Peak vs peak for every weight class

[Rubios]

Ok, so you can agree or disagree with me. But let's keep this debate respectful, please.
I've had some serious doubts with some picks.

HW: I can't decide, so I'm picking two fights.
Peak Fedor vs Aspinall (although I can see Aspinall being the best MMA HW ever, as for now all we have is eye test).
Peak Ngannou vs peak Cain (a coin toss, IMO).

And peak Fedor vs peak Ngannou.

LHW:

Peak Jones vs Poatan (I believe Alex beats DC taking advantage of his short reach, crippling his legs and catching him with counters).

MW:

DDP vs peak AS (hot take, and I'm not trying to be controversial at all. I'm done doubting him. He blitzes and catches Silva, outmuscles him to a sub on the ground or wins a decision while heavy breathing from round 3 onwards).

Big fan of the Spider here.

WW:

Peak Usman vs GSP (Fedor, GSP and DJ are the greatest -Jones being the best- in my book, so that's not an easy pick). I can't see how GSP dominates the Usman with knees and improved striking that KO'ed Masvidal and Colby. Kamaru by freakish athleticism.

LW:

Khabib vs Islam (lifetime training partners, literally a coin toss so it approaches 50/50 as the sample of fights goes up).

FW:

Volk vs Aldo

BW:

Pf... don't know. Cruz vs TJ

FLW:

DJ vs ...no one comes even close, let's say Cejudo.



Let's see yours!!

 

[felmmando]

I think the obviously intriguing fight at FlW is Johnson vs. any of his successors, especially Pantoja. We already saw how he did against Cejudo.

At LW, the possibilities are many. Prime Melendez vs. Nurmagomedov or prime Penn. Prime Pettis vs. Thomson. Prime Penn vs. prime Alvarez. Prime Chandler vs. prime Cerrone. And, of course, prime Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov.

 

[tornado362]

HW: Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic
LHW: Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira
MW: Anderson Silva vs. Israel Adesanya
WW: Georges St. Pierre vs. Kamaru Usman
LW: Islam Makhachev vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
FW: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Jose Aldo
BW: Dominick Cruz vs. Henry Cejudo/TJ
FLW: Demetrious Johnson vs. Deiveson Figueiredo

 

[Rubios]

HW: Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic
LHW: Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira
MW: Anderson Silva vs. Israel Adesanya
WW: Georges St. Pierre vs. Kamaru Usman
LW: Islam Makhachev vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
FW: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Jose Aldo
BW: Dominick Cruz vs. Henry Cejudo/TJ
FLW: Demetrious Johnson vs. Deiveson Figueiredo

C'moooooon, pick the winners 8)

 

[Subline]

Aspinall vs Fedor | Too many unanswered questions about Tom, not sure.
Ngannou vs Cain | Potential Cain wrestlefuck or Franics KO, not sure.
Jones/DC vs Poatan | Both would submit him with ease.
Silva vs DDP | If anyone can make DDP pay for his sloppiness it's Anderson.
GSP vs Usman | GSP is the more reliable pick, much better point striker & has a more proven wrestling threat vs elite wrestlers.
Khabib vs Islam | Could see Khabib forcing this into a grappling-heavy match, where I'd favor him. That favor would also grow in the later rounds.
Aldo vs Volk | Honestly think Aldo is faster & a more complete striker, I don't see Volk smudging a stronger/more athletic prime Aldo like he did in 2019.
Cruz vs Merab | Great matchup for Cruz imo, he has cardio for days, good TDD/wrestling and is a better striker.
DJ vs Pantoja | DJ pieces him up, probably 50-45 honestly.

(Swapped the last 2 opponents since we already saw TJ and Cejudo)

 

[Sean Chowdhury]

Jones vs Ngannou and Aspinall vs Ngannou would be the peak of HW MMA

LHW peak already took place and it was DC vs Jones but Jones vs Rumble would have been good too

MW Peak is hard, I think Khamzat vs DDP is the best fight you can make but Izzy vs Silva prime for prime is good too

WW is GSP vs Usman

LW is Islam vs Khabib

FW is Ilia vs Aldo

BW is Merab or Aljo vs Cruz but I think Cruz vs Omalley would be the most entertaining fight

FLW is DJ vs Pantoja prime for prime

 

[koa pomaikai]

MM vs. Pantonja (Pantonja)

Cejudo vs Dillashaw (Cejudo)

Mcgregor vs. Illia (Mcgregor)

Holloway vs Mcgregor (Holloway)

GSP vs Covington (GSP)

