There’s just something different about a few guys who stepped in the octagon.

[MigitAs]

Anderson Silva had it, Jose Aldo had it, GSP had it for a long time, Jon Jones had it but seems like her recently lost it, Khabib had it and now Topuria has it.

An aura of invincibility.

Like these guys are the main character in a story and they are fighting with plot armour; in other words, they can’t lose.

Of course this can only be for a short window of time even for these exceptional men, but with the gift of hindsight; we can now identify the true outliers of our sport, the elite of the elite, the “Goats” if you will.

I’m 35 now, I was turned casual by Griffin/Bonnar, and was turned hardcore by an awesome night I randomly had with my buddies watching UFC 98. I haven’t missed any event (including fight nights) since then.

Of the older class, I can only really remember the aura that GSP had, it was strong for a long time after he beat Matt Serra, but started to fade around the Condit fight.

However, I distinctly remember Khabib’s first two fights in the UFC and me thinking he was never going to lose a fight until retirement. He just had intangibles that put him so far ahead of everyone in his class; like his ability to avoid getting rocked, his incredible cardio and pace, not to mention master-level grappling skills that could drown anyone at LW.

Since then the only other time I had this feeling was watching Topuria’s first three fights. He really convinced me he is just literally “built-different”. His mindset, his compact strength despite his literal shortcomings in height, and his ability to land his power effectively is unrivalled in the UFC right now, and maybe all-time. The level of boxing Topuria brings mixed with well-rounded MMA skills is astounding. People should be watching this guy closely, and try to figure out what makes him great imo.

What do you guys think?

 

[Substance Abuse]

You typed all that to give Toppy some Sloppy?

 

[Cletus Fertitta]

He’s not gonna drown Paddy on the ground.

 

[MigitAs]

You typed all that to give Toppy some Sloppy?

I was feeling the weed tonight and just started waxing brah

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

 

[Get To Da Choppa]

Anderson Silva had it, Jose Aldo had it, GSP had it for a long time, Jon Jones had it but seems like her recently lost it, Khabib had it and now Topuria has it.

An aura of invincibility.

Like these guys are the main character in a story and they are fighting with plot armour; in other words, they can’t lose.

Of course this can only be for a short window of time even for these exceptional men, but with the gift of hindsight; we can now identify the true outliers of our sport, the elite of the elite, the “Goats” if you will.

I’m 35 now, I was turned casual by Griffin/Bonnar, and was turned hardcore by an awesome night I randomly had with my buddies watching UFC 98. I haven’t missed any event (including fight nights) since then.

Of the older class, I can only really remember the aura that GSP had, it was strong for a long time after he beat Matt Serra, but started to fade around the Condit fight.

However, I distinctly remember Khabib’s first two fights in the UFC and me thinking he was never going to lose a fight until retirement. He just had intangibles that put him so far ahead of everyone in his class; like his ability to avoid getting rocked, his incredible cardio and pace, not to mention master-level grappling skills that could drown anyone at LW.

Since then the only other time I had this feeling was watching Topuria’s first three fights. He really convinced me he is just literally “built-different”. His mindset, his compact strength despite his literal shortcomings in height, and his ability to land his power effectively is unrivalled in the UFC right now, and maybe all-time. The level of boxing Topuria brings mixed with well-rounded MMA skills is astounding. People should be watching this guy closely, and try to figure out what makes him great imo.

What do you guys think?

As good as Topuria is, I feel like any fighter who is primarily a standup fighter is going to lose. The margin for error is just too small in standup

Khabib is a guru in grappling. Jon Jones always had that takedown threat and won many fights with grappling. GSP never lost also when he switched to a grappling heavy approach after Serra 1. Fedor seemed invincible but as he got older he lost his reflex and chin, and so did Anderson. Topuria could develop a dominant ground game to supplement his striking, but it's too early to say still

 

[Substance Abuse]

I was feeling the weed tonight and just started waxing brah

Hespect.

 

[MigitAs]

As good as Topuria is, I feel like any fighter who is primarily a standup fighter is going to lose. The margin for error is just too small in standup

That’s what makes it all the more exciting; there’s a real reason Mcgregor connected with so many people so quickly. He saw what Chael Sonnen was doing; like everyone, he was influenced by it and elaborated on it. Except when he delivered, it was with ko/tko’s. We’d never really seen that Muhammad Ali-esque style emulated successfully in MMA before. Now Topuria seems like he might be the 2.0 version of that, it’s a compelling prospect.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

I had high hopes for Yoel, even though he was a late addition to the mix








There was a time when Cejudo was firing on all-cylinders too, retirement was early and should have been a permanent one

 

[Thy]

lotsa people have it.... until they don't.

