How soon could Gane be considered the HW GOAT?

I'm a huge Gane fan. His striking is just amazing, he turned Ngannou into a whole wrestler, he ko'd Tuivasa, Lewis, JDS, etc.. He is just great already.
Well, at least you admitted your fanboi'ism...

I feel he could be the UFC HW GOAT he got all the potential, if he beats Jones and then Miocic, he is going to be the HW GOAT already in my eyes.

...before saying something so ludicrous.

Well done, sir. Best subtle troll in days.
 
I think the point he’s trying to make is at hw you can go from nothing to goat very quickly under the right circumstances, beating jones first will be a monumentally hard act to follow and imo it would eclipse any one win any other person in this conversation has
Do we really think beating Jones is going to be monumentally impressive or even that hard at HW?
 
Well, reaching UFC HW greatness is never THAT far away because the record amount of HW title fight wins is 6 (Randy) and only five other fighters have won more than 2 UFC HW title fights (Sylvia, Stipe, Cain, Arlovski, Brock)

But seems like Sherdog doesn't really respect the record of any UFC HW champs.
"Cain fought Bigfoot twice and JDS was a ghost the second time, Stipe defeated old guys, Ngannou defeated old Stipe. Everyone sucks"

If Gane wins 4 title fights, there will be debates if he's the best UFC HW.
But many fans will shit on his record, saying he didn't defeat anyone great.
At the moment, I don't think anyone at HW is considered an amazing win by some Sherdog-standards.

I think JDS had the best run of names and the time he beat them.

Won the belt, longest HW win streak and wins future and former champs Werdum, Cain, Mir and Stipe and everyone was pretty close to prime.

 
Maybe by holding actual records? Like Title victories, defenses, winning percentages, overall wins, etc? Records are there for a reason. You can't be GOAT and not hold some records. Like when people try to say Usman is above GSP. Two division champ (yeah I know, against Bisping) with 9 title defenses vs 5 and who just got knocked out in his prime. Hmm......
 
New fans:
  • Semmy Schilt, arguably the most accomplished kickboxer in kickboxing history who was also a black belt in judo, is a one dimensional can that should never have been ranked in MMA
Also new fans:
  • Ciryl Gane, a French kickboxer with no wrestling background and a blue belt in BJJ, is the new breed of HW and would demolish all those who came before him

I love you, lol
 
These are still amazing wins. Jones is the LHW GOAT and bulked to be a real HW and Stipe is arguably the HW GOAT or close to Fedor but Fedor is retired and is not relevant to this conversation.


Level of competition. Fedor smashed 16 cans and 6 other smaller LHWs and MWs. A total of 22 of his 40 wins are vs cans or small fighters. That is a fact that Gane or Pavlovich and Aspinall etc cannot indulge in. If we subtract those cans we get Fedor with 18 wins or let us be generous only 20 wins that matter and are not a joke. Of those 20 wins some are vs LHWs or not that great HWs.

Brett Rodgers who is far inferior to Tai or Derrick Lewis is part of that win list. Look at Fedor top 13 wins

FEDOR EMELIANENKO

1. Semmy Schilt (great win but his sport is kickboxing and he never beat any good mma fighters but Schilt is the HW Kickboxing GOAT. If Rico Verhoven came over to MMA can crushed and submittrd 7 guys then fought Gane and lost by decision I would still praise Gane for this win)

2. Heath Herring (good win for that time, but Lewis, Tai, Volkov, JDS, etc are superior to Herring)

3. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Good win but he is factually 1 dimesional and not as well rounded as fighters now or 10 years ago)

4. Kazuyuki Fujita (lol really he is a can crusher)

5. Mark Coleman (first fight) (1 dimesional a dog would submit him) also weighed like 230lbs

6. Kevin Randleman (ranked LHW) (small as well also 1 dimesional, a plastic bag would submit him)

7. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (good win but Nog is 1 dimesional that is a fact)

8. Mirko Filipovic (great win he later developed a well rounded game) he would be a top HW today. When he lost to Nog he was 1 dimesional he was a pure striker then. When he faced Fedor 2 years later he had greatly improved submission defense and clinch fighting. 2 years after the Fedor loss he had developed good grappling.

