Rank these guys

BowserJr

BowserJr

Silver Belt
@Silver
Joined
Oct 27, 2006
Messages
11,605
Reaction score
6,090
In terms of peak skill or if they all fought each other at each others peaks, rank them in order of who'd have the best record

Fedor
Crocop
Big Nog
Barnett
Arlovski
Mir
Couture
Sylvia
Ricco Rodriguez

In mid 2000s they were all at their peaks and IMO this was the golden age of HW mma... early to mid 2010s makes a good case for golden era as well... it certainly was if looking at UFC alone


PS
I do think put werdum or reem in here because they peaked a bit later than the rest
 
OldBoy91 said:
Your MMAth ain't MMAthing.

Barnett beat Mir, but Mir beat both Nog and Cro Cop, who both beat Barnett.

Does this mean Schaub would be 3rd on the list and Bader would be 1st?

Inquiring minds want to know.
Click to expand...
In mid 2000s they were all at their peaks and IMO this was the golden age of HW mma...
 
BowserJr said:
In terms of peak skill or if they all fought each other at each others peaks, rank them in order of who'd have the best record

Fedor
Crocop
Big Nog
Barnett
Arlovski
Mir
Couture
Sylvia
Ricco Rodriguez

In mid 2000s they were all at their peaks and IMO this was the golden age of HW mma... early to mid 2010s makes a good case for golden era as well... it certainly was if looking at UFC alone


PS
I do think put werdum or reem in here because they peaked a bit later than the rest
Click to expand...

I sorta like the order you have listed..

Sea Level Cain beats them all.
 
Gabe said:
A lot of people will probably try and out Sylvia at the bottom but he KOd both Rodriguez and Arlovski in their primes.
Click to expand...
Can't like comments atm but mad respect to you. Sylvia is a punchline in modern day but people forget that he was an extremely effective fighter when he was taking his training seriously. Ricco in his prime would give a lot of these fighters trouble too (he got completely robbed of a decision against Nog).

Pre-Mir fight version of Tim definitely has a good shot at beating Nog IMO. Tim would tap so early after not tapping (and having his arm snapped) against Mir but I think the version of Tim that killed Cabbage would probably beat the living crap out of Nog. If he can avoid a giant mental lapse, he would be the favorite.

Arlovski vs Nog is also a dream fight of mine because you have the submission master with the GOAT chin vs the best takedown defense at HW who had finished every opponent until years into his career.

My biggest doubt in this is that Barnett would actually show up on a consistent enough basis to actually fight everyone. Barnett fighting multiple skilled opponents in a row feels like a fantasy even though on paper he has the skills to be amongst the best.

Fedor - Comfortably beats everyone except Randy and Barnett (cage vs ring makes a huge difference) - 7-1 with 8-0 potential
Barnett - Probably beats everyone except Cro Cop but Fedor/Arlovski are extremely high risk match-ups. Tim also has a shot. Will say 7-1 (but in all reality, he probably pops for roids and leaves the promotion to squash unranked opponents)
Cro Cop - Beats everyone except Fedor and Randy (possibly a toss up with Arlovski) - 6-2
Andrei Arlovski - Beats Ricco/Mir and probably Tim (AA was severely injured in trilogy fight), optimistic toss ups against Randy/Barnett/Nog, unfavorable toss ups against Fedor/Cro Cop. I have him going 5-3
Randy Couture - Easily beats Cro Cop IMHO. Probably smashes Mir/Tim, optimistic toss ups with Fedor/Nog/Ricco, unfavorable toss ups with Arlovski, Barnett. Going 5-3
Big Nog - Beats Mir, has losses to Fedor/Barnett, has optimistic toss ups against Randy/Ricco/Sylvia, has unfavorable toss ups against Cro Cop, Arlovski (will say 3-5 but easily could flip, Nog was the king of finding an unlikely way)
Tim Sylvia - Would beat Mir in a rematch IMHO. Cro Cop/Fedor are probably his hardest fights. Has a chance against Nog/Randy/Barnett/Arlovski in his pre-back injuries prime but could easily lose to all 4 too. Going 2-6 but could go higher
Ricco Rodriguez - Well rounded and underrated fighter prior to drug issues. Beat pre-prime Arlovski and gave Nog all he could handle. I could see him having very competitive fights with almost everyone on this list but have a hard time seeing him walk away with that many actual wins. Mir has awful defense from guard though and think Ricco could ground and pound him for a TKO without getting subbed for a 1-7 record
Frank Mir - Far from a can and there's no shame in being last in this group. Mir's chin was very beatable, he was fairly slow even pre-accident, and he usually didn't win unless wars of attrition. He has big power and explosive submissions but lacked good control on the ground leaving him very succeptible to strikes which is dangerous considering this group. Could absolutely beat Tim (again) and Ricco while also having a shot against Arlovski (bad chin)/Nog/Randy but in a Prime vs Prime prediction, I think he goes 0-8 here.
 
