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

[Mayonnaiseandjelly]

I feel like Chuck would be. He had great takedown defense, great chin and viscous punching power. That translates. The end of Chuck's career really clouds people's memories of what he was. I honestly think prime Chuck beats Glover and Jan

Prime chuck got massacred by rampage twice

 

[Evangelion]

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

Absolutely no way Bj is top 3 at ww.

Usman
Covington
Edwards
Khamzat
Luque
Brady
Belal

Hed struggle big time

 

[JKS]

Penn, Chuck and Tim

 

[Blayt7hh]

If you mean we teleport prime Hughes into the WW division today? Then none of them. If you mean they get to grow up training for modern MMA? Probably all of them.

well maybe Randy would still be fine. HW and LHW actually seem worse today than when he was around

 

[mjfan23]

Timmy

 

[Pakman]

baby jay for sure.

he would be champ without a doubt.

This has to be a joke right?

BJ would get destroyed by most of the top 10 of the division lol

 

[Pakman]

If you mean we teleport prime Hughes into the WW division today? Then none of them. If you mean they get to grow up training for modern MMA? Probably all of them.

well maybe Randy would still be fine. HW and LHW actually seem worse today than when he was around

this is why the right answer is Timmy.

Timmy had pretty good boxing, at least he was throwing straight punches unlike most MMA fighters still. He was tall, long, and used that to his advantage + he had KO power with 1 shot.

Not to mention he wasn't a complete can on the ground, I mean, he did well vs Monson in the grappling dept and there weren't a whole lot of guys doing that vs Jeff at that time.

Timmeh gets shit on a lot but he's actually very underrated on here in terms of all time greats. Whether you like him or not, Tim was and is one of the best HWs the sport, not just the UFC, has seen.

 

[TheNinja]

Maia had lot of problems to outhrapple Masvidal, arguably lost the fight. Maia is a much, much more advanced grappler than Hughes.

So yeah, I don't think he would have much of a chance

Very different styles. Maia was a great grappler but his takedowns were now where near as powerful or explosive as Hughes. He wasn't as strong physically on top either. I think prime Hughes smashes prime Masvidal simply b/c of styles.

Maybe Masvidal isn't a great example but if we use him....when exactly was his prime? Losing to Maia and Wonderboy? Losing to Larkin, Bendo, and Iaquinta? I think Hughes gives every single one of those guys a fit.

 

[Saiyok]

The MMA athlete evolution is a myth.

 

[dildos]

This has to be a joke right?

BJ would get destroyed by most of the top 10 of the division lol

In his prime? No.

ts was saying prime, and prime Bj would without a doubt be champ.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

I think they'd all be top 10, but only Chuck and Randy would be top 5.

 

[hunt0]

Absolutely no way Bj is top 3 at ww.

Usman
Covington
Edwards
Khamzat
Luque
Brady
Belal

Hed struggle big time

Burns is top 3, BJ was better. You don't think BJ can beat Belal, Luque, Brady? lol talk about disrespect

 

[Pakman]

In his prime? No.

ts was saying prime, and prime Bj would without a doubt be champ.

BJ Penn at his peak, skill wise, was amazing, but he would still get his shit pushed in by a lot of the LW division.

His BJJ was elite for the era, not today. His boxing was on point, that jab was great, but, it was in an era when learning a jab was somehow a unicorn in MMA. It's not the same anymore.

If BJ fought Charles, Dustin, Justin, Chandler, and Islam

I'd literally only pick him to beat Chandler. That's it. He would lose to the rest and I think pretty badly to some.

 

[Pakman]

Burns is top 3, BJ was better. You don't think BJ can beat Belal, Luque, Brady? lol talk about disrespect

You're absolutely brain dead if you think BJ Penn, who was a SMALL LW, would be a top 3 guy at WW today.

 

[asdf122345]

Bj penn.

 

[dildos]

BJ Penn at his peak, skill wise, was amazing, but he would still get his shit pushed in by a lot of the LW division.

His BJJ was elite for the era, not today. His boxing was on point, that jab was great, but, it was in an era when learning a jab was somehow a unicorn in MMA. It's not the same anymore.

If BJ fought Charles, Dustin, Justin, Chandler, and Islam

I'd literally only pick him to beat Chandler. That's it. He would lose to the rest and I think pretty badly to some.

No way, I have Bj at his best as champ today. No one would be able to handle him.

 

[hunt0]

You're absolutely brain dead if you think BJ Penn, who was a SMALL LW, would be a top 3 guy at WW today.

braindead because I think BJ Penn would beat Gilbert Burns... absolute state of this forum

 

[Yojimbonufc]

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

BJ would never be a WW today. But I agree on him being an elite LW.

 

[cws80us]

I think Randy would do pretty well in the current LHW division, which may be as weak as it's ever been. BJ's skillset was ahead of it's time, so I think he would do well also.

 

[Islam Imamate]

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.

I think if prime Penn competed in the modern landscape he would be a FW. We know he was able to make the cut even in his older years so in his prime I think he would be able to fairly easily. MMA under 155 was just very underdeveloped so Penn had more incentive to move up to face stars like Hughes and GSP.