9. Mark Hunt (good win but 1 dimesional fighter)

10. Matt Lindland (ranked MW). A Middleweight

11. Tim Sylvia (end if his career and out of shape)

12. Andrei Arlovski (This and Cro Cop are Fedors best wins in my opinion) I realize Nog beat Cro Cop but it was a Cro Cop who only knew kickboxing and had poor grappling.

13. Brett Rogers (1 dimesional only ever beat Arlovski)




With 4x or 5 title defenses Gane or Pavlovich surpass Fedor. Gane has 5 top 10 HW wins that so far belong to largelly better fighters than most of the top 11 ranked Wins Fedor got.

Can you provide the list of the top 11 ranked fighters Fedor beat?

If Gane beats Jones and then gets 4 title defenses he will have 10 top HW wins. To defend the belt 4x would likely take 2.5 years so say January 2026 he [Gane) has fought for 8 years almost and only had 1 loss via a razor thin decision loss to Ngannou. Then let us say he avenges the Ngannou loss if say Ngannou boxes this year takes off next year then returns.

Gane would only have 17 wins by this time [mid 2026) but he would have 11 top HW ranked wins tied with Fedor but the level of competition and well roundness would be far higher for Gane. Keep in mind if Gane defends the belt 4x or 5x it would involve beating killers like Pavlovich, Blaydes, Aspinall and surely Spivak and likely some new up and comer.

Now let us think about Pavlovich who says he has a fight for April but wont say who. It is likely Blaydes let us say Pavlovich wins then beats Gane then defends the belt 4x.

Pavlovich has 3 top 10 HW ranked wins now. If he beats Blaydes and beats Gane he will have 5. If he defends 4x he would have 9 top 10 HW ranked wins. Let us say Pavlovich enters 2026 as a 4x defending champion. By this time he would have 23 wins with 1 loss and only 1 loss in his past 11 years of fighting. Of Pavlovichs current 17 wins only 2 are cans and only 1 is a LHW.... Think about that. He has largelly almost entirely fought only HWs

4 of the HWs Pavlovich beat before the UFC were either kickboxing champions or Combat Sambo champions and all of them had positive winning records and 2/4 were over 6 foot.

You have to weigh that.
Right off the bat, I’m gonna disagree with weighing the fact that Pavlovich had no-name opponents with kickboxing backgrounds. I mean, when Fedor returned from retirement, lots of fans complained that he fought Jaideep Singh—and understandably so. Jaideep has never done a damn thing in MMA. He does meet your criteria you just listed, however: multiple kickboxing championships (K1, RISE JNetwork) and. 40-10 kickboxing record. Should we weigh that? I sure don’t.

I also want to state again, as I have before, that the cans on Fedor’s record have no bearing whatsoever in my ranking. You frequently mention how guys today can’t “pad their record” like Fedor, but those fights don’t factor in at all for me. Pretend they don’t exist if you like. It makes no difference.

I have some disagreements about the way you characterize some of these fighters:
  • Nog was not one-dimensional. Nog had good hands.
  • You characterize Tim Sylvia as “at the end of his career,” when in fact he was only 16 months removed from being UFC champion, was coming off a UFC Interim HW title shot, was still 5 years away from retiring, and was ranked #5 in the world.
  • I’m on board with JDS and Volkov being better than Herring, but Lewis and Tai? Ehhhh.
  • Like @Taric alluded to, It’s bizarre that you call people like Nog one dimensional—but not Ciryl Gane, who has almost no wrestling to speak of and is a literal white belt on the ground. Tai and Lewis likewise have no real wrestling or grappling skills.
  • Fujita is not a can crusher. He’s got wins over Gilbert Yvel, Kerr, Ken Shamrock…none of those guys are cans.
Yes, I can list the ranked wins Fedor has. A couple things about that: firstly, there were no UFC Rankings or PRIDE Rankings at the time, so a ranked fighter meant one of the 10 best in the world, in any org. The UFC is really making this comparison tougher and tougher with their gifted title shots, unearned rematches, and blatant rankings manipulation. Stipe may be UFC HW GOAT, but he’s looked washed for awhile, hasn’t fought in almost 2 years, hasn’t won a fight in 2 1/2 years, and yet is allowed to hang out at #2 for no good reason. If someone punches his old ass all around the cage, they’ll get a win over the “#2 ranked heavyweight.” :rolleyes:

