Fighters at their absolute peak.

[JustOnce]

I don't agree about Rua; I think he was already in decline and was simply a bad match for Machida. Prior to that, he had fought over-the-hill fighters in the UFC and look underwhelming.
He was only able to KO an aged, deflated Mark Coleman after hitting him with an illegal strike. Pride Rua would probably have given Jones a run for his money.

It was a while ago so I can't say for sure, but him showing up in that fashion, I think, I think is his greatest performance.

He was phenomenal in his GP run yes, but I think outstriking Machida was more impressive.

Imagine if Shogun were to fight like that in his other fights?

 

[JustOnce]

Ben Rothwell, last night.

lmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaao

whatever he's on, boy we need Ubereem vs Uber-Rothewell.

Actually Ubereem def deserves a mention in this thread come to think of it, but I hate cheaters

 

[JustOnce]

Andrei Arlovski vs Fedor. But he still came up short.

man, if you think about it, remember he was having these vlogs thing back then leading up to the fight, i think he had one after and he looked so sad

but i agree. he looked sooooo goooood. I wish we saw that andrei against aspinall.

andrei fights are one of the first ones I saw, like earlier ufcs I watched on vhs I think, and I remember what a monster the guy looked.

but he looked so sharp and so good

then like it's been said, he thought he was fighting ben rothewell.

 

[JustOnce]

BJ Marinovich was unstoppable!!

lmao yeah bj penn for a while had that invincible aura. in hindsight, I think he should've stayed in a single division at lw.

i think him getting robbed by edgar just changed everything for him

 

[JustOnce]

Was Shogun really at his peak in those fights? I thought he looked great against Lyoto and Liddell but after multiple knee surgeries followed by long layoffs he just wasn't the same guy anymore.

no he wasn't.

but i think, him outstriking machida was even more impressive than him running through guys like arona in that 05 gp. it's hard to remember now, but machida had that invincible aura that rivals anybody in the history of mma then.

then shogun showed up.

 

[JustOnce]

HW: Fedor's peak vs CroCop
LHW: Jones's peak, I guess vs DC 2
MW: I don't know who to pick here, Anderson around 08/09 or Yoel when he was good I'm not sure when specifically
WW: 2008/2009 GSP
LW: Right now I think the best lightweights we've ever seen are: BJ Penn during his LW UFC title run, 2005 Gomi, bloodlusted Khabib vs Conor, and Islam during this title run
FW: Young Blue Cage Aldo
BW: TJ idk exactly when during his title run he was at his peak
FlyW: MM again idk exactly when

got no love for epo-snake, but man epo-snake vs merab, epo fuel vs machine cardio, who wins?

yoel is a great mention, because it's easy to forget since he had some stinkers and he's fighting now still completely washed up.

but oh boy the guy was a machine man. I remember.

too bad that red goof never allowed aldo to move up and face pettis. he probably woulda beaten him.

 

[JustOnce]

Islam and Illia right now
Maybe Dricus

Not sure about DDP since he prob loses to Khamzat if his gas tank is intact, but Ilia and Islam are looking dominant indeed.

 

[JustOnce]

Some modern examples would be

volkanovski from 2019-2023, the holloway 3 fight where he schooled max and giving islam his toughest fight was something special to watch. Shame to see what's happened to him now but still a great resume

Alex Pereira 2022-2024, knocking out loudmouth strickland, comeback finish against izzy in the first fight, and beating 3 LHW champs in a row is an amazing run in such a short time.

Islam 2022-24, finishing oliveira so easily and tapping out blackbelts like poirier and moicano is impressive, foty against volk too. Arguably surpassed khabib which almost no one could have predicted prior to the oliveira fight

if you think about it, how awesome was that volk vs islam happened? one of rare super fights, best vs best.

volk should've never fought someone like ilia after taking not much time off from being sent to a shadow realm by islam but i digress

 

[JustOnce]

No even if you discount the massive asterisks you got to take your lips off the turinabone

He is def not in his peak anymore. He was not having great performances for a good long while at LHW and he didnt exactly set the world on fire at HW (there is barely a world to set fire to!)

