Would you say Rashad qualifies as a “legendary” mma fighter? He won the second TUF. He had that undefeated run, where he KO’d Chuck and Forrest and became champ. He also had a humiliating loss to Machida and had a kind of dramatic rivalry with Jones for awhile. Does that qualify him as a legendary fighter in your eyes?
Yes fought the whose who of mma before it became big after the pioneer TUF era, champion, etc and his KO of Chuck will remain one of the biggest of all time
To some extent everyone is legendary. Some are more legendary than others. Whether he fits your arbitrary categorisation depends on how selective you wanna be.
He's definitely on the cusp of it if he ain't. The rivalries with jon and rampage. He definitely helped build the brand earlier on and was one of their bigger draws iirc
Depends on where your bar is really. TUF winner at HW, LHW champion and has a pretty good resume. If he's not a legend then he's damn close
The only thing "legendary" about him is his knockout of Lidell. He would have been knocked out by Lidell if he threw his punch one second earlier.
Legendary fighter is subjective. Chael Sonnen can be considered a “legendary fighter” for reasons beyond his record That’s why they have a hall of fame... and Rashad is or should be a hall of famer
Legends are timeless. They will be talked about when they are no longer here with us for generations. That is my legend bar anyways. Fedor is a legend. Sakuraba is a legend. Royce Gracie is a legend. This sport is young so you gotta be picky who you consider legends. Rashad is great, I wouldn't consider him a legend though.
Rashad should definitely be a hall of famer. Has there even been a title fight between two undefeated fighters like his fight against Machida? The TUF winner with an unblemished record against the guy from a foggy Japanese village somehow nestled near the top of Brazil