I also don’t count people ranked outside of HW for Fedor. Babalu was ranked at LHW, and Lindland at MW, but those are not ranked wins. Good opponents though. I only list opponents with verifiable rankings at HW, from the time period (no “generated ranking” bullshit). In order, they are:
  1. Semmy Schilt
  2. Heath Herring
  3. Nogueira
  4. Kazayuki Fujita*
  5. Mark Coleman (first fight)
  6. Kevin Randleman
  7. Nogueira
  8. Cro Cop
  9. Hunt
  10. Sylvia
  11. Arlovski
  12. Rogers
The asterisk next to Fujita is because most MMA outlets had him just outside the top 10 at the time, but MMA News had him at #10 and they are a legitimate, reputable outlet.
The quality of HW's right now is surprisingly low. Compare that list to about 10-15 years ago:
Brock Lesnar
Shane Carwin
Big Nog
JDS
Alistair
Cain
Nelson
Barnett
DC
Stipe
Mir
Bigfoot
Kongo

All in various points of their careers, but, good grief. Not everyone walked out with great records but the skill levels were much higher and so was the athleticism.
I couldn’t agree more. HW is finally starting to show some life and come back around a bit, but it’s been a dismal last several years.
 
On this forum? After he wins his next fight.
 
I'm a huge Gane fan. His striking is just amazing, he turned Ngannou into a whole wrestler, he ko'd Tuivasa, Lewis, JDS, etc.. He is just great already.

The fact that he has only been in MMA like for 4 years and he is at the top already is just amazing!!!

I feel he could be the UFC HW GOAT he got all the potential, if he beats Jones and then Miocic, he is going to be the HW GOAT already in my eyes.

This man's only loss is against Ngannou and from what I remember it was a close desicion that could have gone either way, I remember he took Ngannou to school at stand-up and turned him into a whole wrestler, he received no damage tho, so he barely lost by LnP?

Other than that he was a win over: Tuivasa, Lewis, JDS, Volkov, Jairzinho, etc.. If he adds Jones and Miocic to that list, ohhh boy, there could be an argument.

So what do you guys think?
LOL
Sorry, bro!
I like him very much, and would LOOOOOVE for him to become the GOAT... in fucking time!!!
If you are a believer, please stop jinxing him!!!
Look what happened to Cain!!! He COULD HAVE BEEN!!!!!
Look at Khabib!!! He could have been!!

Let him have a full career, then we talk about "GOAT".
And to be perfectly honest, he is VERY far from even mentioning him with the likes of Fedor, Silva, GSP and a (very) few selected others......

...though he is definitely moving in the right direction!!
But more importantly, ENJOY THE RIDE!!!! ;)
 
Gane? GOAT? Lol. He's a good fighter, but GOAT is nigh impossible for him at this point.
 
Just chill and enjoy the fighter’s career first. He’s fought 11 times. Give the man a chance to earn it. Until then, maybe go easy on claiming someone’s “goat”.
 
Right off the bat, I’m gonna disagree with weighing the fact that Pavlovich had no-name opponents with kickboxing backgrounds. I mean, when Fedor returned from retirement, lots of fans complained that he fought Jaideep Singh—and understandably so. Jaideep has never done a damn thing in MMA. He does meet your criteria you just listed, however: multiple kickboxing championships (K1, RISE JNetwork) and. 40-10 kickboxing record. Should we weigh that? I sure don’t.

I also want to state again, as I have before, that the cans on Fedor’s record have no bearing whatsoever in my ranking. You frequently mention how guys today can’t “pad their record” like Fedor, but those fights don’t factor in at all for me. Pretend they don’t exist if you like. It makes no difference.

