In my opinion, the way to rank heavyweights is to talk about accomplishments that were unprecedented for their respective times.
1. Fabricio Werdum: Beat an undefeated Fedor Emilianenko; also Cain Velasquez, both of whom everyone considered unstoppable for their times. Werdum is incredibly underrated, but what he accomplished here is the equivalent of McGregor beating Jose Aldo (Cain Velasquez) and Khabib (Fedor Emelianenko). Look at it this way - if McGregor became a superstar for having defeated Jose Aldo, imagine where his legacy would be if he also defeated Khabib. This is essentially what Werdum successfully achieved, and he never received the credit he deserved. The MMA fans were only like "meh... okay, cool, whatever." In other words, they are sheep that let themselves be led by advertising, because let's face it, UFC didn't spend a dime to promote Werdum.
2. Stipe Miocic: I think everyone forgot the hype that surrounded Miocic vs Ngannou. Leading up to this fight, everyone (including the fans) was TERRIFIED of Ngannou, and almost no one could picture him getting defeated. Almost everyone said that Ngannou was gonna knock Miocic out in the first seconds of the fight, and it was almost impossible to imagine anything else occurring - in fact, because of this matchup, everyone believed the Heavyweight division was cursed and that every champion was condemned to defending the belt only twice... except Miocic, defying the imagination of virtually MMA fan, defeated Ngannou in a convincing fashion, AND broke the curse that inhabited the Heavyweight division. Of course, just like Werdum, the UFC spent no money promoting him despite this astonishing accomplishment, so the consumerist sheep didn't utter his name.
3. Fedor Emelianenko: Could arguably be number 1; however, some arguments have been made that he did not defeat any former UFC Champions in their prime (meaning he did not join the UFC to defeat the fighters that were en-route to becoming champions). I am not saying he is not the greatest heavyweight of all time, merely that the arguments made from both sides of the spectrum are acceptable; furthermore, Fedor is one of the most controversial fighters because of this reason, so unlike Werdum and Miocic, there is no consensus from the MMA community regarding his accomplishments.
1. Fabricio Werdum: Beat an undefeated Fedor Emilianenko; also Cain Velasquez, both of whom everyone considered unstoppable for their times. Werdum is incredibly underrated, but what he accomplished here is the equivalent of McGregor beating Jose Aldo (Cain Velasquez) and Khabib (Fedor Emelianenko). Look at it this way - if McGregor became a superstar for having defeated Jose Aldo, imagine where his legacy would be if he also defeated Khabib. This is essentially what Werdum successfully achieved, and he never received the credit he deserved. The MMA fans were only like "meh... okay, cool, whatever." In other words, they are sheep that let themselves be led by advertising, because let's face it, UFC didn't spend a dime to promote Werdum.
2. Stipe Miocic: I think everyone forgot the hype that surrounded Miocic vs Ngannou. Leading up to this fight, everyone (including the fans) was TERRIFIED of Ngannou, and almost no one could picture him getting defeated. Almost everyone said that Ngannou was gonna knock Miocic out in the first seconds of the fight, and it was almost impossible to imagine anything else occurring - in fact, because of this matchup, everyone believed the Heavyweight division was cursed and that every champion was condemned to defending the belt only twice... except Miocic, defying the imagination of virtually MMA fan, defeated Ngannou in a convincing fashion, AND broke the curse that inhabited the Heavyweight division. Of course, just like Werdum, the UFC spent no money promoting him despite this astonishing accomplishment, so the consumerist sheep didn't utter his name.
3. Fedor Emelianenko: Could arguably be number 1; however, some arguments have been made that he did not defeat any former UFC Champions in their prime (meaning he did not join the UFC to defeat the fighters that were en-route to becoming champions). I am not saying he is not the greatest heavyweight of all time, merely that the arguments made from both sides of the spectrum are acceptable; furthermore, Fedor is one of the most controversial fighters because of this reason, so unlike Werdum and Miocic, there is no consensus from the MMA community regarding his accomplishments.
