If a fighter can beat another fighter 10 out of 10 times, that doesn't prove he's the better fighter. Hallman beating Hughes twice with ease, well we can all agree Hughes was the better fighter. But let's get really into it here. JDS/Cain. JDS ko'd him early in the first fight, but Cain destroyed him the next 2 times. Cain's first win over JDS was more decisive IMO than JDS's win over him. JDS landed that 1 shot but Cain destroyed him in every round in the next fight, and then again equally in the 3rd. No doubt about it, Cain would seem to be the better fighter because it's like we have proof and we all know that Cain would most likely beat JDS again if they fought. But styles make fights. Cain is a bad matchup for JDS. JDS has a better resume than Cain. Their wins cancel each other out except Cain has 1 more win over him. JDS is the better fighter IMO and would beat more fighters than Cain would beat. That's how to tell who the better fighter is. Going head to head in multiple fights doesn't say as much as most people make it out to be. I've always said that a prime Filho and a prime Arona would have their way with Anderson Silva. Yet I think Anderson Silva is the better fighter by far. The reason being, Anderson would beat most of the guys that Arona and Filho would lose too. MMA math, luck(even thought the better you are the more of a chance you will get lucky so it's not all luck), fighters going into fights more injured than others, hype, money, personality, and I want to say again LUCK is all part of the reason you guys get into such heated debates to the point where you think the other person is retarded. I remember right before GSP/Serra 2, I said on here even if Serra beats him again, GSP is still the best and I wasn't even talking about the style matchup, I was talking about there was another chance that there could be another fluke victory. Some guy replied to me saying that 'I don't know, I think if Serra beats him again then Serra just has his number' lmfao. Honestly the best way to go about it when picking who the better fighter is, is looking at their careers and comparing to other careers(especially in their primes). But even then, there's no real way of truly knowing who the better fighter is when it comes to the top level.
You gave a lot of examples but none of them fits what you said in your first sentence. If a fighter would really be 10-0 against another fighter then chances are pretty damn high that he is indeed the better fighter.
High, but I truly believe that Cain would beat JDS 8 out of 10 times. Doesn't make Cain the better fighter. You have to remember that we're talking about the highest level of fighters. There are so many of them with so many styles.
but Cain is better than JDS. I agree maybe Rousey vs Holm goes for Holm more often than not and Rousey is probably better at MMA than Holm
You either win or lose TS, win or lose. Well sometimes fights can end in a draw. Oh and sometimes they end in No Contest.
You don't know what a better fighter means. You think that being a bad match up for someone is what make him better. Cain is better at everything but boxing. He is the way more complete fighter. Cain would also beat most of the division, and I doubt he would had lost to Reem. I would say RDA is a better fighter than Khabib but he would lose to Khabib on almost every fight they can have. That's a better one.
Another good example. Nog was much better than Mir, but those 2 fights were dog shit. Nog was not only past his prime in the first fight but looked so bad that anyone would have beat him that night. 2nd fight, Nog came out and was beating Mir down, but Mir looked like shit too just like Nog did in the first fight, then Nog went for a choke when he had Mir finished because Herb was yelling to not hit to the back of the head which he wasn't, the rolled around and Mir ended up breaking his arm with his size advantage, Nog's lack of respect of Mir's bjj, and Mir's bjj was even better than we thought. That said, as crazy as it sounds, I do not think Mir was a bad matchup for Nog if they both fought healthy and in their prime. Not was a bad matchup for him in their prime because he couldn't be knocked out, sub'd and would have pushed Mir into gassing out and would have ended up pounding Mir out on the ground. Nog was on another level than Mir but sadly the average fan would think that would be a retarded opinion given the fact that Mir fucked him up twice.
But even you just said you're pretty sure, not certain. Most people would act as if it's proof and I can understand that. I was just trying to make a point, 10/10 is a little extreme but you never know. Like I said I think Cain would beat JDS 8 out of 10 times but I think JDS is the better fighter. He has a better resume that's for sure and I think that matters more.
TS has some great points i think. nice post. even if a fighter beats another 10/10, it just means he's better in that particular matchup. Not for every single other matchup, and that's what the TS is saying. most of the heavyweights would beat the lightweights almost every time. doesn't mean the heavyweights are better fighters. And one particular little guy may have a skill suited for beating heavyweights, but not so suited against those of his size. This is what they mean when they say mma math doesn't work.
Another great example with Holm/Ronda that I should have mentioned in the OP. Ronda is definitely the best fighter at 135 even if Holm beats her again. Other things would have to happen to change my opinion.
If he stop getting injured, I think he will too. Also, I think he has to be one of the most clean fighters at HW, so I think that all of this new stuff will do good for him.
That's not always the case though, he means certain fighters styles match up really well and create situations where the worse fighter just has a certain guys number. For instance Jeremy Horn beat Chael Sonnen 3 separate times all by submission, Chael never beat him. At the end of the day who is the better fighter? I think anyone would say Sonnen, he reached a world ranking that Horn never did and beat multiple top-5/10 guys and had the better career.
Is TS saying 2 different things? Lost me with the 10 out 10 thing. Then started talking about lucky punch KO's. or what ever. "Which brings me to my next subject kids Don't Smoke Crack" LT
