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