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

[Marko Polo]

Jon is trash! Show me one fight where he wasn’t “maintaining range” by putting his palm on his opponents forehead/ pointing his fingers towards their eyes. He “broke” guys by providing unconventional (cheated) methods of fighting, and the ref let him get away with it. Crazy to think about Jon and Winklejon devising this strategy years ago, probably expecting to cheese a couple of wins, but then Jon goes and gets an ENTIRE career out of this one exploit.

 

[Chagaev]

Khabib's second fight in the UFC was Tibau. If you knew right then that he will never lose, you should be a scout for Barcelona.

 

[JPOMMA]

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?

Whether we like it or not, Honda needs to be added to that list

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

personally, nobody has ever had an aura of invincibility to me. the thing that attracted me the most to MMA is the strategy and how fighters can win even though every single one of them are flawed. so i've always looked at every fighter as something that should be broken down and assessed on how they can be beaten. the fact that they keep winning even when we all know every human is flawed is the part that makes them remarkable to me.

 

[MigitAs]

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

Because UFC

 

[Your Salad]

Whether we like it or not, Honda needs to be added to that list

Smartest girl on the short bus.
Being the best of the lames doesn't really factor here.

 

[Kwic]

When I was watching Topuria last time I had that big fight feeling and nerves. I haven't had that for a long time. When the Mariachi theme hit and he was running to the octagon I was excited as hell lol.
Toppy bless.

 

[JPOMMA]

Smartest girl on the short bus.
Being the best of the lames doesn't really factor here.

As a former judo guy, I respectfully disagree. Being able to bring the hip toss to armbar sequence to MMA was amazing to see and akin to Machida bringing the crane kick and karate to the UFC. It added a new dimension to the sport.

Doing what she did to resisting opponents of any level is incredibly difficult, let alone to some of the fairly decent opponents she faced.

I wouldn’t be (wasn’t) as dominant as her “on the short bus” of men’s MMA…and I posit you might not either. There is nothing wrong in giving Ronda her dues for what she objectively brought in terms of technique and dominance, regardless of the media hyperbole and her personality getting in the way.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Jon is trash! Show me one fight where he wasn’t “maintaining range” by putting his palm on his opponents forehead/ pointing his fingers towards their eyes. He “broke” guys by providing unconventional (cheated) methods of fighting, and the ref let him get away with it. Crazy to think about Jon and Winklejon devising this strategy years ago, probably expecting to cheese a couple of wins, but then Jon goes and gets an ENTIRE career out of this one exploit.

cope

Smartest girl on the short bus.
Being the best of the lames doesn't really factor here.

Gross misrepresentation

 

[Skarsgard]

I get being hyped on him, but in what world does Ilia seem unbeatable?

 

[Skarsgard]

Jon is trash! Show me one fight where he wasn’t “maintaining range” by putting his palm on his opponents forehead/ pointing his fingers towards their eyes. He “broke” guys by providing unconventional (cheated) methods of fighting, and the ref let him get away with it. Crazy to think about Jon and Winklejon devising this strategy years ago, probably expecting to cheese a couple of wins, but then Jon goes and gets an ENTIRE career out of this one exploit.

Yeah. Ultimately, it just made Jon's boxing worse. He never developed anything resembling a solid jab.

 

[Kwic]

I get being hyped on him, but in what world does Ilia seem unbeatable?

I think what he meant is that you have that internal feeling of this dude that cannot be stopped for whatever reason.
I also have this feeling with Ilia, it doesn't mean it's true, it's just the feeling you either get based on his "aura of invincibility" or you don't. Yes he was almost knocked out by Jai, yes he was held down on the ground for some time by Bryce etc. But it doesn't matter, it still feels like he will overcome and finish you. The same was with Fedor back in the day, he wasn't invincible for all the duration of the fights he was in, but he managed to always find the way to win. Same with Anderson.
And with Ilia his confidence is just something else, makes you buy it that he will do what he says.
Again, it's not necessarily something that is true or the feeling may not be shared by everyone but I get what OP meant.
Topuria just feels different.
And looked tiny against Charles, yet he still destroyed him.

 

[World eater]

It’s DDP by far for me. I always expect him to lose, but he keeps on winning with that smug smile on his face. If he gets past Khamzat, I will truly be amazed.

 

[Your Salad]

Gross misrepresentation

Of what? It was a highly detailed and well thought out post that was the culmination of years of thorough study by someone who sat drunkenly on the toilet.

 

[Skarsgard]

I think what he meant is that you have that internal feeling of this dude that cannot be stopped for whatever reason.
I also have this feeling with Ilia, it doesn't mean it's true, it's just the feeling you either get based on his "aura of invincibility" or you don't. Yes he was almost knocked out by Jai, yes he was held down on the ground for some time by Bryce etc. But it doesn't matter, it still feels like he will overcome and finish you. The same was with Fedor back in the day, he wasn't invincible for all the duration of the fights he was in, but he managed to always find the way to win. Same with Anderson.
And with Ilia his confidence is just something else, makes you buy it that he will do what he says.
Again, it's not necessarily something that is true or the feeling may not be shared by everyone but I get what OP meant.
Topuria just feels different.
And looked tiny against Charles, yet he still destroyed him.

See, I just feel like Ilia is waiting to get knocked out because he comes out in each fight looking sharper offensively, but a little sloppier defensively. It feels like an inevitability.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Of what? It was a highly detailed and well thought out post that was the culmination of years of thorough study by someone who sat drunkenly on the toilet.

yeah man

 

[Tweak896]

It's that total confidence, the guys that never lost. They just are picking how they will take their opponent out and not worried about anything else. Conor had it too.

 

[TGArthur]

Are you saying they "have that look in their eye?"

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

Paul buentello thought he had a nick name, but the thousands in attendance and the millions watching around the world had no clue

 

[The Big Babou]

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?

Mindset is incredibly important for a professional fighter... one has to believe to believe one is the best, to be the best