I have some disagreements about the way you characterize some of these fighters:
  • Nog was not one-dimensional. Nog had good hands.
  • You characterize Tim Sylvia as “at the end of his career,” when in fact he was only 16 months removed from being UFC champion, was coming off a UFC Interim HW title shot, was still 5 years away from retiring, and was ranked #5 in the world.
  • I’m on board with JDS and Volkov being better than Herring, but Lewis and Tai? Ehhhh.
  • Like @Taric alluded to, It’s bizarre that you call people like Nog one dimensional—but not Ciryl Gane, who has almost no wrestling to speak of and is a literal white belt on the ground. Tai and Lewis likewise have no real wrestling or grappling skills.
  • Fujita is not a can crusher. He’s got wins over Gilbert Yvel, Kerr, Ken Shamrock…none of those guys are cans.
Yes, I can list the ranked wins Fedor has. A couple things about that: firstly, there were no UFC Rankings or PRIDE Rankings at the time, so a ranked fighter meant one of the 10 best in the world, in any org. The UFC is really making this comparison tougher and tougher with their gifted title shots, unearned rematches, and blatant rankings manipulation. Stipe may be UFC HW GOAT, but he’s looked washed for awhile, hasn’t fought in almost 2 years, hasn’t won a fight in 2 1/2 years, and yet is allowed to hang out at #2 for no good reason. If someone punches his old ass all around the cage, they’ll get a win over the “#2 ranked heavyweight.” :rolleyes:

I also don’t count people ranked outside of HW for Fedor. Babalu was ranked at LHW, and Lindland at MW, but those are not ranked wins. Good opponents though. I only list opponents with verifiable rankings at HW, from the time period (no “generated ranking” bullshit). In order, they are:
  1. Semmy Schilt = Great win even though he lost to cans in MMA. He is the HW GOAT of kickboxing so props to Fedor for avoiding the KO vs this 7 foot 300lb monster.
  2. Heath Herring = can crusher. And an inferior version to any of the top guys Stipe or Gane smashed.
  3. Nogueira = good win for that time
  4. Kazayuki Fujita* = yeah...... really?
  5. Mark Coleman (first fight) = 1 dimesional also small for a HW
  6. Kevin Randleman = the size of a LHW and 1 dimesional who a dog would submit
  7. Nogueira = 1 dimesional but good win for the time
  8. Cro Cop = Great win but he weighed 225lbs for most of his career. There are LHWs weighing more.
  9. Hunt = Green in his career and 1 dimesional
  10. Sylvia =, Okay win
  11. Arlovski = Great win
  12. Rogers = Inferior to Lewis or Tai
The asterisk next to Fujita is because most MMA outlets had him just outside the top 10 at the time, but MMA News had him at #10 and they are a legitimate, reputable outlet.

I couldn’t agree more. HW is finally starting to show some life and come back around a bit, but it’s been a dismal last several years.

Gane is not a white belt if he was Ngannou would of submitted him. Gane also has submission wins. Gane has been grappling for 6 years now.

The Cans Fedor beat are relevant in that most of his fans prop them up. We need to judge Fedor on 18 to 20 of his wins only not the other 20 cans. And every one of Fedors lossed is brutal and to good fighters except the can he got a doctor stoppage loss to. I have watched every Fedor fight he is the definition of well rounded. However, I have also seen every Nog fight. I swear most people are not Nog fans rather they are Fedor fans who need to make Fedor look better by overrating Nog as other than Cro Cop, Arlovski and old Mir, Fedors best other win is vs Nog. Nog was never a good boxer only a biased person would say that. Nogs striking is crap

From your list here is my honest assessment based on reality
  1. Semmy Schilt = Great win even though he lost to cans in MMA. He is the HW GOAT of kickboxing so props to Fedor for avoiding the KO vs this 7 foot 300lb monster.
  2. Heath Herring = can crusher. And an inferior version to any of the top guys Stipe or Gane smashed.
  3. Nogueira = good win for that time
  4. Kazayuki Fujita* = yeah...... really?
  5. Mark Coleman (first fight) = 1 dimesional also small for a HW
  6. Kevin Randleman = the size of a LHW and 1 dimesional who a dog would submit
  7. Nogueira = 1 dimesional but good win for the time
  8. Cro Cop = Great win but he weighed 225lbs for most of his career. There are LHWs weighing more.
  9. Hunt = Green in his career and 1 dimesional
  10. Sylvia =, Okay win
  11. Arlovski = Great win
  12. Rogers = Inferior to Lewis or Tai

The difference between the Jaideph and Pavlovich wins vs (Kirill Sidelnikov, Mikhail Mokhnatkin, Alexei Kudin) is there better records and size and outside achievements relative to Jaideph. And I am aware Jaideep is tall but he weighs sub 220lbs.

