Hot Take Most impressive perfomances in MMA history considering the opponent's difficulty level

[snugglecakes]

GSP vs Penn 2 was just a welterweight weight bullying a bloated featherweight. Nothing impressive about that

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

i think Randy beating Sylvia is more impressive than beating Belfort in the 3rd fight

 

[orca]

Shogun went on to be dangerous after that fight. Ppl acted like Shogun was washed even as he entered the UFC lol it's crazy. Ppl were especially down on Rua after his loss to Forest. Jones beat down a guy who could beat anyone. It is by far one of the most impressive wins in Jones career but also in UFC history.

even more impressive jones was only 23
vs a full grown man shogun

imagine a 29 year old jones fighting 23 yr old shogun

people will cry he fought a kid lmfao

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Martins vs Islam

 

[tequilaboy]

BJ Penn vs Hughes 1, at the time that was crazy

 

[Westbrick]

Aldo vs Faber
Aldo vs Edgar
Aldo vs Mendes
Fedor vs Minotauro
Fedor vs Cro Cop
Werdum vs Cain
Shogun vs Lyoto 2
Arona vs Fedor

 

[MMACro]

Conor vs Aldo easily
In eyes of many,some dork clown vs dominant 145 champion who wasnt beaten for 10 years and who still went on to being champ again in career
And did it in just 13 seconds

 

[xentreos]

Anderson schooling Griffin will always be up there for me. People really thought that Griffen was gonna bring the best out of Anderson and he absolutely schooled him. Almost detested they even wasted their time putting forrest in their with him.

 

[fjodor]

Mark Hunt beating Wanderlei in his third MMA fight.

 

[ExitLUPin]

Fedor-Minotauro I

Minotauro was viewed as the best fighter in MMA to most and the best HW we'd seen in MMA, was practically undefeated, avenged his only "loss" (a robbery decision) to Hendo decisively. He was at his peak, and had the most dangerous guard in the sport. Fedor went into it and delivered an absolutely dominant performance. Some of the most devastating g&p ever, masterclass in submission escapes. Minotauro landed 3 significant strikes throughout 20 minutes and had all his TDs stuffed. After this fight, he didn't lose to anyone not named Fedor for many years either.

Penn-Hughes I

Hughes was a top 3 P4P guy alongside Fedor and Wand, the most dominant fighter in the UFC for sure and best WW in MMA, by far. He still remains the 2nd greatest WW ever, and Penn moved up a division and strangled him inside a round. Hughes went 19-1 in a period from 2001-2006 with this being his lone loss (which he avenged, and also stopped GSP in that 20 fight span). Even up until 2008, the loss to Penn and 2 losses to GSP were his only defeats in his prime.

Dillashaw-Barao I

Barao was unanimous top 3 P4P alongside Aldo and Bones, kind of similar dynamic to Merab being top 3 P4P alongside Topuria and Makhachev. Dana infamously called him P4P #1 leading up to the fight. People were starting to say he might be the best BW we've seen in MMA, especially after the Faber rematch. He hadn't lost in over 9 years, 32 fight win streak. Then Dillashaw just puts on one of the most spectacular, inimitable performances ever.

Whittaker-Romero I

Romero was essentially the best MW in MMA to most, undefeated at the weight and it was hard to see him lose. This might have been the best overall athlete we've seen in MMA really develop a high level, cohesive game with Olympic level wrestling, one of the most credentialed, dominant wrestlers to ever transition. Whittaker showed one of the greatest displays of TDD ever and also took the fight to Yoel and hustled 3 rounds down 0-2 after suffering a torn MCL in the 1st round. I think Romero was better equipped for the rematch, and deserved a draw at least, but by then, his wrestling had started to slip, or he became more of a striker. He also missed weight.

Volkanovski-Holloway III

Complete shutout of one of the greatest fighters ever. 3rd time was the charm though since many thought Max won the rematch, but Volk left no doubts after this one. He didn't have to attempt a single TD in this fight either, which was unexpected.

Aldo-Edgar

Either one honestly, but the rematch was probably more dominant and Frankie was more acclimated to 145-lbs by then, wasn't his first rodeo like their fight fight. One of the P4P GOATs in the heart of his prime and Aldo decisively beat him and really neutralized his game for many rounds, which was unprecedented. In his prime, Frankie was never decisively beaten outside of the Aldo fights. Maynard beat him clean the 1st fight, but he wasn't in his prime yet. Then his series with Penn, Maynard and Bendo were all highly competitive, close fights. The Aldo fights were competitive in minutes, but overall Aldo ran away with the fights.

Yan-Dvalishvili

Honestly, you can put both of the fights here. Yan's win is fresher in our minds and warrants the praise it gets, but Merab threw 400 strikes and shot 49 TDs in that fight to a 50-45 win. The Yan injury is something to consider, but the sheer output and pace by Merab that fight is something we might not ever see in MMA. Yan, despite the claims of being compromised, still showed great defense throughout the fight (offense is another story), but Merab bamboozled him with his feints and overwhelmed him. Merab also hurt and injured him with a calf kick in round 1, which really compromised Yan (he checked a similar kick in the rematch, and Merab barely threw it afterwards).

