The time on top is short lived

[Killer Kadoogan]

Fedor

 

[CanMMAfan]

The exceptions to the rules are guys like Silva, GSP, Jones, MM.

But the majority are lucky to defend the belt two or three times. I just saw embedded with Weidman and it's crazy to think how dominant he was and one mistake in the fight with Rockhold seemed to derail everything.

He had a great career but everyone is so vulnerable to that 1 sudden loss that changes everything. Garbrandt, Rockhold, Whittaker, Cyborg, Ronda, Tate etc. It comes then it's gone. And it's very hard to get back in the win column consistently after that happens. It'll be interesting to see what happens to someone like Usman after dropping two to Leon, the first one tht he was winning comfortably. Sort of like Yan, DQd from a fight he was gonna win then loses the rematch convincingly and hits a skid.

Put into perspective those long reigning champions like JJ and GSP who literally retired before losing the belt. Impressive.

Your mother likes to stay on top for awhile

 

[HuskySamoan]

sugar ray robinson had 200 fights. just saying.

At least 100 of those were cab drivers and construction workers. Don't fucking kid yourself. Thai fighters still have that many bouts.

 

[Fox by the Sea]

At least 100 of those were cab drivers and construction workers. Don't fucking kid yourself. Thai fighters still have that many bouts.

even if that's so, there's still 100 fights left.
what champ today has 100 fights?

 

[Uber_Noober]

Hickson by armbar

 

[13 others]

Yan didn’t lose his rematch or sterling convincingly lol. It was a split decision based on a very low output round 1 that could go either way with 2-3 clear sterling, and 4/5 clear Yan.
What is this revisionist nonsense

Really? I was convinced that he lost before they read the decision. I wasn't surprised. It was a convincing win.

 

[TheBulge]

This sport is brutal, and the mistake almost everyone makes is not knowing when to get out. Only GSP and Khabib did it right, Silva, Fedor, BJ Penn and many others stuck around far too long. If you get KOd in your mid to late 30s you should hang it up, it only goes down hill from there.

The people who retired early are the only ones who retired on time.

You should retire when you know deep down it's time. Getting KOd in your mid to late 30s shouldn't mean an automatic retirement. You can still go through the comeback journey and have some great fights left.

I understand the other side of it but MMA fans are too worried and panic quickly, like almost any loss should mean a fighter should retire. They don't realize how tough these fighters are.

 

[newms84]

sugar ray robinson had 200 fights. just saying.

He also had almost 100 amateur fights too. He has over 275 total boxing matches. Regardless of competition that's a ton of fights without having the training techniques or the supplements of today. I don't expect any modern fighter to fight even close to that often but a minimum of two fights a year barring injury doesn't seem unreasonable

 

[ChimRichalds]

Jones beat Shogun to become the youngest champion in ufc history at 23
Ever since then he has only been in title fights
Now at 35 he is still a champion at HW
Apart from a few close decisions and a no contest he never really lost since then

Jones bless

I can't stand the fucker, but it's wildly impressive. I don't know that we will ever see another streak like Jones', at least in the foreseeable future. But I'd be remiss to not say, fuck that guy.

 

[Fox by the Sea]

I don't expect any modern fighter to fight even close to that often but a minimum of two fights a year barring injury doesn't seem unreasonable

completely agree. an uninjured fighter who doesn't fight at the minimum twice a year is hardly a fighter at all.

 

[Dana's Conscience]

He's not wrong

Former champions with under 4 title fight wins
-Henry Cejudo
-Deiveson Figueiredo
-Brandon Moreno
-Cody Garbrandt
-Petr Yan
-Conor McGregor
-Jens Pulver
-Sean Sherk
-Anthony Pettis
-Rafael dos Anjos
-Eddie Alvarez
-Charles Oliveira
-Carlos Newton
-Matt Serra
-Johny Hendricks
-Robbie Lawler
-Dave Menne
-Murilo Bustamante
-Evan Tanner
-Rich Franklin
-Luke Rockhold
-Michael Bisping
-Robert Whittaker
-Alex Pereira
-Vitor Belfort
-Rampage
-Forrest Griffin
-Rashad Evans
-Lyoto Machida
-Shogun
-Jan Blachowicz
-Glover Teixeira
-Jiri Prochazka
-Jamahal Hill
-Mark Coleman
-Maurice Smith
-Bas Rutten
-Kevin Randleman
-Josh Barnett
-Ricco Rodriguez
-Frank Mir
-Andrei Arlovski
-Brock Lesnar
-Junior dos Santos
-Fabricio Werdum
-Francis Ngannou
-Germaine de Randamie
-Cris Cyborg
-Holly Holm
-Miesha Tate
-Julianna Pena
-Nicco Montano
-Carla Esparza
-Jessica Andrade

 

[markg171]

even if that's so, there's still 100 fights left.
what champ today has 100 fights?

Izzy's at 142 fights between his amateur/professional MMA, kickboxing, and boxing careers.

Funny though how he's never brought up in any discussions about how fighters today simply "can't" fight as often and how fighters are broken down by 20-30 fights (depends on who their favourite fighter is) when he's a current living example that actually yes they still can if they wanted to.

Which is the actual issue. Fighters today actually don't want to fight all that often. And the UFC doesn't need them to with their bloated roster. Has nothing to do with whether they physically can or not.

 

[Fox by the Sea]

Izzy's at 142 fights between his amateur/professional MMA, kickboxing, and boxing careers.

Funny though how he's never brought up in any discussions about how fighters today simply "can't" fight as often and how fighters are broken down by 20-30 fights (depends on who their favourite fighter is) when he's a current living example that actually yes they still can if they wanted to.

Which is the actual issue. Fighters today actually don't want to fight all that often. And the UFC doesn't need them to with their bloated roster. Has nothing to do with whether they physically can or not.

very good example. i'll keep this in mind for when i hear the "it's too hard to fight more than twice or so a year" argument.

 

[SeattleFightFan]

Well ya.

that’s why goat lists are chock full of guys like Aldo, DJ, Silva, Jones, Fedor, GSP. And followed closely by dudes like Hendo and Couture.

 

[Sweater of AV]

GOAT bless.

 

[Objectively Correct]

That's why title defenses matter

 

[Hellowhosthat]

completely agree. an uninjured fighter who doesn't fight at the minimum twice a year is hardly a fighter at all.

I think 3x a year is ideal for someone fighting tough competition for me.

They could probably fight more if people weren't cutting so much weight.

 

[Fox by the Sea]

I think 3x a year is ideal for someone fighting tough competition for me.

They could probably fight more if people weren't cutting so much weight.

weight cutting is cheating
always hated it

 

[Hellowhosthat]

weight cutting is cheating
always hated it

Yeah, I think that's why Izzy is able to stay active as he fights close to his walk around weight. Someone like Sterling isn't going to want to cut all that weight more than a couple of times a year

 

[Southpoor97]

Really? I was convinced that he lost before they read the decision. I wasn't surprised. It was a convincing win.

That’s cool but it wasn’t a convincing win. Do you even know the breakdown of the rounds?

How could it be a convincing win when it hinges on round 1, media scores were split.

I think you are misattributing sterlings dominance in the rounds he won to the how convincing his win was. He won 2 and 3 more clearly than Yan 4 and 5. But, no 10-8’s, so it came down to a low output round1.


Again I don’t know why people are rewriting history on that fight when the decision was very disputed at the time.