Well if Gane or Sergei get a win over Stipe it still matters a lot. Much more than the Tim Sylvia win should matter. Also if they lose to a 40 year old it should hurt their resume just like Fedor losing to much older 41 year old Hendo hurts him.
 
Gane is not a white belt if he was Ngannou would of submitted him. Gane also has submission wins. Gane has been grappling for 6 years now.

The Cans Fedor beat are relevant in that most of his fans prop them up. We need to judge Fedor on 18 to 20 of his wins only not the other 20 cans. And every one of Fedors lossed is brutal and to good fighters except the can he got a doctor stoppage loss to. I have watched every Fedor fight he is the definition of well rounded. However, I have also seen every Nog fight. I swear most people are not Nog fans rather they are Fedor fans who need to make Fedor look better by overrating Nog as other than Cro Cop, Arlovski and old Mir, Fedors best other win is vs Nog. Nog was never a good boxer only a biased person would say that. Nogs striking is crap

From your list here is my honest assessment based on reality
  1. Semmy Schilt = Great win even though he lost to cans in MMA. He is the HW GOAT of kickboxing so props to Fedor for avoiding the KO vs this 7 foot 300lb monster.
  2. Heath Herring = can crusher. And an inferior version to any of the top guys Stipe or Gane smashed.
  3. Nogueira = good win for that time
  4. Kazayuki Fujita* = yeah...... really?
  5. Mark Coleman (first fight) = 1 dimesional also small for a HW
  6. Kevin Randleman = the size of a LHW and 1 dimesional who a dog would submit
  7. Nogueira = 1 dimesional but good win for the time
  8. Cro Cop = Great win but he weighed 225lbs for most of his career. There are LHWs weighing more.
  9. Hunt = Green in his career and 1 dimesional
  10. Sylvia =, Okay win
  11. Arlovski = Great win
  12. Rogers = Inferior to Lewis or Tai

The difference between the Jaideph and Pavlovich wins vs (Kirill Sidelnikov, Mikhail Mokhnatkin, Alexei Kudin) is there better records and size and outside achievements relative to Jaideph. And I am aware Jaideep is tall but he weighs sub 220lbs.

Well if Gane or Sergei get a win over Stipe it still matters a lot. Much more than the Tim Sylvia win should matter. Also if they lose to a 40 year old it should hurt their resume just like Fedor losing to much older 41 year old Hendo hurts him.
Gane is a white belt. That’s not an insult, it’s a statement of fact. Maybe he got his blue belt by now, I dunno. But last I heard, he was a white belt.

Let’s take a look at his impeccable resume…

  1. JDS— Utterly shot when Gane fought him. JDS had been declining badly for years, was 0-3 going into that fight in the midst of what would be an 0-5 stretch.
  2. Jarizinho Rozenstruik—-talk about one dimensional. No wrestling or grappling at all. Capable of beating shot legends and substandard competition, seems to lose to anyone near elite.
  3. Alexander Volkov—a fine win.
  4. Derrick Lewis—again, very one dimensional. No real wrestling or grappling. Lewis was also declining, is currently 1-5 with the lone win being Chris Daukaus.
  5. Tai Tuivasa—again one dimensional, beating Lewis is the only reason he was ranked.
The fact that Gane gets 5 ranked wins out of that car wreck should be a crime. Meanwhile someone like JDS beats Werdum, Struve, Cro Cop, Yvel, Gonzaga, Nelson, Carwin, Cain, Mir, Hunt, Stipe, Rothwell, Ivanov, Tuivasa, and Lewis—and only gets 8 ranked wins out of the bunch??? Criminal.
<{danayeah}>

Since the topic is when Gane gets to be HW GOAT, here is a handy scorecard you can use as his career unfolds.

RANKED WINS

Fedor: 12 ranked wins over 11 unique opponents. We could even be nice and exclude Fujita since most outlets didn’t rank him, and called it 11 ranked wins.

Gane: 5 ranked wins over 5 unique opponents

TITLES WON

Fedor: 2 (PRIDE and WAMMA). Also has RINGS and PRIDE tournament belts.
Gane: 0

TITLE WINS

Fedor: 7
Gane: 0

TITLE DEFENSES

Fedor: 5 total (3 PRIDE, 2 WAMMA) in one continuous run
Gane: 0

FORMER/FUTURE CHAMPS BEATEN

Fedor: 5 initial run, 2 more in later years.
Gane: 1

So there you go. That’s the score card. When Gane’s numbers start matching or exceeding Fedor’s, we can talk HW GOAT.
 