 

[Trabaho]

Anderson Silva had it, Jose Aldo had it, GSP had it for a long time, Jon Jones had it but seems like her recently lost it, Khabib had it and now Topuria has it.

An aura of invincibility.

Like these guys are the main character in a story

Topuria has the UFC marketing department and is the main character now. As for comparing him to these goats you mentioned, he got 4 top 10 opponents on his record. It is very early. Let's see him vs Arman first.

 

[BroScienceTalkatWork]

I was feeling the weed tonight and just started waxing brah

Be careful. These Shersharks will tear you apart

 

[Axe720]

Machida had it before Shogun figured him out. He slept Thiago Silva and Rashad, both undefeated guys, and took no damage from either one.

 

[MigitAs]

Machida had it before Shogun figured him out. He slept Thiago Silva and Rashad, both undefeated guys, and took no damage from either one.

Yeah if he could’ve made it to Jones unscathed we might be looking at him different, but Jones would still body him

 

[Paladin]

That’s what makes it all the more exciting; there’s a real reason Mcgregor connected with so many people so quickly. He saw what Chael Sonnen was doing; like everyone, he was influenced by it and elaborated on it. Except when he delivered, it was with ko/tko’s. We’d never really seen that Muhammad Ali-esque style emulated successfully in MMA before. Now Topuria seems like he might be the 2.0 version of that, it’s a compelling prospect.

As good as Topuria is, I feel like any fighter who is primarily a standup fighter is going to lose. The margin for error is just too small in standup

Khabib is a guru in grappling. Jon Jones always had that takedown threat and won many fights with grappling. GSP never lost also when he switched to a grappling heavy approach after Serra 1. Fedor seemed invincible but as he got older he lost his reflex and chin, and so did Anderson. Topuria could develop a dominant ground game to supplement his striking, but it's too early to say still

Bro, Top was a heavy grappler with killer submissions in his early career. It is only recently that he started to KO people.

His wrestling base gives him confidence to strike with near reckless abandon

 

[Captain Herb]

 

[fedorthegoat777]

Anderson Silva had it, Jose Aldo had it, GSP had it for a long time, Jon Jones had it but seems like her recently lost it, Khabib had it and now Topuria has it.

An aura of invincibility.

Like these guys are the main character in a story and they are fighting with plot armour; in other words, they can’t lose.

Of course this can only be for a short window of time even for these exceptional men, but with the gift of hindsight; we can now identify the true outliers of our sport, the elite of the elite, the “Goats” if you will.

I’m 35 now, I was turned casual by Griffin/Bonnar, and was turned hardcore by an awesome night I randomly had with my buddies watching UFC 98. I haven’t missed any event (including fight nights) since then.

Of the older class, I can only really remember the aura that GSP had, it was strong for a long time after he beat Matt Serra, but started to fade around the Condit fight.

However, I distinctly remember Khabib’s first two fights in the UFC and me thinking he was never going to lose a fight until retirement. He just had intangibles that put him so far ahead of everyone in his class; like his ability to avoid getting rocked, his incredible cardio and pace, not to mention master-level grappling skills that could drown anyone at LW.

Since then the only other time I had this feeling was watching Topuria’s first three fights. He really convinced me he is just literally “built-different”. His mindset, his compact strength despite his literal shortcomings in height, and his ability to land his power effectively is unrivalled in the UFC right now, and maybe all-time. The level of boxing Topuria brings mixed with well-rounded MMA skills is astounding. People should be watching this guy closely, and try to figure out what makes him great imo.

What do you guys think?

How do you cover an "Aura of invincibility" and not include Fedor?

 

[Mask Of Winters]

lotsa people have it.... until they don't.

And when I see that happen I boot them out of the harem and replace them with someone newer, hotter and less worn out.

 

[Mask Of Winters]

Somehow I never realized before now there was an obviously illegal knee at 0:36 that went completely ignored by everybody. And I'm glad it was.

 

[Deleted member 609094]

The aura is not a missing thing. It's simply a "The black knight is coming" story that follows the best.
All of those fighters had their aura because they earned it and could beat anybody on any given day.
It was focussed hype, fed to the audience. The aura was a fanned mystique that got the audience excited. The more you win convincingly, the more aura you earn.

Toppy is earning it.