouldn't be worth a mention if they hadn't fought in the early days.
In all honesty I'd say Chris Lytle is more of a legend than quite a few names on that list.

 

[HHJ]

In all honesty I'd say Chris Lytle is more of a legend than quite a few names on that list.

HOW?????

 

[Ashenthorn]

It's MMA. There's close competition. Losing is permitted. A four fight win streak in the UFC is considered a huge deal.

 

[Dirge]

Bas Rutten probably has the best record of any of the "legends"... 28-4. Retired with a 21 fight win streak (with one draw).

 

[Big L]

My first thought is MMA pays dick all even today but especially in the old days so guys have to stick around to long. But looking at some of those records...30 fights all up. MMA fighters barely fight.

I think this is the right answer. A lot of the guys on that list continued fighting much longer than they should have. Losses piled up in the end of some of these careers and will skew the numbers.

 

[SmilinDesperado]

Doing something for a long time or being popular should not make you a legend. You have to be special from the rest otherwise the word losses all meaning. Legend should be reserved for someone who has accomplished everything they could, was instrumental in the sports growth, or had matches so far beyond everyone else you have to remember them. It's easy for us now to call all these people legends because they are fond in our memory but the ones who will stand the test of time those are legends, if you are still talking about them in 50 years those are legends.

On that list the only people that will be remembered in 50 years are

Randy Couture - will always have a foot note in history as first dual division champ
Kazushi Sakuraba - legendary rivalries with the gracies helped mould japnese mma and drive its popularity. Sakuraba was instumental in Prides growth and popularity.
Wanderlei Silva - Very high odds he will be forgotten to time but he deserves mention for his pride career.
Dan Henderson - Will always hod the foot note as the first man to hold two major divisional titles at the same time
Vitor Belfort - Very high odds of being forgotten but holds distinction of youngest title holder winning UFC tournament at 19
Chuck Liddell - Instrumental in rise of UFC popularity
Big Nog - Odds are he will be forgotten to history as well but his rivalry with Fedor and long standing as number 2 HW in the early years earn him mention
Frank Shamrock - Will be remembered as a dominant champ, one of the first true mixed martial art fighters, and the first to strike off on his own opening doors for fighters.
Jens Pulver - Will have historical foot note as first LW champ in the UFC other than that he will be forgotten

These are the only fighters on that list who have claim to being remembered in 50 years. The rest are just popular fighters. But remember when we are comparing pro athletes you are comparing a small sample size of the already best in the world for one to become legend they have to rise that much farther beyond them. Otherwise everyone is a legend

Everyone likes to throw the word legend around but it dilutes its meaning there is a vast difference between being popular and being a legend.

What? Frank Shamrock will be remembered, but Wanderlei, Vitor, and Nog won't?
Ridiculous.