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Gane is a white belt. That’s not an insult, it’s a statement of fact. Maybe he got his blue belt by now, I dunno. But last I heard, he was a white belt.

Let’s take a look at his impeccable resume…

  1. JDS— Utterly shot when Gane fought him. JDS had been declining badly for years, was 0-3 going into that fight in the midst of what would be an 0-5 stretch.
  2. Jarizinho Rozenstruik—-talk about one dimensional. No wrestling or grappling at all. Capable of beesting shot legends and substandard competition, seems to lose to anyone near elite.
  3. Alexander Volkov—a fine win.
  4. Derrick Lewis—again, very one dimensional. No real wrestling or grappling. Lewis was also declining, is currently 1-5 with the lone win being Chris Daukaus.
  5. Tai Tuivasa—again one dimensional, beating Lewis is the only reason he was ranked.
The fact that Gane gets 5 ranked wins out of that car wreck should be a crime. Meanwhile someone like JDS beats Werdum, Struve, Cro Cop, Yvel, Gonzaga, Nelson, Carwin, Cain, Mir, Hunt, Stipe, Rothwell, Ivanov, Tuivasa, and Lewis—and only gets 8 ranked wins out of the bunch??? Criminal.
<{danayeah}>

Since the topic is when Gane gets to be HW GOAT, here is a handy scorecard you can use as his career unfolds.

RANKED WINS

Fedor: 12 ranked wins over 11 unique opponents. We could even be nice and exclude Fujita since most outlets didn’t rank him, and called it 11 ranked wins.

Gane: 5 ranked wins over 5 unique opponents

TITLES WON

Fedor: 2 (PRIDE and WAMMA). Also has RINGS and PRIDE tournament belts.
Gane: 0

TITLE WINS

Fedor: 7
Gane: 0

TITLE DEFENSES

Fedor: 5 total (3 PRIDE, 2 WAMMA) in one continuous run
Gane: 0

FORMER/FUTURE CHAMPS BEATEN

Fedor: 5 initial run, 2 more in later years.
Gane: 1

So there you go. That’s the score card. When Gane’s numbers start matching or exceeding Fedor’s, we can talk HW GOAT.

Gane may be a white belt in a belt system but his skills are far above what a real white belts are.

JDS is still a solid fighter and good win regardless. That win is better than Fedor beating Tim Sylvia or Herring considering how far superior JDS in skill set.

I can agree Rozenstruk is 1 dimesional. But would Herring or Fujita beat Rozen? Or Brett rodgers? Rozen is a better win than Rodgers

Derrick Lewis is not 1 dimesional. He has takedown defense and good enough submission defende than 5 Brazilian jiu jitsu black belts in the past failed to submit him on the ground. In addition his wrestling is good enough to have stopped Blaydes and many others. Only DC and Spivak have out grappled him.

Tai is 1 dimesional but has so far displayed good takedown defende. He is a better more diverse striker than Chuck Liddell was.


I agree for Gane to surpass Fedor he needs more ranked wins over quality opponents. If he beats Jones that will be his 6th. If he beats Pav his 7th if he beats Blaydes his 8th if he beats say Spivak his 9th. Gane has not faced an elite pure large wrestler yet or a wrestler/submission expert like Spivak and both of those men can strike especially Blaydes.

I am just saying I would personally rank Gane superior if he beats Jones and defends the belt 4x. 4x would break UFC record if he did it in a row. If he did it 5x it would be tied with Fedor. Gane with 5x defenses and 9 or 10 ranked wins would in most peoples eyes be better than Fedor given the level of competition and caliber of fighters being higher than Rodgers, Sylvia, Herring, Schilt, Fujita
 
Beating donwhill moving up Jones and old ass Stipe, while the guy who beats you (Ngannou) is still around is very very far from being HW GOAT. So I feel he's nowhere near being GOAT, specially since it's not like he's dominating folks like Khabib did and you can say he would be a favorite against everyone else.

He needs to rack up a good number of dominant defenses.
 
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