Is Fedor really ahead Randy Couture in MMA history?

[World eater]

The USA is pretty much the only place where this is debatable.

 

[HHJ]

The USA is pretty much the only place where this is debatable.

As far as popularity? I guess but in the end we talkin about who is ahead in MMA history, it's Fedor. Thats true no matter where it is. It's true in the US, its true in Russia, It's as true in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, as it is in La Paz, Bolivia.

 

[SKYNET]

 

[blaseblase]

@markg171 agreeing with the thread premise lets you know it's a retarded opinion.

 

[World eater]

As far as popularity? I guess but in the end we talkin about who is ahead in MMA history, it's Fedor. Thats true no matter where it is. It true in the US, its true in Russia, It's as true in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, as it is in La Paz, Bolivia.

I agree. But you see, history is written by the victors. And the UFC won even though Pride was way bigger in its heyday. 10 years ago, people would laugh at this. Today you already have more and more (young) people questioning it. In 20 years? After Expendables 20? Joking a bit, but that kind of crap is not far fetched. You just have to repeat it enough times.

 

[HHJ]

@markg171 agreeing with the thread premise lets you know it's a retarded opinion.

Well, hell son you just created a goddamned fact.

If you beieve this thread premise is a retarded opinion, gimme a HELL YEAH

 

[HHJ]

I agree. But you see, history is written by the victors.

Fedor.

The victor is Fedor.

 

[Shaun K]

Vitor fought at MW. So did Hendo. So what's your point? Neither fight happened at MW.

And did you see that I wasn't counting past prime losses?

Calm down. Was a joke. Jesus christ

 

[Ibm]

Yes in any other country other than the USA and Canada

 

[World eater]

Fedor.

The victor is Fedor.

Goat even!

 

[hoevan]

How does a loss to Matt Matrione factor into your Mmath equation?

It doesn't, because it wasn't a common opponent.

 

[markg171]

@markg171 agreeing with the thread premise lets you know it's a retarded opinion.

Fedor may be the better and more accomplished fighter, but if Randy didn't exist MMA wouldn't be where it is today. If Fedor didn't exist we'd still be where we are anyways.

Something something about Randy's losses. Completely missing the point that Randy's back and forth rivalries are exactly what helped this sport take off. Randy simply coaching TUF 1 against his rival Chuck was more important to MMA's growth than anything Fedor ever did, let alone all of Randy's other contributions.

Randy is the more important fighter in MMA history and I'm sorry if that fact offends you. You can go take comfort in the fact that Fedor > Randy though in GOAT discussions.

 

[TerrorTimmy]

Nobody even talks about Randy these days. Fedor still gets talked about quite a lot. Not sure how this is even a discussion tbh

 

[blaseblase]

Fedor may be the better and more accomplished fighter, but if Randy didn't exist MMA wouldn't be where it is today. If Fedor didn't exist we'd still be where we are anyways.

Something something about Randy's losses. Completely missing the point that Randy's back and forth rivalries are exactly what helped this sport take off. Randy simply coaching TUF 1 against his rival Chuck was more important to MMA's growth than anything Fedor ever did, let alone all of Randy's other contributions.

Randy is the more important fighter in MMA history and I'm sorry if that fact offends you. You can go take comfort in the fact that Fedor > Randy though in GOAT discussions.

If Randy didn't exist it wouldn't fundamentally change anything about the growth of the sport or the UFC. Chuck and Tito are the ones who grew the UFC at LHW, Couture wasn't even supposed to be there. He inserted himself into their rivalry because he went 0-2 at heavyweight and saw an opportunity while Tito was holding out for more money. Hell, if he hadnt had been there Tito likely would have gotten the money he was asking for.

And at heavyweight Couture never had the staying power to be a major star for the UFC. Every couple of fights he would lose. Fedor was the face of Pride when it was a bigger promotion than the UFC from his win over Nog to its closure.

At the height of their popularity, Randy refused to fight in the UFC and went through a contract dispute court case because he wanted to leave to go and fight Fedor in another organization. That in itself should inform you of how much bigger Fedor was. Dana White was desperate to sign Fedor at the time. He's told the story many times of flying out to an island to offer Fedor the biggest UFC contract ever. For years Fedor was Dana's white whale, the one that got away.

 

[Alpha_T83]

Ya for sure.

Consider how difficult it is for heavyweight champions to put together long title runs... it's that difficult because you can get KO'd easily with 1 punch at heavyweight. Fedor's championship streak in pride was unreal for a heavyweight.

 

[Morning Star]

Randy is probably more famous but that's about it. Fedor is greater by every measurement.

 

[Chillez]

Yes easily and I say this as huge Randy fan.

 

[DanDragon Machi]

Randy is the more important fighter in MMA history and I'm sorry if that fact offends you. You can go take comfort in the fact that Fedor > Randy though in GOAT discussions.

More important than Cuck Lidllel to UFC's history? I don't think so, Chuck was the Connor of his era

 

[Elvis.]

100%

 

[markg171]

If Randy didn't exist it wouldn't fundamentally change anything about the growth of the sport or the UFC. Chuck and Tito are the ones who grew the UFC at LHW, Couture wasn't even supposed to be there. He inserted himself into their rivalry because he went 0-2 at heavyweight and saw an opportunity while Tito was holding out for more money. Hell, if he hadnt had been there Tito likely would have gotten the money he was asking for.

And at heavyweight Couture never had the staying power to be a major star for the UFC. Every couple of fights he would lose. Fedor was the face of Pride when it was a bigger promotion than the UFC from his win over Nog to its closure.

At the height of their popularity, Randy refused to fight in the UFC and went through a contract dispute court case because he wanted to leave to go and fight Fedor in another organization. That in itself should inform you of how much bigger Fedor was. Dana White was desperate to sign Fedor at the time. He's told the story many times of flying out to an island to offer Fedor the biggest UFC contract ever. For years Fedor was Dana's white whale, the one that got away.

Randy "inserting" himself into the Chuck/Tito issue blew it up even further by making it a 3 way rivalry (4 if you want to include Vitor) and therefore exploding the amount of big fights happening. You are trying to downplay that explosion of influence on MMA's growth because you hate that it hurts your argument. You even cite his losses against him despite me literally pointing out that Randy losing meant he would rematch them and we'd get actual rivalries and big fights going. It wasn't a knock against his influence on MMA, just his record and standing which are completely different issues.

Nobody but hardcore nerds gave a flying fuck about Fedor/Nog over in Pride, regardless of if it was the possibly better fighters. 90% of MMA fans couldn't tell you it ever happened. Everybody however knows about the Randy/Chuck/Tito fights because of how much they blew up MMA and got us here to where we are.

Randy's fights are integral to MMA history, Fedor's are not. If Randy's fights don't happen we don't get here. Fedor's can happen or not happen and not impact anything. You're practically making this argument yourself by pointing out that Randy tried to fight Fedor but couldn't... and instead therefore fought Brock and got us the Brock Era which blew up the sport even further. Brock also didn't fight Fedor and instead had all his other huge fights regardless.

Being a greater fighter doesn't necessarily mean you made a greater impact on the sport. Just ask Mighty Mouse.