He's managed to stay relevant as F

but he's not in his peak.

yeah i think his prime ended like many years ago

 

[JustOnce]

28 years old seems like the magic number where athletic ability meets experience.

it sounds right, but i think peak mma age is the one thing that i'm still not sure about because it can vary so much

 

[JustOnce]

Paddy - 2025
Bo - 2027

i'm not on bo train, nor paddy's, but war paddy!

paddy's one of us sherbros, so wish him the best in 2025!

 

[JustOnce]

Fedor 2003 - 2009

Anderson 2006 - 2012

GSP 2007 - 2017

Jon Jones 2011 - Present

i don't think their peaks ranges that far in spite of their greatness rly.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

no he wasn't.

but i think, him outstriking machida was even more impressive than him running through guys like arona in that 05 gp. it's hard to remember now, but machida had that invincible aura that rivals anybody in the history of mma then.

then shogun showed up.

As Joe Rogan once said; Welcome to the Machida era lol. Yeah, I'll give you that. Lyoto did look nearly unbeatable and being Anderson Silvas training partner made imaginations run wild. Shogun Rua killed his momentum all together.

Speaking of Lyoto, I thought he looked pretty good against Jon Jones up until he got choked out.

 

[JustOnce]

As Joe Rogan once said; Welcome to the Machida era lol. Yeah, I'll give you that. Lyoto did look nearly unbeatable and being Anderson Silvas training partner made imaginations run wild. Shogun Rua killed his momentum all together.

Speaking of Lyoto, I thought he looked pretty good against Jon Jones up until he got choked out.

Rogan says whatever comes to his brain really, so I don't take what comes out of his mouth too seriously, but it looked legit. If Shogun didn't exist, who knows how long it could gone on?

And yes, Lyoto has done as well as anybody against Jones before getting caught and rocked and finished.

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

man, if you think about it, remember he was having these vlogs thing back then leading up to the fight, i think he had one after and he looked so sad

but i agree. he looked sooooo goooood. I wish we saw that andrei against aspinall.

andrei fights are one of the first ones I saw, like earlier ufcs I watched on vhs I think, and I remember what a monster the guy looked.

but he looked so sharp and so good

then like it's been said, he thought he was fighting ben rothewell.

I never saw the vlogs, yeah it would have been sad

Word prime aa vs current Tom would be a great match up

 

[JustOnce]

I never saw the vlogs, yeah it would have been sad

Word prime aa vs current Tom would be a great match up

oh yeah and back then it wasn't a common thing like now i was like waht is this lol

it would be, it would be. prime andrei was a beast.

 

[Elegant]

Nice to see TJ getting some respect which he doesn't get enough of these days

We have yet to see someone in MMA be able to angle swap mid combinations and blend kicks/punches/take downs the way TJ did, it was truly like witnessing magic or a real life anime character

I believe peak prime TJ is a top 5 most skilled fighter of all time, perhaps even 3, if not for bad luck/unfortunate injuries this would've been more concretely proven

A true master who was obsessed with his craft

 

[JustOnce]

Nice to see TJ getting some respect which he doesn't get enough of these days

We have yet to see someone in MMA be able to angle swap mid combinations and blend kicks/punches/take downs the way TJ did, it was truly like witnessing magic or a real life anime character

I believe peak prime TJ is a top 5 most skilled fighter of all time, perhaps even 3, if not for bad luck/unfortunate injuries this would've been more concretely proven

A true master who was obsessed with his craft

Is that you TJ? How's EPO nowadays?

If not...

 

[wufabufa]

it sounds right, but i think peak mma age is the one thing that i'm still not sure about because it can vary so much

Weight classes for sure have an impact. The lighter the weight class, the shorter the prime(lol). Blame it on the hard weight cuts, the requirement for high levels of speed/reaction time, and/or the injuries incurred from larger training partners. Shit adds up over time.

 

[Nigol]

Well Gus when he fought Jones the first time was his finest hour