FreddieRoachsVoice said:
Can't like comments atm but mad respect to you. Sylvia is a punchline in modern day but people forget that he was an extremely effective fighter when he was taking his training seriously. Ricco in his prime would give a lot of these fighters trouble too (he got completely robbed of a decision against Nog).

Pre-Mir fight version of Tim definitely has a good shot at beating Nog IMO. Tim would tap so early after not tapping (and having his arm snapped) against Mir but I think the version of Tim that killed Cabbage would probably beat the living crap out of Nog. If he can avoid a giant mental lapse, he would be the favorite.

Arlovski vs Nog is also a dream fight of mine because you have the submission master with the GOAT chin vs the best takedown defense at HW who had finished every opponent until years into his career.

My biggest doubt in this is that Barnett would actually show up on a consistent enough basis to actually fight everyone. Barnett fighting multiple skilled opponents in a row feels like a fantasy even though on paper he has the skills to be amongst the best.

Fedor - Comfortably beats everyone except Randy and Barnett (cage vs ring makes a huge difference) - 7-1 with 8-0 potential
Barnett - Probably beats everyone except Cro Cop but Fedor/Arlovski are extremely high risk match-ups. Tim also has a shot. Will say 7-1 (but in all reality, he probably pops for roids and leaves the promotion to squash unranked opponents)
Cro Cop - Beats everyone except Fedor and Randy (possibly a toss up with Arlovski) - 6-2
Andrei Arlovski - Beats Ricco/Mir and probably Tim (AA was severely injured in trilogy fight), optimistic toss ups against Randy/Barnett/Nog, unfavorable toss ups against Fedor/Cro Cop. I have him going 5-3
Randy Couture - Easily beats Cro Cop IMHO. Probably smashes Mir/Tim, optimistic toss ups with Fedor/Nog/Ricco, unfavorable toss ups with Arlovski, Barnett. Going 5-3
Big Nog - Beats Mir, has losses to Fedor/Barnett, has optimistic toss ups against Randy/Ricco/Sylvia, has unfavorable toss ups against Cro Cop, Arlovski (will say 3-5 but easily could flip, Nog was the king of finding an unlikely way)
Tim Sylvia - Would beat Mir in a rematch IMHO. Cro Cop/Fedor are probably his hardest fights. Has a chance against Nog/Randy/Barnett/Arlovski in his pre-back injuries prime but could easily lose to all 4 too. Going 2-6 but could go higher
Ricco Rodriguez - Well rounded and underrated fighter prior to drug issues. Beat pre-prime Arlovski and gave Nog all he could handle. I could see him having very competitive fights with almost everyone on this list but have a hard time seeing him walk away with that many actual wins. Mir has awful defense from guard though and think Ricco could ground and pound him for a TKO without getting subbed for a 1-7 record
Frank Mir - Far from a can and there's no shame in being last in this group. Mir's chin was very beatable, he was fairly slow even pre-accident, and he usually didn't win unless wars of attrition. He has big power and explosive submissions but lacked good control on the ground leaving him very succeptible to strikes which is dangerous considering this group. Could absolutely beat Tim (again) and Ricco while also having a shot against Arlovski (bad chin)/Nog/Randy but in a Prime vs Prime prediction, I think he goes 0-8 here.
Click to expand...

