Out of these retired fighters with 5+ title wins, who would be elite today?

The only one I'd bet on being a top five guy is BJ

GSP and Silva are the only ones who I'd probably favor to be champs nowadays
 
None of them would be relevant today. Matt Hughes got hit by a freakin train and Tim Sylvia is like 400 lbs. I guess I would go with Tito since he's hardly retired and has crazy longevity. Maybe Shamrock, I don't know what condition he (Frank) is in
 
If we're talking about these guys hopping into a Delorean and showing up in 2022 with their prime skills and gameplan, they'd all get torched.

If you're talking about if they came up in today's environment, it's tough to say.

A lot of what made some of these guys successful is now baseline training in 2021. Prime Randy would dominate in the clinch, and nonstop pummeling and dirty boxing, and guys would gas and get fatigued because no one was equipped to combat it. Nowadays guys focus on those areas in camps - it's just table stakes.
 
If BJ was coming up now, he’d have less reason to ever leave the LW division, aside from legacy fights against the WW champ. I think he’d be a dominant LW champ
 
Bj would be the best second would be Chuck Liddell his training partner is literally world champion. I don’t see anyone out grappling Liddell and he would be the top KO artist alongside Jiri. Outside of them everyone else is top 10- 30 besides Frank and pat.
 
This is a cool topic. The version of Penn that ran through Stephenson, Sherk, Florian, and Diego would have beat any of the top current LWs. He would have a really hard time against Khabib. He’s not a lightweight, but I also think the current version of Yan beats prime BJ.

Couture and Shamrock would do really well at LHW and WW, respectively.
 
JagOfficer83 said:
This is a cool topic. The version of Penn that ran through Stephenson, Sherk, Florian, and Diego would have beat any of the top current LWs. He would have a really hard time against Khabib. He’s not a lightweight, but I also think the current version of Yan beats prime BJ.

Couture and Shamrock would do really well at LHW and WW, respectively.
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Like seeing some of the older accounts get involved that dont usually post
 
hunt0 said:
BJ Penn, Tim Sylvia, Pat Miletich, Chuck Liddell, Frank Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, Matt Hughes.
I think prime BJ would be top 3 of either LW or WW, he was inconsistent but always dangerous
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None of them. BJ probably has the best shot, but he can probably just get held down or get his legs kicked off, only at LW, at WW idk if he even gets ranked
 
BJ and Randy for sure I think. Randy would do well at LHW and HW both I think. Prime Tim Sylvia wouldn’t be champ but could be top 5 in today’s HW division. Chuck and Hughes for sure top 10…actually Chuck top 5 maybe.
 
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cmw43 said:
If we're talking being a top 5 talent in their divisions then I'd say:

  • Big Tim - with his reach and KO power he'd be a problem for anyone in the stand up, I'd give him a 50/50 shot against Derrick Lewis.
  • BJ Penn - at Lightweight today in his prime at a top camp he would be a top level lightweight.
  • Frank Shamrock - probably be a welterweight but he had all the tools
  • Chuck - he was always better than Glover back in the day so I think he would be able to hang now if he was young again.
  • Matt Hughes - considering how long guys like Maia hung around with no striking a prime Hughes was a beast in the grappling and I think would be top 5 even with his subpar striking.
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I think this is pretty much how I feel, good post.

If I had to pick just one, it's a tough call... But I think I'm going to say Chuck because of what you pointed out about Glover, too. Until proven otherwise, I'm going to assume Jon Jones is not in the LHW division, and I think in his prime Chuck would hang with anybody in the top 10. A lot of those guys are there to be hit, and Chuck had the chin and power to take one to give one, which would spell trouble for a lot of the division.

Think a lotta people sleeping on Big Timmeh in this thread. The heavyweight division sucks, he probably wouldn't be the champ, but he'd be ranked, what, likely somewhere in the top 10, maybe top 5?
 
Yeah, probably none of them, though I think BJ would be a perennial top-10. Prime BJ had amazing TDD and striking, unless he was fighting GSP. He fucked Jon Fitch up before he completely gassed, and rubber guard is trash. The BJ that beat Sherk is 50/50 against Oliveria though, in my hugger opinion.
 
Today's training camps, nutritionists, specialist coaches, etc. are all more advanced. It's always unfair to compare different eras because of factors like these.
 
Small Town Andrew said:
That's interesting you feel that way. Not any of the top 10 but I think there are LHWs in the UFC Tito could still beat now
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Im not convinced of him for that despite being a pioneer. Weak ass striking, hates being hit and his wrestling is only on par for the division today. He may go 1 and 2 and get cut but he wouldnt make a splash. He has a very underrated guard and ground game for subs though.
 
MAGNAT said:
Glovers boxing is clearly tighter than chucks. Glover lost his chin 8 years ago and still managed to get belt. Evolved and Chuck couldnt change his game ever. Prime Glover beats Chuck always
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Glover's offencive grappling is obviously far in advance of Chucks but striking wise I'm not so sure. Really Glover has always been a bit of a brawler who depends mostly on aggressive hooks, Chuck isnt really the most technical either BUT I think he did have the advantage of being quite a lot faster, espeically in hand speed. I don't think Glover ever really had Chucks ability to pick out fight ending shots, it was moreso he just brutalised people.

LHW today being very striker heavy in the UFC though definately suits Glover much better as one of the few guys near the top with a significant grappling threat.
 
hunt0 said:
BJ Penn, Tim Sylvia, Pat Miletich, Chuck Liddell, Frank Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, Matt Hughes.
I think prime BJ would be top 3 of either LW or WW, he was inconsistent but always dangerous
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Randy & BJ
 
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