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Fedor had certain skills that were anomalous, partially as a result of having a quite odd body type, with enormous upper body strength, short neck, and slender legs. He was extremely fast, nimble, and powerful, and had surprisingly good accuracy. He kept his hands low and had a steady bounce, moved forward with lounging hooks to close the distance, get the upper body clinch, take you down, and then pound until the submission became available. And he had the grappling depth, transitions, and speed to pull it off. Particularly, his armbar transitions from both top and guard were extraordinary. And his gameplanning was without par for his time: playing the guard game against Nog, then doing a throw and stand in the third match... he was insanely explosive, powerful, skilled, and dynamic.
He was also overrated by some who thought he was utterly invincible. He was also at times quite reckless, and if one could resist his forward pressure he faced trouble later when he got into trades. It almost costed him the fight with Fujita already earlier in his title run. He later tried to replicate his top guard game that he used against Nog against Werdum, but the latter's guard was of a different caliber ,and he couldn't shove the triangle off, particularly once he starting losing musculature. He became a bit too in love with his kickboxing later, and relegated his sambo and wrestling game. He had a really tough time when Antonio Silva landed on top of him being 300lbs and having excellent jitz; and Hendo caught him off a big hook off the cage. I would have liked to see him against guys with size and grappling depth like Barnett, Ricco, Cormier, Cain, Sergei, etc. I think Prime Cain would have been a really incredible fight. But I think he would have beat guys like Lesnar, Randy, and even Stipe. JDS and Overeem would have been tough one as well.
Still, the GOAT HW, just on accomplishment alone.
He was also overrated by some who thought he was utterly invincible. He was also at times quite reckless, and if one could resist his forward pressure he faced trouble later when he got into trades. It almost costed him the fight with Fujita already earlier in his title run. He later tried to replicate his top guard game that he used against Nog against Werdum, but the latter's guard was of a different caliber ,and he couldn't shove the triangle off, particularly once he starting losing musculature. He became a bit too in love with his kickboxing later, and relegated his sambo and wrestling game. He had a really tough time when Antonio Silva landed on top of him being 300lbs and having excellent jitz; and Hendo caught him off a big hook off the cage. I would have liked to see him against guys with size and grappling depth like Barnett, Ricco, Cormier, Cain, Sergei, etc. I think Prime Cain would have been a really incredible fight. But I think he would have beat guys like Lesnar, Randy, and even Stipe. JDS and Overeem would have been tough one as well.
Still, the GOAT HW, just on accomplishment alone.
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