Greatest of All Time update

[klataubarada]

If you're going to even put Fedor on the list, you should call the poll "emotional fan favorite of all time"

Because he belongs nowhere in the same convo as GSP, Anderson

This.

He's the fan fave for sure, but its between GSP/Silva without question.

 

[klataubarada]

Fedor will always be considered the GOAT, imo. Look at someone like Muhammad Ali, he fought waaayyy back in the day but is still generally considered the GOAT in boxing, regardless of how many stellar boxers came after him. The same will be of Fedor. It wasn't just his long winning streak but it also has to do with the mystique and aura that surrounded him. He was truly like no other fighter and the vibe you got when that man was gonna fight was truly something special. He's a fighter's fighter.

Ali is NOT considered the GOAT by experts. Like Fedor he's the fan favorite.

 

[Augustus Caesar]

Fedor

 

[RoyCisneros]

GSP has beaten a lot of top talent. but fedor is my pick. guy was absolutely amazing.

 

[Magnum1978]

Fedor at his peak is the greatest fighter I've ever seen compete in MMA.

You could hypothetically make a fighter with the combined skills of prime Cro Cop and prime Nog, and that fighter would STILL lose to Fedor wherever the fight went.

Fighting and beating champion fighters AT THEIR STRENGTHS is far more impressive to me than winning by exploiting weaknesses of your opponents or cherry picking stats like 'title defenses' or '%TDD' or whatever. You had to WATCH Fedor at the time to truly appreciate how much of a level above basically everyone he was. Yes there were the freak shows, but there were also some amazing wins and the complete domination of guys who people at the time would 'be the one' to beat him here or there. He never clowned, he never took it easy and coasted, pandered to the score cards, he just straight up destroyed and tried to damage and finish wherever the fight was.

Yes, 'career' wise, Silva and GSP and probably Jones, are going to be right up there being the faces of the biggest brand in MMA, but as a long time knowledgeable MMA fan, when you assess all the intangibles and use your common sense and experience watching this game; there was nothing like watching Emelianenko fight when he was at his best.

For the newer fans (and nothing wrong with being a newer fan, everyone started watching at one point), imagine the aura Anderson Silva had obtained 'matrixing' opponents, but add that to the ground fight as well. There has never been a fighter that reached that 'undefeatable' level EVER in MMA, as Fedor in his prime. Period.

Fading out at the end of your career (for whatever reason) cannot erase how good he was, even after having to endure a major discrediting campaign created by the premier promotional brand in the world.

At least for now, at least in my opinion (and remember it's only EVER opinion) Fedor is the greatest of all time.

 

[Magx951]

Where is BJJ phenom Brendan Schaub? He'll shut anybody on this list down.

 

[SCIRCA]

Id have to say GSP,even though I don't care much for him, he has the best resume, and that should be acknowledged.

 

[Redhawks100]

Fedor at his peak is the greatest fighter I've ever seen compete in MMA.

You could hypothetically make a fighter with the combined skills of prime Cro Cop and prime Nog, and that fighter would STILL lose to Fedor wherever the fight went.

Fighting and beating champion fighters AT THEIR STRENGTHS is far more impressive to me than winning by exploiting weaknesses of your opponents or cherry picking stats like 'title defenses' or '%TDD' or whatever. You had to WATCH Fedor at the time to truly appreciate how much of a level above basically everyone he was. Yes there were the freak shows, but there were also some amazing wins and the complete domination of guys who people at the time would 'be the one' to dethrone him.

Yes, 'career' wise, Silva and GSP and probably Jones, are going to be right up there being the faces of the biggest brand in MMA, but as a long time knowledgeable MMA fan, when you assess all the intangibles and use your common sense and experience watching this game; there was nothing like watching Emelianenko fight when he was at his best.

For the newer fans (and nothing wrong with being a newer fan, everyone started watching at one point), imagine the aura Anderson Silva had obtained 'matrixing' opponents, but add that to the ground fight as well. There has never been a fighter that reached that 'undefeatable' level EVER in MMA, as Fedor in his prime. Period.

Fading out at the end of your career (for whatever reason) cannot erase how good he was, even after having to endure a major discrediting campaign created by the premier promotional brand in the world.

At least for now, at least in my opinion (and remember it's only EVER opinion) Fedor is the greatest of all time.

Wow... Pride really did a number on you.

 

[76Knockout]

I'm still wondering who Anderson Silva fans consider top comp when they say shit like that.

Andersons best win BY FAR is Hendo. Sorry but A lot of people have that win...