I disagree with i think most of your predictions but I enjoyed reading them
 
BowserJr said:
I disagree with i think most of your predictions but I enjoyed reading them
Click to expand...
Cheers. Yeah it's not easy to predict when dealing with high level guys especially when many were wildly inconsistent at times.

Arlovski had outstanding takedown defense and heavy ass hands but one solid punch from anyone and he's out. He also struggled with not letting the lands go for seemingly the entire 2nd half of his career.

Nog loses to Frank Mir twice and I still feel like he would smoke him even though the second fight is hard to defend because while I think it could have been stopped, Mir was still conscious enough to submit him.

Barnett has the makings of an absolute destroyer but he often did come up short when fighting elite performers. Was he a can crusher or did he just underperform?

Fedor seemingly had no flaws but he cut easily and relied on the ropes a lot to defend takedowns. Could he get up if a strong wrestler pinned him to the cage? The Lindland fight was worrying considering Randleman/Coleman were not exactly fierce GNP threats by the time he faced them.

Cro Cop destroyed a ton of people after his early losses but he never faced any of these elites again (besides Barnett) and suffered several losses to inferior fighters not long after. Had he really improved as much as we think?

Randy seemingly had the potential to beat anyone on any given night but why couldn't he string together more than 3 wins at a time then?

We were truly robbed of so many good match-ups in the late 2000s when many of the PRIDE fighters were under contract at the same time. Nog's last fight is against Stefan Struve? Cro Cop avenges his loss against Gonzaga and gets matched up with... Anthony freakin Hamilton? An absolute joke
 
FreddieRoachsVoice said:
Cheers. Yeah it's not easy to predict when dealing with high level guys especially when many were wildly inconsistent at times.

Arlovski had outstanding takedown defense and heavy ass hands but one solid punch from anyone and he's out. He also struggled with not letting the lands go for seemingly the entire 2nd half of his career.

Nog loses to Frank Mir twice and I still feel like he would smoke him even though the second fight is hard to defend because while I think it could have been stopped, Mir was still conscious enough to submit him.

Barnett has the makings of an absolute destroyer but he often did come up short when fighting elite performers. Was he a can crusher or did he just underperform?

Fedor seemingly had no flaws but he cut easily and relied on the ropes a lot to defend takedowns. Could he get up if a strong wrestler pinned him to the cage? The Lindland fight was worrying considering Randleman/Coleman were not exactly fierce GNP threats by the time he faced them.

Cro Cop destroyed a ton of people after his early losses but he never faced any of these elites again (besides Barnett) and suffered several losses to inferior fighters not long after. Had he really improved as much as we think?

Randy seemingly had the potential to beat anyone on any given night but why couldn't he string together more than 3 wins at a time then?

We were truly robbed of so many good match-ups in the late 2000s when many of the PRIDE fighters were under contract at the same time. Nog's last fight is against Stefan Struve? Cro Cop avenges his loss against Gonzaga and gets matched up with... Anthony freakin Hamilton? An absolute joke
Click to expand...
I'm still pissed we never saw Arlovski vs Crocop
 
Last edited:
I think it'd be more interesting, and traditional, to have all of them fight at the same time (battle royale) in the YAMMA Pit. I guarantee if you put all the worlds best heavyweights in the Pit at the same time, Jon Jones is walking out that mothafucka
 
BowserJr said:
In terms of peak skill or if they all fought each other at each others peaks, rank them in order of who'd have the best record

