If Fedor signs with Bellator, could you seriously discuss him as GOAT anymore?

[Miiiiiiighty]

How does it affect his past accomplishments ?

I would be disappointed but let's not act like if PRIDE and then SF HW divisions weren't the best at their eras...

It's not like the UFC has been known to make undecently low contract offers ( Sergei __> 10k/10k LOL ) to well known fighters

Anyway the guy is nearing 40 so we better not expect him to look like his old self.

 

[ncsibiryak]

Because the game did not pass them by? They did not get finished by a Middleweight and retire? Because Fedor knew it was time to walk away and did? I will give you that heavyweights seem to hit their prime later than the lower weights but Fedor threw in the towel, he knew he was done. Give the man the respect that if he knew he couldnt hang with the top guys it was time to walk away and he did that.

You do not hit a magical age and the lights go off. Each fighter ends at a different time. Fedor walked away, he has been on the shelf for three years and he is near 40. While age is not the defining factor it does play a part in the reality. You can sit the bench for three years and return to greatness at 28 years old, at 40, not so much - at least not naturally.

I agree with most of what you said. Even if it is unlikely, I am hoping for a George Foremanesque comeback. He was out for ten years, and managed it. Once again, I know that it is unlikely and they are not alike in any way, since Foreman came back as a big heavyweight and had bone crushing power.

 

[tenniswhiz]

He's the GOAT because of what he did in the past, most of it before the end of Pride.

If he wants to keep fighting as he gets older, or beat up someone's grandpa, that has nothing to do with the legacy that he has already established.
The same goes for any older fighter.

 

[Source]

Agreed. I didn't watch him...I don't say a word. I never truly got to behold.

Don't worry most of the people that claim to have seen him fight at the time didn't either. If everyone that claimed to watch Fedor then actually did Pride would have never been sold and the buy rates would have been more than 30-40k.

 

[JKS]

Honestly can't take people seriously who have Fedor as the GOAT. Resume to resume comparison, he simply doesn't match up to GSP, Anderson, Bones or Aldo.

Though I will say he's unquestionably the HW GOAT.

There are many variables to go into considering the greatest fighter of all time and Fedor is no question up there with GSP and Anderson. Jones and Aldo arent up there yet. People criticize his resume because he hasnt beaten any of the fighters that are top guys in the current era aside from AA, Cro Cop and Nog, most of his wins are guys that are not relevant today but were in 2001 to 2009.

If you want to see the best point in Fedor's career from the point he hit his prime in 2001 (I say around this time when he beat Babalu who was 19-3 at the time) to 2010 when he lost to Werdum he was 25-0. 13 of those wins were top 10 and 6 of those wins were top 5. He was the #1 ranked HW in the world for over 7 years.

That no question puts him in a bid for the greatest fighter with GSP and Anderson. I personally dont really have anyone that stands out from those 3. They all can make good arguments but its not anything clear cut.

I think if a fighter is going to be the GOAT, IMO it has to be definite. If Fedor came back to the UFC, won the title and defended it 3-4 times for example. Or if Aldo were to defend his FW belt another 4 times, move up to LW and win the belt there and defend it LW record 5 times, then we have a GOAT

 

[PancraseForever]

Honestly can't take people seriously who have Fedor as the GOAT. Resume to resume comparison, he simply doesn't match up to GSP, Anderson, Bones or Aldo.

Though I will say he's unquestionably the HW GOAT.

Here are some reasons:

1) Fedor is at HW where it's harder to not get KTFO
2) At HW you can give up bigger weight advantages e.g. Mark Hunt & Bigfoot are giants
3) He doesn't have good training camps or coaches like the other 3 so you could argue he has not performed to his full potential, he rarely gets to train with pros like the others, just rolls and spars amateurs
4) During PRIDE was literally seen as invincible, only AS has achieved this aura IMO JBJ has seemed beatable
5) He has several victories where he fought to his opponent's strengths and won e.g. grappling Nog, striking with Mirko (was actually kind of even), judo slamming and armbarring judo medalist Ogawa
6) Beat both former UFC champs Arlovski and Sylvia in less than one round combined
7) Has never been dropped standing despite over 10 years fighting at HW, only once grappling
8) Like AS, has "spectacular" looking victories
9) AS's resume is not much better, AS mostly fought VERY favorable match-ups
10) Shown unbelievable feats of resilience such as surviving the Randleman death suplex

P.S. When he lost to BF and Henderson, in those fights I think he would have lost to ANYONE quite honestly, I really don't think he was in it at that point. Hendo was in PRIDE, it's hard to imagine if they had fought back in one of the PRIDE tourneys it would have gone the same way.

