So after a decade of fighting, he lost to three roiders, two of whom were top HWs, and one a top LHW.
Good argument, ya dumbass.
... continued
Fedor then rematched top 10 Mark Coleman and destroyed him
Next was top 10 Mark Hunt. Guess what? Fedor won despite a broken foot. Finished him after Mark put up a solid fight
So by my count that's 10 straight top 10 wins from 2002-2007, with 2 coming vs the world's 2nd best HW (Nog) and another vs arguably the most dangerous (Cro Cop). Go ahead and research what UFC HWs were doing in this time period, it's laughable by comparison
Speaking of UFC HWs, Fedor went on to fight top 10 Tim Sylvia (off Sylvia losing a UFC HW title fight to Nog) and top 10 Andrei Arlovski who was on a 5 fight winning streak including a decision over Fabricio Werdum and nearly impossible KOs of Ben Rothwell and Roy Nelson
Fedor won both these fights
He then fought and beat top 10 Brett Rodgers
If you're still following along, it wasn't until this point that Fedor finally lost. At 34yo (EDIT: 3 months from age 34) in his 34th fight, he lost to Fabricio Werdum, one of the greatest HWs of all-time in his own right
And so there you have it. Undefeated, 13 straight top 10 wins (9 finishes) from the ages of 25-34, all at HW.
And his judo career beforehand. Judo is insanely taxing on your body.Lol
He also didn't mentioned all his sambo matches .
Lol
He also didn't mentioned all his sambo matches .
Is Fedor the only professional HW MMA fighter to be knocked out cold by a MW? I mean, that is part of his "legacy" as well.
Jarl
The real take-home point here is that heavyweight has always been incredibly shallow. The fact that Brett Rogers was ranked in the Top 10 says everything.My bad, he was 3 months from 34 when he finally lost. I’ll edit and take this as a win if it’s the only bit of data to take issue with lol
Brett Rogers beat former UFC champ and top 5 HW Arlovski. Do you need help figuring out why he was top 10?The real take-home point here is that heavyweight has always been incredibly shallow. The fact that Brett Rogers was ranked in the Top 10 says everything.
Despite the shallowness of heavyweight, Fedor fought Hong-man Choi, middleweight Matt Lindland, Brett Rogers, and Bigfoot Silva instead of Overeem, Couture, Brock, Cain, JDS, and Carwin.
No. Mark Hunt was KO'd by Manhoef. You should know that.Is Fedor the only professional HW MMA fighter to be knocked out cold by a MW? I mean, that is part of his "legacy" as well.
Jarl
Yeah he was great and a true champ of pride; sadly everyone will remember how he refused the UFC when he was still a legit contender, and ended up getting starched in Strikeforce.
Good post Faustian.
Came here to add: the 2nd fight against Coleman was a mismatch that probably shouldn't have happened but I recall that no-one else wanted to fight Fedor at the time. Maybe it was because Coleman wanted to introduce his kids to Fedor?
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The fight against Hunt was intriguing for a couple of reasons. It was common knowledge at the time that Fedor had a foot injury (broken toe I think) & the Japanese media was speculating that he' might withdraw. For whatever reason (old school warrior mentality or maybe a payout from the Pride execs) Hunt chose not to attack the injury. Also that keylock attempt - Hunt's best chance of winning that fight - looked good but Fedor stated afterwards that he was never in serious trouble.
Is Fedor the only professional HW MMA fighter to be knocked out cold by a MW? I mean, that is part of his "legacy" as well.
Jarl

I'm reluctantly agreeing with you... I was at that fight & lost my voice screaming at Hunt to pull off the keylock & win the belt. Was being a bit hopeful rooting for the underdog.Iirc Hunt was a late replacement for Josh Barnett who backed out of the fight last minute
Good showing from Hunt on the ground but he was never seriously threatening. Fedor was baiting and going for the backdoor escape the second Hunt got on top of him
Seeing some confusion over Fedor's record and his career in general. Things like "can crusher" and "padded record" being thrown around lol. Well, both are true. And it's also true that neither of those are mutually exclusive with the fact that Fedor also found enough time to run through top 10 opponent after top 10 opponent
Itt I'll start at the beginning in hopes of providing some context for those who weren't fortunate enough to experience Fedor's rise to GOAT status in real time. Gonna have to break this OP up into separate posts due to the media limitations per post
Fedor came to Pride at age 25 in 2002 after winning the RINGS absolute tournament and was immediately thrown to the wolves. His first Pride fight was vs Semmy Schilt, a top 6 HW on the planet on a 12-1-1 MMA run (only loss to Josh Barnett) and potentially lethal matchup for any HW in MMA history given Semmy's absurd size and striking credentials. Fedor was the underdog and Fedor destroyed him
Next up was Heath Herring, another world top 10 HW in an eliminator fight for the title shot against Nogueira. Herring was coming off wins over Igor Vovchanchyn and Mark Kerr bookending his loss to Nogueira. Fedor was the underdog and Fedor destroyed him
Next fight for Fedor was Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Big Nog was firmly entrenched as the #1 HW in the world and was any reasonable person's pick as the single greatest HW in MMA history at that point. Fedor was the underdog and... wait for it... Fedor destroyed him in one of the most highly regarded title fight wins in MMA history
Fedor would then go 7-0 with 1 NC (headbutt vs Nog) over his next 8 fights in 16 months. Wins in that time included world top 25 HW Fujita
Top 10 HW in the world Gary Goodridge