Still can't believe Forrest was the Champ

Fioretti said:
He still beat the #1 in his division twice, which is more than those guys can say, and is a greater accomplishment. Forrest beat Rampage right after he unified the PRIDE and UFC 205 titles. DC has a greater career overall, agreed, but Forrest has achieved more in the 205 division: being ranked #1 and holding two wins over previous #1's.
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By any objective measure he was the lesser fighter by a lot. He ranks below DC at lhw.
 
Vampire life said:
Lol all these years later, I still can't believe he held Gold. Great dude, fun fighter, but yet..
Was the division that weak at the time or did he leg kick his way to a title? I dont know. I haven't watched that fight with Rampage In a long time.
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IMO it is simple.
He was winning, and that gave him confidence. That is a boost of self believe that I think it is highly unappreciated.
When a fighter beats the odds, it helps him trust his own power. When a fighter loses and starts doubting themselves, it does the opposite. They hesitate, they don't throw punches with 100% confidence.
And when they start losing in the fight, they doubt themselves even more.

And he is (by far) not alone.
Look at the example of Renan Barao.
beat guys like Faber (twice), and was on a tear, with 32 fights winning streak!
Then along came TJ, and he went on a 2-8 losing streak.... Could never recoup his confidence.

So (back to my point) yes, Forrest was not the best, and he was expected to lose.
But when he won against Rua, it gave him confidence to fight (and beat) Rampage.

Though of course, he met another confident dude in an Unbeaten Rashad (who himself lost to another unbeaten and confident Machida).... :)
 
It's been over 12 years, dude. We have footage from different angles, we have witnesses. It's time to just accept it.
 
kflo said:
By any objective measure he was the lesser fighter by a lot. He ranks below DC at lhw.
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How?

Forrest's notable LHW wins:
  • Shogun - #1 LHW and #2 p4p
  • Rampage - #1 LHW and #2 p4p - won the unified title
  • Tito Ortiz (x2) - who holds second place in almost every LHW record in UFC history - 5x defending former UFC LHW champ
  • Rich Franklin - who went 16-1 with 16 finishes at 205 before dropping to MW, becoming UFC MW champ and defending 2x
DC's notable LHW wins:
  • Hendo - fucking 4 weight legend, multiple tournament champion, and the first champ champ in MMA history - yet, Cormier beat him at the tail end of his long-ass career when he was 44 years old
  • Rumble (x2) - super dangerous top-ranked fighter who never became champion in any org or division he fought in
  • Gustafsson - super dangerous top-ranked fighter who never became champion in any org or division he fought in, but gave both Jones and DC the toughest fights of their careers, and many think he won those fights
  • Anderson Silva - MW and MMA GOAT - fought Cormier on 2 days notice in a non-title 3 round fight at the age of 41

Cormier's 2 best wins at 205 are Hendo and Silva, but they were both way passed it. Silva is the only former UFC champion that Cormier beat, and Cormier was never considered the best in the division. Forrest was the #1 ranked LHW. How does he rank below DC at LHW? He ranks below him overall, I agree 100%, but not at LHW. DC's best accomplishments were at HW, not LHW.

Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings - Light Heavyweight - Forrest #1 LHW in the world
 
The-AxeMurderer said:
I think everyone underestimated Forrest.

He beat Shogun and Rampage back to back, when Shogun was the best LHW.

He had great kicks, great cardio, underrated TDD.

He just found ways to win when the odds were stacked against him.
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100%. Forrest got by on four things

1. Heart
2.work ethic
3. Black belt bjj
4. Decent kickboxing. It by no means was great but his reach, conditioning and volume wore most people down
 
Fioretti said:
How?

Forrest's notable LHW wins:
  • Shogun - #1 LHW and #2 p4p
  • Rampage - #1 LHW and #2 p4p - won the unified title
  • Tito Ortiz (x2) - who holds second place in almost every LHW record in UFC history - 5x defending former UFC LHW champ
  • Rich Franklin - who went 16-1 with 16 finishes at 205 before dropping to MW, becoming UFC MW champ and defending 2x
DC's notable LHW wins:
  • Hendo - fucking 4 weight legend, multiple tournament champion, and the first champ champ in MMA history - yet, Cormier beat him at the tail end of his long-ass career when he was 44 years old
  • Rumble (x2) - super dangerous top-ranked fighter who never became champion in any org or division he fought in
  • Gustafsson - super dangerous top-ranked fighter who never became champion in any org or division he fought in, but gave both Jones and DC the toughest fights of their careers, and many think he won those fights
  • Anderson Silva - MW and MMA GOAT - fought Cormier on 2 days notice in a non-title 3 round fight at the age of 41

Cormier's 2 best wins at 205 are Hendo and Silva, but they were both way passed it. Silva is the only former UFC champion that Cormier beat, and Cormier was never considered the best in the division. Forrest was the #1 ranked LHW. How does he rank below DC at LHW? He ranks below him overall, I agree 100%, but not at LHW. DC's best accomplishments were at HW, not LHW.

Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings - Light Heavyweight - Forrest #1 LHW in the world
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C’mon. You’re acting as if Tito and Franklin weren’t years removed from their titles. No one considered Forrest the best lhw in the world.

And you’re referencing only his wins but none of his losses. Dc only lost to the goat lhw at lhw. He didn’t get finished by keith jardine.
 
kflo said:
C’mon. You’re acting as if Tito and Franklin weren’t years removed from their titles. No one considered Forrest the best lhw in the world.

And you’re referencing only his wins but none of his losses. Dc only lost to the goat lhw at lhw. He didn’t get finished by keith jardine.
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They were years removed from their titles, I didn't say otherwise. He does have better wins than DC at LHW though, you can't deny that. Sherdog considered Forrest the best LHW in the world, as did MMAweekly. He proved it by beating the #1 LHW twice, and wasn't considered the #1 until he beat Rampage. Cormier wasn't considered the best in the world when he won the vacant title, nor when he defended it. Cormier is only 7-2 at LHW. 9 fights with 5 notable wins, 2 of which were against legends from a lower weight class that were 41 and 44 years old. His legacy is at HW, sherbro.
 
Fioretti said:
They were years removed from their titles, I didn't say otherwise. He does have better wins than DC at LHW though, you can't deny that. Sherdog considered Forrest the best LHW in the world, as did MMAweekly. He proved it by beating the #1 LHW twice, and wasn't considered the #1 until he beat Rampage. Cormier wasn't considered the best in the world when he won the vacant title, nor when he defended it. Cormier is only 7-2 at LHW. 9 fights with 5 notable wins, 2 of which were against legends from a lower weight class that were 41 and 44 years old. His legacy is at HW, sherbro.
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Sherdog ranked him #1 based on beating shogun and rampage. Again, no one thought he was the best. He was a decent underdog against shogun and rampage and was still basically even odds against evans and then a decent underdog against silva. Dc had the greatest lhw of all time in the division at the same time. Forrest would have likely been the #5 lhw if his prime was concurrent with dc’s. And again, you’re ignoring that he was finished by horn, jardine, evans, silva and shogun. His peer group is really late era Tito, Bonnar, jardine, franklin…..he just happened to have 2 great wins on paper in a row (with 1 a debatable decision). It’s not like he earned the fight against shogun as a #1 contender fight. But he took advantage. Credit for that but lets call him what he was……
 
kflo said:
Sherdog ranked him #1 based on beating shogun and rampage. Again, no one thought he was the best. He was a decent underdog against shogun and rampage and was still basically even odds against evans and then a decent underdog against silva. Dc had the greatest lhw of all time in the division at the same time. Forrest would have likely been the #5 lhw if his prime was concurrent with dc’s. And again, you’re ignoring that he was finished by horn, jardine, evans, silva and shogun. His peer group is really late era Tito, Bonnar, jardine, franklin…..he just happened to have 2 great wins on paper in a row (with 1 a debatable decision). It’s not like he earned the fight against shogun as a #1 contender fight. But he took advantage. Credit for that but lets call him what he was……
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He has still achieved more than DC has in the division. Gaining #1 is the pinnacle - DC couldn't do it, Forrest did.
 
Fioretti said:
He has still achieved more than DC has in the division. Gaining #1 is the pinnacle - DC couldn't do it, Forrest did.
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He has a singular achievement that was greater in part because he didn’t have jon jones in his era. That doesn’t make him greater overall.
 
kflo said:
He has a singular achievement that was greater in part because he didn’t have jon jones in his era. That doesn’t make him greater overall.
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He did it (beat the #1) twice. It's greater than what DC could achieve.
 
Well, he wasn't concussed and on xanax in those fights like he was in his "fight" vs Anderson.
 
Forrest being a former champ is pretty cringe, but some of the champs who have came after him (Germain RUNdamie, Nicco Montana) make Forrest look like Jon Jones by comparison.
 
Forrest was a good fighter. Silva was really a horrible match up for him style wise and Silva was still in his prime. Also other then maybe the Henderson and Liddell fights, Rampage was overrated imo majority of his ufc career.
 
What is "the worst" champion? How does that even make any sense? How can someone be bad and a champion at the same time? You gotta beat top guys to be champ which is no easy feat. Discrediting Forrest is stupid imo.
 
TheMaster said:
Plus the guy had an atlantian physique at 205, even if he had a face like squirrel monkey.
He gets little respect probably because he was too self deprecative also.
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That's actually a REALLY good point.

I do think the reason he gets looked at as a silly low level fighter (when in actuality he was very good, Cardio for days at 205 as well) was because he presented himself as that.

Also the Anderson fight.
 
Fioretti said:
Forrest was injured in the second fight. Shogun fans always seem to dismiss that. They're 1-1 with a finish over each other. The first fight counts, boys, no excuses.
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Lol, he had a stomach ache and had to digest some pepto, fuck off <45>
 
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