Those are just some I can think of.

Also you have to account for the era, JBJ is more recent. Probably if Fedor was just starting out now with Greg Jackson's camp and the most modern training and fighting knowledge he would be just as dominant as during PRIDE. In boxing rankings they account for era too as some of the guys who are ranked highly would be most likely beaten if they were to compete as they did in their prime in 2015.

JBJ might be the best but against guys like Gus who look more his size I think he has shown vulnerability plus his test results looked sus that one time (I use roids by the way). AS used peds. GSP APPARENTLY used HGH but I'm not sure about that, it's just a rumor I've heard a lot and those pics of him with "HGH gut".

FWIW Fedor looks a bit "sus" lately too but he has a big frame so it's hard to tell. I mean it's impossible to make accusations towards anyone who hasn't actually popped so we can only say AS for definite.

 

[dns2344]

With both him and his opponents you are rating their past according to their present and future. I don't see how this is logical.

In my opinion, what Fedor has already accomplished is greater than anyone (especially at HW) has up to this point. So regardless of what he or his opponents do in the future, that can't be reduced. He may not add to it with Bellator bums but you still can't subtract the success.

 

[karatekid1]

People whose join dates are later than 2010 (well, I guess that includes me) are not eligible to discuss Fedor Emelianenko.

What does someones join date on sherdog have to do with how long they have been watching mma? Do you think the first thing someone does when they start following mma is join sherdog? Ive been watching mma since 2005 and didnt join sherdog until 2 years ago....

 

[JKS]

Don't worry most of the people that claim to have seen him fight at the time didn't either. If everyone that claimed to watch Fedor then actually did Pride would have never been sold and the buy rates would have been more than 30-40k.

Do you even know anything about how Pride was broadcasted?? It was not a PPV model. Pride was on TV in Japan and that was their main source of revenue for broadcasting that paid em $50 mill USD on average a year, the events had 15 to 25 million people watching. They also did a PPV deal in Japan for certain shows. They were were on TV in 40 other nations for their shows. Pride did almost no publicity or marketing in the US and Canada, 30K to 40K are very good numbers for the shows....considering the UFC around that time till 2005 was doing 30k to 110K and they are based in the US where the events are held. They didnt even break into doing over 200K till the Chuck/Randy fights, thats when the PPV model started producing, after TUF.

 

[JagWar]

No. You cant erase history. Would I lose a tiny bit of respect for him? yes.

 

[djacobox372]

Fedor was already retired, and years past his best days. Nothing he does now will have any negative impact on his all time status, all he can do is add to it.

 

[The Accuser]

There are many variables to go into considering the greatest fighter of all time and Fedor is no question up there with GSP and Anderson. Jones and Aldo arent up there yet. People criticize his resume because he hasnt beaten any of the fighters that are top guys in the current era aside from AA, Cro Cop and Nog, most of his wins are guys that are not relevant today but were in 2001 to 2009.

If you want to see the best point in Fedor's career from the point he hit his prime in 2001 (I say around this time when he beat Babalu who was 19-3 at the time) to 2010 when he lost to Werdum he was 25-0. 13 of those wins were top 10 and 6 of those wins were top 5. He was the #1 ranked HW in the world for over 7 years.

That no question puts him in a bid for the greatest fighter with GSP and Anderson. I personally dont really have anyone that stands out from those 3. They all can make good arguments but its not anything clear cut.

I think if a fighter is going to be the GOAT, IMO it has to be definite. If Fedor came back to the UFC, won the title and defended it 3-4 times for example. Or if Aldo were to defend his FW belt another 4 times, move up to LW and win the belt there and defend it LW record 5 times, then we have a GOAT

Level headed post. But why are Jones and especially Aldo not up there? I'd have them both above Anderson (even w/o PEDs!). Aldo's 10 year run is insane and his division is almost as stacked as WW.