The All Time Toughest MMA Fighter in terms of Heart...

[Steve-French]

Has to be Akira "Mr. Pride" Shoji

http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Akira-Shoji-10

This dude had balls of steel and gave no fucks. He lost a lot, but he was 5' 8'' and a pudgy 185lbs and was mostly fighting HW's. I bet with the right diet and weight cut he could have made 145.

He fought some tough dudes that were usually much bigger. Remember in Pride if there was a big gap in weight the smaller fighter had the option of allowing head stomps and soccer kicks in the rule set. Well when he fought Semmy Schilt (who is 7' tall) he opted to allow head stomps and soccer kicks.

Some of his notable bigger opponents

Igor Vovchanchyn
Guy Mezger
Mark Coleman
Jeremey Horn
Semmy Schilt
Shogun Rua
Ninja Rua
Gilbert Yvel
Dan Henderson

He also has some wins over some lesser known guys that are a weight class or two above him. Like I said Shoji lost a lot, but you got to give it to him for being able to go the distance with most of his bigger opponents.

 

[Ths808IsCatchy]

I would say Nog personally, he hasn't taken as many beatings as some of the guys being listed BUT I think the key difference is that he didn't just take punishment and survive, he took it and stayed dangerous on offence winning fights.

I dunno man...nog has taken some of the most epic beatings in the history of the sport...the sapp and fedor fights especially

 

[Cro Cop Is Back]

Don Frye, homie.

 

[emax]

Old school: Don Frye

Pride: Big Nog, Fedor, Sakuraba,Wanderlei

UFC: Edgar, Dos Santos, BJ Penn, Robbie Lawler - sort of surprised Lawler got no mentions, his heart was a vital reason he was able to gain a UFC belt at his age and at this stage of his career, Cerrone - little surprised at the lack of mentions of his name too as far as UFC fighters go, the guy will fight anytime, anyplace and on the shortest notice of any UFC fighters we've seen, you're not getting any of this "not at 100 %" stuff with Cerrone

 

['Rocky']

 

[screaminleeman]

I'm surprised that DC is getting ZERO consideration here.

He not only fought HW's like these Japanese fighters mentioned, he actually fought BETTER HW's than them, and beat everyone of them extremely impressively.

There is a reason that PRIDE FC did not allow American wrestlers into size mismatches.

If you think what Coleman did to Alan Goes was a bad beatdown. Mir or Barnett would give ANY of these Japanese "giant killers" a one way ticket to early retirement (if not the grave)!

 

[BostonToughGuy]

I have disagree.

 

[Rvd Slmr]

Penn got mentioned because of his chin and bravery in matchmaking, but he did quit on his stool and I can't remember a single fight where he overcame adversity to win a bout he was losing.

 

[campbecc]

I have disagree.

he's never shown enough heart to train and get in shape.

 

[kashmir]

Saku

 

[Cylence]

It's was Sakuraba, it is Sakuraba, and it will forever be Sakuraba.

 

[surgeyou1]

Diego Sanchez

 

[AJ Garcia]

Since saku has already been thrown out there, i'm gonna go with Frankie.

 

[BostonToughGuy]

he's never shown enough heart to train and get in shape.

That's discipline, brah. You're confusing heart with discipline.

 

[BRASIL WAND]

Excellent find TS... almost forgot just how much of a tough SOB Shoji was

 

[Kneepocalypse]

Stepping into the ring or cage with opponents who massively outsize you is not heart, that's just good ol crazy.

True heart is shown by guys who have no quit in them and keep on coming no matter what, guys like Frankie Edgar and JDS are the definition of heart.

 

[BostonToughGuy]

Stepping into the ring or cage with opponents who massively outsize you is not heart, that's just good ol crazy.

True heart is shown by guys who have no quit in them and keep on coming no matter what, guys like Frankie Edgar and JDS are the definition of heart.

I'd bring up Chris Leben at this point, but considering what a piece of shit he turned out to be, I'm not really inclined to give him any kind of credit.

 

[campbecc]

That's discipline, brah. You're confusing heart with discipline.

then what is your definition of heart? As far as fighting I've only ever heard it as "will", "determination" or refusing to lose.

He kept losing every big fight but never showed enough heart to win.

The heart a fighter shows in training is the most important, you can't win without preparing to win.

 

[KootenayKid]

Rory

 

[Flash_Monsta]

Diego Sanchez first sprung to mind.

 

[Rascal]

big nog

 

[Ths808IsCatchy]

then what is your definition of heart? As far as fighting I've only ever heard it as "will", "determination" or refusing to lose.

He kept losing every big fight but never showed enough heart to win.

The heart a fighter shows in training is the most important, you can't win without preparing to win.

agree with this

it takes a lot of heart to do one more minute on the airdyne or get up early and run 5 miles or avoid cheeseburgers and pie

 

[BostonToughGuy]

agree with this

it takes a lot of heart to do one more minute on the airdyne or get up early and run 5 miles or avoid cheeseburgers and pie

 

[chaos_36]

Yuki Nakai
Minowa
Saku

Probably in that order.