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Hot Take Pick one fighter from the pre-2005 era to become champ today.

Bullitt68 said:
Literally no one ever "crumpled" Chuck in his prime. No one. He was barely ever even hurt. He'd get dropped and be fine immediately. Pele kicked him in the head twice, Jeremy Horn kicked him in the head, Mezger dropped him, Rampage smashed him. He would take people's hardest shots like they were light jabs. Pereira's only way to win would be to do what Randy and Rampage did: Beat on him until he gassed and then TKO him. In his prime, Chuck was right there alongside Nogueira and Hunt in the unknockoutable crew. Meanwhile, Adesanya put Pereira's lights out, which means Chuck with his insane power would flatline him if he connected.
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Trust me Sherbro, I know how tough Chuck was! It isn’t recency bias on my part to think Poatan’s got the most poatant (lol) weapon out of any of em. It’s the ones you don’t see coming that short circuit the brains behind an iron chin ie hunt vs manhoef, and that’s the sort of thing I believe would happen
 
Bowel-forged Stool said:
Save for prime Cain, prime DC, prime jds, Jones, Ubereem…
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Yeah but in this scenario he would be fighting the current champ, so Tom Aspinall, or maybe Gane if Tom is unable to fight in 12 weeks.

Or maybe he goes to LHW and fights Alex.

But he wouldn't face any of the dudes you mentioned.
 
BJ Penn( with Ilia and Islam out of the picture). I think id pick Arman over him but you never know.
 
Fedorgasm said:
Yeah but in this scenario he would be fighting the current champ, so Tom Aspinall, or maybe Gane if Tom is unable to fight in 12 weeks.

Or maybe he goes to LHW and fights Alex.

But he wouldn't face any of the dudes you mentioned.
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Ooohh.. Fedor by a country mile.
 
Bullitt68 said:
Literally no one ever "crumpled" Chuck in his prime. No one. He was barely ever even hurt. He'd get dropped and be fine immediately. Pele kicked him in the head twice, Jeremy Horn kicked him in the head, Mezger dropped him, Rampage smashed him. He would take people's hardest shots like they were light jabs. Pereira's only way to win would be to do what Randy and Rampage did: Beat on him until he gassed and then TKO him. In his prime, Chuck was right there alongside Nogueira and Hunt in the unknockoutable crew. Meanwhile, Adesanya put Pereira's lights out, which means Chuck with his insane power would flatline him if he connected.
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Poatan was drained at 185-lbs with the weight-cut, especially the last one against Adesanya:



It was pretty obvious his durability was compromised at MW, and that's the last time we ever saw, or will see him, cut to 185-lbs. Unless you think Adesanya hits harder than Blachowicz, Prochazka, Rountree, or Ankalaev, all of whom connected clean on Poatan, and he was never seriously hurt (most was buzzed by a left hook from Ankalaev).
 
Fedor, Big Nog, Mirko, Sakuraba, Igor, Little Nog, Kerr, Coleman, Randleman, Barnett, Sergei, Aleks, Ricco, Henderson, Couture, Pedro, Wanderlei, Shogun, Ninja, Bustamente, Erikson, GSP, Tito, Chuck, Rampage, Arlovksi, Tim Sylvia and probably a dozen more would all do significant damage to their respective divisions in 2025.

This sport hasn't evolved like people think.
 
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Fedorgasm said:
Yeah he'd either be fighting Islam or Khamzat though, depending on whether he felt like cutting weight.

Those would be tough matchups for sak
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That’s fair, but I think if he were to cut weight he’d be a LW, so maybe not Khamzat.

He was a pretty good grappler/wrestler and tough as fuck so he’d have a chance for sure.
 
don't ask said:
Fedor, Big Nog, Mirko, Sakuraba, Igor, Little Nog, Kerr, Coleman, Randleman, Barnett, Sergei, Aleks, Ricco, Henderson, Couture, Pedro, Wanderlei, Shogun, Ninja, Bustamente, Erikson, GSP, Tito, Chuck, Rampage, Arlovksi, Tim Sylvia and probably a dozen more would all do significant damage to their respective divisions in 2025.

This sport hasn't evolved like people think.
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Yup it's true. People tend to have recency bias but talent and toughness are always the main factors in being a great fighter, not learning a few extra techniques.
 
Haven't seen a thread with so so many terrible posts in a while.

TRT Vitor at middleweight, because Khamzat won't be ready for a fight within 12 weeks without his usual 12 month break.
Even the TRT version can't stop the takedown. But smokes him on the feet.
 
Bowel-forged Stool said:
Trust me Sherbro, I know how tough Chuck was! It isn’t recency bias on my part to think Poatan’s got the most poatant (lol) weapon out of any of em. It’s the ones you don’t see coming that short circuit the brains behind an iron chin ie hunt vs manhoef, and that’s the sort of thing I believe would happen
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Hunt was past his prime when Manhoef knocked him out. He only started getting slept later in his career. Three or four years earlier and Hunt walks through that punch. He didn't see this coming either and he got up smiling.



In any event, regarding Chuck/Alex, getting knocked out wouldn't be Chuck's biggest problem...

Dorkman said:
Think Alex is a horrible style match for Chuck. Chuck was super wide stanced and heavy on the lead leg. Alex's calf kick would eat him alive.
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...the low kicks would be a bigger problem. The question really is: Could Chuck have knocked Pereira out with punches before getting chopped down by Pereira's kicks? Prime Chuck 2004/2005, I say yes.

ExitLUPin said:
Unless you think Adesanya hits harder than Blachowicz, Prochazka, Rountree, or Ankalaev, all of whom connected clean on Poatan, and he was never seriously hurt (most was buzzed by a left hook from Ankalaev).
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Not a good look getting knocked out by a smaller guy like that any way you cut it, but the real point here is that Pereira gets hit a lot, and Chuck (to quote Rogan's great phrase) had dynamite in his hands. That sneaky looping left hook and that blistering right hand...Pereiera wouldn't have been able to KO Chuck with his punches, which means to beat Chuck he'd need to be on the feet with him for a long enough time to chop him down with kicks, and that's a lot of time standing in front of Chuck trying not to get punched into oblivion. That's a tall order with The Iceman in his prime.

Natural Order said:
Ilia would burn him up the middle. Gomi too wild and wide. Topuria has refined hands that would have wrecked any version of Takanori Gomi.

And Gomi is one of my all-time fav fighters.
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Yeah, Gomi had an incredible chin, but Ilia's so fast, excellent combinations, and some of the biggest power in the lower divisions. The way that Gomi was just a step ahead of Pulver in that classic shootout, I think that Ilia would be just a step ahead of Gomi.
 
Fedorgasm said:
He beat Randleman but not before being victimized by arguably the greatest suplex ever in an MMA fight.
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That suplex looked like it didnt do anything to him at all though. Which is fuckin crazy
 
HHJ said:
That suplex looked like it didnt do anything to him at all though. Which is fuckin crazy
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Coleman's literally yelling "He's hurt" while he's effortlessly reversing him seconds after. Fucking Terminator.

aszunexsach.jpg
 
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