Franklin and Hendo.. great wins but after that it drops like 3 letter grades in quality fighters.

Henderson, Vitor, Franklin x2, Forrest, Okami were all really good wins, and they were all in impressive fasion.

Forrest was literally a single fight removed from being the reigning LHW champ, and in that fight against Rashad he was getting the better of him for the first 2 rounds and looked good before the loss.

Forrest may not be an Elite fighter, but is a good fighter and former champ in a higher weight class and Anderson out classed him making it look effortless.

I'm not saying Silva is the GOAT or has the best wins (its GSP imo) but people act like he never beat anybody.

I agree Hendo is his best win though.

 

[Magnum1978]

Wow... Pride really did a number on you.

Eh? What do you mean?

 

[Redhawks100]

Eh? What do you mean?

They really had you believing Fedor was perfection. Don't get me wrong he is the HW GOAT and his resume at HW may never be surpassed but he was not as perfect as most make him seem. I'd say he's the closest thing to complete the HW division has seen so far, that is what made him so successful. For example, most people say that he beat CroCop standing but he was rocked badly by a straight in that fight and took him down to win rounds and eventually the fight.

 

[Magnum1978]

They really had you believing Fedor was perfection. Don't get me wrong he is the HW GOAT and his resume at HW may never be surpassed but he was not as perfect as most make him seem. I'd say he's the closest thing to complete the HW division has seen so far, that is what made him so successful. For example, most people say that he beat CroCop standing but he was rocked badly by a straight in that fight and took him down to win rounds and eventually the fight.

You say it as if 'Pride' somehow brainwashed me? I was watching the UFC long before I watched Pride. I don't think it had anything to do with it, it could have been a fighter from any organisation. I'm a fan of fighters.

And he wasn't perfect, certainly not, he had quite a few flaws, but AT THE TIME, he really had the aura of being the most undefeatable, but the WAY he fought (like I said, fighting different guys at their strengths and still beating them, post Nog and Cro Cop especially)

I think the standup was closer with Cro Cop than many admit, (and yep he got rocked a little, not like Fujita, but still) but he hung in there and certainly gave as good as he got in the standup and easily won the portion of the fight that was standing.

Also not saying that guys like Cain (now) would be beaten by Fedor either. Cain I think is better than any fighter Fedor has a win against, BUT I still think Fedor in his prime, that would be an amazing hypothetical fight. And guys like Cain and JDS wouldn't be the fighters they are now without a guy like Fedor setting the benchmark of the modern heavyweight to emulate. They likely started out training watching and learning from him.

HW GOAT? outright GOAT? its all subjective and can only ever be opinion but for me at least, Fedor is the best I've seen, and I've been watching this game avidly for the past 15+ years.

Dismissing my opinion as if I was just 'brainwashed by Pride' is pretty simplistic and to be honest, insults my intelligence.

With your own opinion, I could equally try push the 'brand allegiance' angle and say stuff like 'Zuffa hype has really done a number on you', but I'm mature enough to not need to resort to that level of rubbish. I reckon I at least deserve the benefit of the doubt, as I as have afforded you.

 

[Redhawks100]

You say it as if 'Pride' somehow brainwashed me? I was watching the UFC long before I watched Pride. I don't think it had anything to do with it, it could have been a fighter from any organisation. I'm a fan of fighters.

And he wasn't perfect, certainly not, he had quite a few flaws, but AT THE TIME, he really had the aura of being the most undefeatable, but the WAY he fought (like I said, fighting different guys at their strengths and still beating them, post Nog and Cro Cop especially)

I think the standup was closer with Cro Cop than many admit, (and yep he got rocked a little, not like Fujita) but he hung in there and certainly gave as good as he got in the standup.

Also not saying that guys like Cain (now) would be beaten by Fedor either. Cain I think is better than any fighter Fedor has a win against, BUT I still think Fedor in his prime, that would be an amazing hypothetical fight.

HW GOAT, outright GOAT, its all subjective, but for me at least, Fedor is the best I've seen, and I've been watching this game avidly for the past 15+ years.

Dismissing my opinion as if I was just 'brainwashed by Pride' is pretty simplistic and to be honest, insults my intelligence.

With your own opinion, I could equally try push the 'brand allegiance' angle and say stuff like 'Zuffa hype has really done a number on you', but I'm mature enough to not need to resort to that level of rubbish. I reckon I at least deserve the benefit of the doubt, as I as have afforded you.

