Prime HW GOAT, imo not Stipe.

[Grenades]

Well done indeed. I don't respect any ranking that doesn't have Fedor at 1 and Nog at 2. But I don't buy the quality of Dos Santos wins even if they are top 5. Too many opponents he beat were on rapid decline. And I still regard Crocop's wins in k1 and kickboxing as a valid contributor to his overall greatness as an MMA fighter. So goes in top five for me not to mention the sheer epic ness and excitement that has rarely been duplicated. Couture belongs above Cormier or even Cain in my book.

I guess you won’t respect any of my rankings and I won’t be respecting any of yours. We have very different views of fighter talent.

 

[AladdinSane]

I guess you won’t respect any of my rankings and I won’t be respecting any of yours. We have very different views of fighter talent.

I'll go a step further. Anyone who doesn't have Fedor at at 1 and Nog at 2 all time is a complete moron. This is why MMA will always be in the doghouse among the other sports. The fans are often devoid of intellect with little if any grasp of history and how the sport has developed over time.

 

[moreorless87]

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.

This depends on "UFC fighter" conferring some kind of special status when it does not, the UFC was clearly not the centre of the sport when Fedor was fighting but even then Sylvia and Arlovski were not IMHO any worse than their title runs(Tim's second title run was post steroids and more defencive) when he beat them.

Werdum for me is the exact opposite of a fighter who's status was built on having the best prime, his status was built on being in elite form for a very long time and being their to pickup some good wins ala say Hendo. I don't think Werdum at any one point was clearly the best HW in the world though, just after he beat Fedor he was butt scooting against Reem(another fighter who's status is built on longevity not peak form).

Peak form for me it would still be Fedor, Nog and Crocop, Mirko especially is I think the perfect example of someone who's peak form was excellent but didn't last long AND was prone to being a form fighter taking 1-2 matches to comeback from a bad loss). I would also mention Sergei and Aleks along the same lines, their peaks did not last long but honestly them circa 2005-06 I would pick to KO Stipe.

 

[MMAWizz]

This depends on "UFC fighter" conferring some kind of special status when it does not, the UFC was clearly not the centre of the sport when Fedor was fighting but even then Sylvia and Arlovski were not IMHO any worse than their title runs(Tim's second title run was post steroids and more defencive) when he beat them.

Werdum for me is the exact opposite of a fighter who's status was built on having the best prime, his status was built on being in elite form for a very long time and being their to pickup some good wins ala say Hendo. I don't think Werdum at any one point was clearly the best HW in the world though, just after he beat Fedor he was butt scooting against Reem(another fighter who's status is built on longevity not peak form).

Peak form for me it would still be Fedor, Nog and Crocop, Mirko especially is I think the perfect example of someone who's peak form was excellent but didn't last long AND was prone to being a form fighter taking 1-2 matches to comeback from a bad loss). I would also mention Sergei and Aleks along the same lines, their peaks did not last long but honestly them circa 2005-06 I would pick to KO Stipe.

That's a good argument too. Even recently, being a UFC fighter doesn't automatically mean you will easily walk through fighters in other organizations - for example, Sage Northcutt and Eddie Alvarez lost in their ONE FC debuts, and many people assumed they went to ONE FC just so that they could get easy victories, which didn't go their way. Since the UFC wasn't as prominent back then as it is today, the difference between UFC fighters and other organizations - especially Pride, which was huge - was negligible. So one could argue that Pride was indeed superior to UFC back then.

 

[Grenades]

I'll go a step further. Anyone who doesn't have Fedor at at 1 and Nog at 2 all time is a complete moron. This is why MMA will always be in the doghouse among the other sports. The fans are often devoid of intellect with little if any grasp of history and how the sport has developed over time.

Wow you’re a smart stud. I agreed to disagree like an adult but yet you find it necessary to call names. Super impressed by your intellect and general demeanor.