Weidman vs Sonnen (Sonnen)

Cormier vs Liddell (Cormier)

Jones vs. Cormier (Cormier at HW)

 

[JBJ was here]

Jones vs Ngannou and Aspinall vs Ngannou would be the peak of HW MMA

Absolutely no. Ngannou is peak highlight reel, not peak MMA at all. He's a great counter-puncher who is good enough everywhere else to get his chance to counter-punch against most good HWs, but between Lewis, Stipe 1, and Gane he's been thoroughly exposed as someone who has nothing for a decent striker who's patient on the feet with good striking defense and a semblance of a ground game. HW is thin and always has been, so Ngannou's still elite by divisional standards, but Jones, Aspinall, DC, peak Cain, peak Fedor, etc. would only need to game plan and not panic to beat him quite handily and he's hard to watch when he's not knocking people out.

 

[Herwald]

I think prime Andy Silva would beat AP at LHW. And Jones would strangle him like he did Gane. And there's so many old MWs like prime Sonnen, Romero, Jacare, Weidman, Rockhold, Machida, TRTVitor, maybe even Bisping with his meat and potatoes style that I would favor over DDP. I can't imagine prime Andy not figuring him out.

Anyway...

Brock vs Francis - Brock wins
Jones vs Jan - Jones wins
Chael vs Khamzat - Chael wins, of course
GSP vs Lawler - GSP wins, but, man... would I have loved to have seen that
Khabib vs Islam - kinda think Islam wins, his stand up is more dangerous
Conor vs Ilia - Conor wins
Garbrandt vs OMalley - Suga wins
Figgy vs Mighty Mouse - DJ wins

 

[RockyLockridge]

I like alex as much as the next guy but beating DC would be a tall tall order for him

 

[Sean Chowdhury]

Absolutely no. Ngannou is peak highlight reel, not peak MMA at all. He's a great counter-puncher who is good enough everywhere else to get his chance to counter-punch against most good HWs, but between Lewis, Stipe 1, and Gane he's been thoroughly exposed as someone who has nothing for a decent striker who's patient on the feet with good striking defense and a semblance of a ground game. HW is thin and always has been, so Ngannou's still elite by divisional standards, but Jones, Aspinall, DC, peak Cain, peak Fedor, etc. would only need to game plan and not panic to beat him quite handily and he's hard to watch when he's not knocking people out.

he was a shitty fighter in the lewis and first stipe fight but he improved his wrestling and striking after going to Extreme Coutoure. In the 2nd stipe fight he clearly showed technical skill as he landed a switch stance headkick and good lowkicks, he even ko'd stipe with a check left hook. In the gane fight he had a confirmed torn ACL and MCL which sidelined him for over a year. He shouldn't have even fought Gane that night, it's arguably the worst injury a fighter has ever fought with and he still beat Gane. I don't see how that is a bad performance when he beat a title challenger with a severe injury

 

[gentel]

DJ vs ...no one comes even close, let's say Cejudo.

I think prime DJ vs prime Pantoja would be good. I wouldn't necessarily favor Pantoja but his odds of winning would definitely be underrated

 

[tornado362]

HW: Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic
LHW: Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira
MW: Anderson Silva vs. Israel Adesanya
WW: Georges St. Pierre vs. Kamaru Usman
LW: Islam Makhachev vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
FW: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Jose Aldo
BW: Dominick Cruz vs. Henry Cejudo/TJ
FLW: Demetrious Johnson vs. Deiveson Figueiredo

Can't give very detailed breakdowns, but my personal opinion:
HW: Stipe
LHW: Jones
MW: Adesanya
WW: GSP
LW: Islam
FW: Volk
BW: Cruz
FLW: DJ

 

[Streeter]

HW : Fedor v Stipe - is got Stipe but razor close
LHW: Bones v Pereria - Bones
MW - Izzy v Andy - Anderson
WW - GSP v Usman - Gsp
LW - Khabib v Islam - Khabib (not close)
FW - Aldo v Volk - toss up but I bet on Volk
BW - Dillasnake v Cruz. - Cruz
Fly - MM v anyone is a sqaush

 

[Tweak896]

HW: Fedor vs Jones (if not then Cain)
LHW: Jones vs DC
MW: Silva vs Adesanya
WW: GSP vs Usman
LW: Khabib vs Islam
FW: Volk vs Conor
BW: Cruz vs Aljo (I guess, but want to swap him with Umar after he gets belt)
FLW: DJ vs Figgy

Peak fighters: 1st- GSP vs Silva 2nd-Fedor vs Jones