Don't take it so serious, I'm not intending on insulting your intelligence. I can appreciate that you acknowledge the fact that it is all subjective.

 

[Sakurabas Ear]

IMO GSP is gonna pass Fedor and Andy by if he can hold that belt for like 4 more defenses.

 

[hugoooo]

The result is fair, at all.

 

[Mondo Freaks]

Picked Jones. Fedor's losses are too glaring.

 

[Magnum1978]

Don't take it so serious, I'm not intending on insulting your intelligence. I can appreciate that you acknowledge the fact that it is all subjective.

All good Mr RedHawks

Sherdog is not a place to take things to seriously

 

[Randy Marsh]

Ali is NOT considered the GOAT by experts. Like Fedor he's the fan favorite.

Ok, so I browsed a few lists and they have Sugar Ray Robinson as #1 GOAT with Ali being a close second. But as far as GOAT MMA fighters go, I'm pretty sure most experts either are on two sides of the fence. Anderson Silva or Fedor Emelianenko. Both have legitimate arguments but these are all opinions at the end of the day not pure fact. So it's all subjective anyway.

But when comparing both Anderson and Fedor, it seems that more fighters have a higher regard for Fedor compared to Anderson. Just what I observed throughout the years. I mean, you never really hear of fighter's talking about another fighter like they did about Fedor.

-"Fedor is the best pfp fighter in the world." - Randy Couture, UFC HW Champion

-"Fedor is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world aside from bj Penn, those 2 are the best fighters in the world." - Rampage Jackson, UFC LHW Champion

-"It's FEDOR dude!" - Eric Pele

-"He is the BEST." - Mark Coleman, former UFC HW Champion and Pride GP Champion

-"The best in the world, no doubt." - Phil Baroni

-"Look, I've fought many people from around the world, so I've seen many strong fighters. But like him, never." - Renato Sobral

-"Fedor is on top now, it's hard to beat him now." - Pedro Rizzo

-"NOBODY wants to fight Fedor." - Wanderlei Silva, former Pride MW Champion and GP winner

-"Our great champion, he is the BEST in the world." - Josh Barnett, former UFC HW Champion and ADCC Champion

-"Fedor has no equals in Sambo or MMA." - Aleksander Mikhailin, 3-time World Judo Champion and Fedor's former training partner

-"Fedor would be absolutely great in K-1." - Ernesto Hoost, 4-time K-1 World Champion

-"Fedor has no weakness! I have seen so many fights, and even the best fighters in the world have a flaw in their game but I have yet to find one in Fedor Emelianenko." - Bas Rutten, former king of Pancrase and UFC HW Champion FSN

-"Probably the best ever lived....he's a living legend right now and I don't think there's a man on this planet who can beat him; the man is unreal. Pound for pound the best in the world." - Diego Sanchez, hooterandgreenway radio show

-"Fedor is my favorite." - BJ Penn, former UFC Welterweight Champion and BJJ world Champion, NWFS 7/9/06

-"Fedor is the most incredible fighter you'll ever see." - Frank Trigg

-"Fedor is pound-for-pound best in the world." - Shamada (Pride referee)

-"Fedor is a machine." - Don Frye

-"The best fighter to climb into ANY areana is Emelianenko fedor. He is in his own league and you can't compare nobody." - Kevin Randleman, former UFC HW Champion

-"Fedor is just too dominant, too good at punching people in the face. The way he punches people man he's trying to kill people, with both hands. He's in a whole different class by himself." - Brandon Vera

-"He is the best and undefeated... His striking game and his ground game is the best, so that's why he is the best... He is the sh*t " - Mark Hunt, K-1 World Champion

-"He's the total package; looks can be deceiving. He's incredibly strong, his hips are amazing, probably his best asset. Hard to hold down, hard to do anything with the guy.........shit he's just the best, that's why he's the best. He gets in position to throw the big bombs, he throws just as hard on the ground as he does on the feet. That's why he's the world Champion." - Mark Coleman

-"He's the fastest I've ever seen. Much faster than Mirko. And he's got a great reaction. Technically he may not have such a big advantage, but physically he is the fastest heavy guy in MMA history. He tries a punch, misses it, then immediately shoots again, Cro Cop for example didn't even see them coming. He must practise that a lot, because it's not easy to improvise that kind of thing. He is really with a good combination of styles, he can go from one art to the other, that's what makes him different."

 

[bat_country]

Picked Jones. Fedor's losses are too glaring.

So if Jones loses three in a row near the end of his career will they be "glaring" too?

 

[Brick Plenary]

TS, why no bump?