Fedor
Crocop
Big Nog
Barnett
Arlovski
Mir
Couture
Sylvia
Ricco Rodriguez

In mid 2000s they were all at their peaks and IMO this was the golden age of HW mma... early to mid 2010s makes a good case for golden era as well... it certainly was if looking at UFC alone


PS
I do think put werdum or reem in here because they peaked a bit later than the rest
Click to expand...
1.fedor
2.couture
3.mir
4.big nog
5.arvloski
6.barnett
7.crocop
8.sylvia
9.barnett
 
My take on who each guy beats

Fedor- crocop, nog, randy, arlovski, sylvia, mir, ricco, Barnett
Crocop- Barnett, mir, sylvia, ricco, nog 50/50, arlovski
Big Nog- randy, sylvia, ricco 50/50, arlovski, barnett 50/50, mir, crocop 50/50
Barnett- randy, ricco 50/50, mir, arlovski, nog 50/50, sylvia
Arlovski- sylvia 50/50, randy, mir
Mir-  sylvia, randy, ricco
Ricco - randy, nog 50/50, arlovski
Randy- sylvia, crocop
Sylvia- arlovski 50/50, ricco

Basis
If they fought each other in real life both in their prime then I take that real record. Same if they fought each other with both being shopworn or both being near prime.

If they fought each other in real life but one was clearly so worn and the other wasn't yet I don't weigh that result very much

If they never faced each other in real life then I account for ring vs cage considering where the fight most likely would've taken place
 
BowserJr said:
In terms of peak skill or if they all fought each other at each others peaks, rank them in order of who'd have the best record

Fedor
Crocop
Big Nog
Barnett
Arlovski
Mir
Couture
Sylvia
Ricco Rodriguez

In mid 2000s they were all at their peaks and IMO this was the golden age of HW mma... early to mid 2010s makes a good case for golden era as well... it certainly was if looking at UFC alone


PS
I do think put werdum or reem in here because they peaked a bit later than the rest
Click to expand...
Fedor
Big nog
Couture
Barnett
Arlovski
Mir
Ricco
Sylvia

But I never could stand watching a Sylvia fight
And I think Randy couture was very underrated and his UFC run he was in his 40s I believe so holy fuck
 
BowserJr said:
In terms of peak skill or if they all fought each other at each others peaks, rank them in order of who'd have the best record

Fedor
Crocop
Big Nog
Barnett
Arlovski
Mir
Couture
Sylvia
Ricco Rodriguez

In mid 2000s they were all at their peaks and IMO this was the golden age of HW mma... early to mid 2010s makes a good case for golden era as well... it certainly was if looking at UFC alone


PS
I do think put werdum or reem in here because they peaked a bit later than the rest
Click to expand...
Fedor
Nog




The rest.
 
JakePaulMMA said:
I guarantee if you put all the worlds best heavyweights in the Pit at the same time, Jon Jones is walking out that mothafucka
Click to expand...
He took 3 rounds to beat old man stipe but hes gonna beat all the hws at the same time? lol k
 
Fedor did have the best record in his prime and he's from the same era as everyone else on the list.
 
HHJ said:
He took 3 rounds to beat old man stipe but hes gonna beat all the hws at the same time? lol k
Click to expand...
All those guys are like 60-72 years old. He's gonna win.
 
BowserJr said:
In terms of peak skill or if they all fought each other at each others peaks, rank them in order of who'd have the best record

Fedor
Crocop
Big Nog
Barnett
Arlovski
Mir
Couture
Sylvia
Ricco Rodriguez

In mid 2000s they were all at their peaks and IMO this was the golden age of HW mma... early to mid 2010s makes a good case for golden era as well... it certainly was if looking at UFC alone


PS
I do think put werdum or reem in here because they peaked a bit later than the rest
Click to expand...
Fedor
Big Nog
Mir
Crocop
Courture
Whoever is left
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,280,724
Messages
58,314,331
Members
175,997
Latest member
Fitboy485

Share this page

Back
Top