-----

In hindsight, Khabib-RDA might need to be up there since he was already at Kings MMA when they fought and that was his sole loss there before the Alvarez loss (where he had a really bad weight-cut) and Khabib shut him out. RDA's performance against Pettis is also up there. Pettis was as dangerous as any LW we'd seen in that run, having stopped Lauzon, Cerrone, Bendo and Giblert with ease. It was as thorough an outclassing as we've seen at the elite level, all phases of MMA and dominating every round against a top P4P fighter, an ATG LW at his peak and one of the most devastating finishers ever.

 

[ExitLUPin]

Mark Hunt beating Wanderlei in his third MMA fight.

It was Wand's 4th fight of 2004 and Hunt, despite his MMA inexperience, had like 70-lbs on him. Not to mention Wand was preparing for Saku, a grappler, and got a 270-lbs K-1 GP Champ, on a few days notice. Almost no fighter today would even accept a fight under similar circumstances, especially considering the streak Wand had at the time (and he was never quite the same after the shots he took in that one) and his standing at the top of MMA. Many didn't even think Hunt won; IIRC, even Hunt himself thought he lost.

 

[ExitLUPin]

Minotauro's win over Sapp should be up there. Obviously Sapp wasn't some elite mixed martial artist, but he was arguably the most physically imposing, if not intimidating man on the planet in 2002. He outweighed Minotauro by 150-lbs mostly, just a cartoonish physique with little body fat. After Mirko broke his orbital he was done, but for that short time he was an absolute terror. It wasn't just the pure strength and physical attributes either, as we had a precedent with another combat sport. In kickboxing, Ernesto Hoost, the GOAT HW and arguably GOAT P4P kickboxer, got stopped in 2 fights by Sapp months after Minotauro submitted him, so it wasn't like Sapp was some bodybuilder with no fighting ability. This is the pinnacle of technique, heart and will overcoming size, strength and power.

 

[ExitLUPin]

Come on now - Shogun was like 3 ACL surgeries deep by the time he was in there with Jones.

There were other W's in Jones' run that were far more impressive all things considered. That one is not even close.

This. Shogun was on the shelf for nearly a year with that surgery. If that happened today, the UFC would have created an interim title and Rashad would have fought for it. Considering how he looked when he returned, it's pretty obvious Shogun was a shell of himself. Shogun still being able to beat top LHWs after and be a staple in the rankings doesn't take away from the fact that he was far removed from his peak.

For Bones to be here, it'd have to be the DC performances, but obviously the rematch has the asterisks with the aftermath of pissing hot.

 

[GIBLERTBAPTISTA]

even more impressive jones was only 23
vs a full grown man shogun

imagine a 29 year old jones fighting 23 yr old shogun

people will cry he fought a kid lmfao

Shogun was 23 when he went on the best run of his career in 05.

 

[ExitLUPin]

Shogun was 23 when he went on the best run of his career in 05.

Some people can't seem to grasp fighters peak at different ages and stages of their careers. It isn't linear for every fighter to be primed at the same age.

When Aldo was 23, he was WEC champ (really the youngest champ, not Bones), a top P4P fighter, demolishing guys like prime Cub, MTB and Faber. When Holloway was 23, he was an unranked FW going to war with Clay Collard and winning 29-28 decisions against Cole Miller. When Volk was 23, he hadn't even had a pro MMA fight. Yet people will discredit Aldo "falling off" at an age those 2 were putting on some of their best performances, while ignoring Aldo, in his early to mid 20s, was far ahead of them and much more dominant.

 

[Egészségére!]

Garbrandt vs Cruz

 

[orca]

Shogun was 23 when he went on the best run of his career in 05.

you believe shogun at age 23 would dismantle a prime 29 year old jones?

if that fight happened people will just say jones fought a kid

i get it no matter how great you are people will find ways to discredit your wins

and discredit how great you are

 

[linvillegorge]

Garbrandt vs Cruz

This. It wasn't just that he beat him, he best him at his own game. He out-Cruz'ed Cruz.

 

[Xoleth]

1 - Cain x Cigano (II and III)
2 - Jones x Shogun
3 - Conor x Alvarez
4 - Petr Yan x Merab II
5 - Volkanovski x Holloway III
6 - GSP x BJ Penn II
7- Anderson x Forrest
8 - Islam x Maddalena
9 - Chimaev x Duplessi
10 - Randy x Vitor III

I was expecting Sean vs Izzy in this thread
Sean beat him at his own game: pure striking


It was expected from Anderson to beat Forrest
Shogun had a lot of injuries and looked one weight class smaller
It was known JDM is a striker who got grappled by Holland and Islam has top ground game

I would add Reyes vs Jones

Also, I don't get the hype with Alvarez
He came to UFC, lost to Cowboy, won two SPLIT decisions vs Gilbert and Pettis (both on losing streaks) and beat RDA.
And got a TS. The RDA win was good, but that's it. And then lost big time vs Conor.
Oh, and he beat Gaethje... when Gaehtje was a sloppy brawler who used to stop punches with his head.

 

[Popocatepetl]

Killasahaw beat up Barao like he was a noob

That was one of the more shocking performances in history to be honest.
People forget just how good Barao was at the time.