i miss the good old days of the UFC.

[BigNuggetIce]

The LHW division in 2005 was TWO DIFFERENT DIVISIONS. And popular doesn't mean better

The talent was better. Imo

 

[Hard Charger]

Loved those days and all the speculation of Pride vs. UFC. 2001-2007 was my favorite era in MMA

 

[HHJ]

in 10 years we will miss these nowadays times.

 

[supra57]

There was nothing good about watching Royce fight he was so boring I couldnt take him laying on a guy for an hour back in the 90s.

 

[supra57]

I remember saying "omg! Sit your ass down Ken, Tito will beat ass again and again".

Shamrock had no business fighting then and especially now. Can't believe him and Gracie are doing this, It's pointless.

I watched Tito beat down Ken the last time live in Florida Ken came out to the ring eating a hamburger

 

[savemgs]

Yeah all of those 35 year old dudes spamming overhand rights and takedowns was sure magical

Hell yes just like this.

 

[accolyte1022]

K. Hackney keeping it real.

 

[kflo]

You do realize that was Vitor fighting and losing juiced to the gills at UFC 51, and that he fought for a UFC belt in 2015, and that he has a win over the current mw champion?

well he was juicing on his way to the title shot too. and he's been training all these years improving his overall skillset with top camps. would you seriously argue fighters aren't better as a whole now?

 

[Glove]

There was nothing good about watching Royce fight he was so boring I couldnt take him laying on a guy for an hour back in the 90s.

I cannot say you are wrong, maybe BJJ has no place for you in your "tastes". I myself can watch a grappling match for hours.

 

[613]

The talent was better. Imo

MAYBE the talent was better if you combined Pride and the UFCs LHW/205 divisions (but Jones and DC are ahead of them all. Jones by a pretty big gap). But neither Pride or the UFC had a better 205Lb division by themselves. Especially the UFC

 

[Seabeast]

I also miss the Iceman

 

[Akabignasty]

The good old days

 

[Cake4Breakfast]

You do realize that a single event doesn't indicate a trend? Especially with all of the unknowns surrounding Vitor's past. Overwhelmingly so, fighters today are better than they were then. This will likely always be the case (modern mma > past mma, in terms of skill).

It is also a fact that Vitor is more skilled today than he was back then.

well he was juicing on his way to the title shot too. and he's been training all these years improving his overall skillset with top camps. would you seriously argue fighters aren't better as a whole now?

It is clear that he has always used PED's, probably more in his 20's given his WWE body back then, so that factors out when comparing him in 2005 to him in 2013. Sure he has improved his skills over time, and guys know more now than they did back then as there are more fights to watch and learn from, but my point was that I think the whole "fighters are so much more skilled now" thing is overblown. Vitor knocked Luke out with a spinning back kick in 2013, but Chuck landed a big spinning back kick to the body on Vitor in 2002; the techniques were always there, outside of the Pettis off of the cage thing of course.

I think the biggest difference now is that a lot of fighters grew up honing their styles to win under the unified rules, where 10-15 years ago, the unified rules were new, and guys were fighting in different promotions where the rules were different from promotion to promotion. So guys focused more on finishing fights because that was a clear way to win a fight no matter where you were fighting. Not to mention that fighting that way was going to get you invited back, and fighting like Cruz was going to get you booed out of the building.

So to answer your questions, yeah, I think there is a level of professionalism that exists now in terms of well roundedness, preparation (nutrition, conditioning), gameplanning, etc., but I think the idea that there have been these exponential leaps is silly.

 

[BoxingFan653]

I love chuck

As much as Wanderlei does? If you know what I mean

 

[Necrodamus666]

all these new faces lately bother me. (great for them) but.. they haven't mastered their skills. they all have 'game plans', and they fight safe.

i've lost interest lately.

we were on a run for a few years there, amazing fights.. and now all the veterans are retiring etc.