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Rivalries are what make sports great
In team sports we get the benefit of growing up with tribal allegiances, and we're stuck with them for life
The characters don't matter as much as the idea
In one on one sports we get to choose sides
In MMA some great rivalries have driven the sport to new heights and made us care about fighters, fights and performances that would have just faded into the background
What's the best rivalry of all time
Feel free to include more and I'll add them to the poll if they're significant enough
so far I have my ten that immediately come to mind
Dominick Cruz vs Team Alpha Male
4-2 Cruz
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Rampage vs Wanderlei Silva
Result
2-1 Wandy
Jon Jones vs Daniel Cormier
1-0-1 (really 2-0 Jon)
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Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz
1-1
Tito Ortiz vs Ken Shamrock
3-0 Tito
Tito's head vs Chuck's fists
2-0 Chuck
The Gracies vs Sakuraba
Anderson vs Lord Shael
Result
Anderson is the GOAT and Chael has never lost
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GSP vs BJ Penn
Result
GSP 2-0
Frank Mir vs Brock Lesnar and his strawberries
Result
1-1
In team sports we get the benefit of growing up with tribal allegiances, and we're stuck with them for life
The characters don't matter as much as the idea
In one on one sports we get to choose sides
In MMA some great rivalries have driven the sport to new heights and made us care about fighters, fights and performances that would have just faded into the background
What's the best rivalry of all time
Feel free to include more and I'll add them to the poll if they're significant enough
so far I have my ten that immediately come to mind
Dominick Cruz vs Team Alpha Male
4-2 Cruz
This could easily just be Cruz vs Faber, but I feel as though that undersells the story
His wins over Benavidez are what solidified Cruz in many peoples eyes as a P4P great
His wins over Faber might have been the meat and potatoes
but the loss to Cody was the end of a bitter saga that lasted nine years and gave us the all time great line "You haven't simulated anyones death yet"
His wins over Benavidez are what solidified Cruz in many peoples eyes as a P4P great
His wins over Faber might have been the meat and potatoes
but the loss to Cody was the end of a bitter saga that lasted nine years and gave us the all time great line "You haven't simulated anyones death yet"
Rampage vs Wanderlei Silva
Result
2-1 Wandy
Three of the most brutal fights in MMA history with three of the most brutal histories, this is my personal favorite and the rivalry that started my love for the sport
Oh you mean there's a guy who unironically calls himself The Axe Murderer and prides himself on stomping peoples heads into the ground against a giant black dude who wears a literal chain, howls for some odd reason, calls himself Rampage and powerbombs people for shits and grins?
Sign young me up
The rivalry ended with Rampage at the height of his powers putting Wanderlei in the dirt and ending his chances at being competitive as a UFC fighter. But while Rampage owns Wandy's chin, Wandy lives balls deep in Rampage's head to this day
or so the legend goes
Oh you mean there's a guy who unironically calls himself The Axe Murderer and prides himself on stomping peoples heads into the ground against a giant black dude who wears a literal chain, howls for some odd reason, calls himself Rampage and powerbombs people for shits and grins?
Sign young me up
The rivalry ended with Rampage at the height of his powers putting Wanderlei in the dirt and ending his chances at being competitive as a UFC fighter. But while Rampage owns Wandy's chin, Wandy lives balls deep in Rampage's head to this day
or so the legend goes
Jon Jones vs Daniel Cormier
1-0-1 (really 2-0 Jon)
Jon Jones and DC might be the two best fighters to ever compete and it's pretty well accepted that they're at least the two best Light heavyweights to ever lace them up. Their rivalry may not have been truly competitive in the cage, but they brought the best and the worst out of each other. Daniel Cormier and his righteous attitude some how changed our perception of Jones from a fake do-gooder to a violent don't give a fuck sociopath type bald guy over the course of their back and forth. DC helped Jones embrace who he is relative to this sport, and turned lots of MMA fans in Jon Jones fans. And then Jon Jones popped, and the pendulum swung the other way, and fans were able to embrace DC for what he was a truly great fighter who just couldn't get over the hump.
Their second fight is the best performance I've seen out of either man, DC showed off everything he does better than everyone else - and Jones showed off that he's still the baddest dude to ever lace em up. No matter which side you fall on in this rivalry, it was fun as hell to watch them roast each other and then go to war in the cage two times.
Never forget
"Hey pussy are you still there"
Their second fight is the best performance I've seen out of either man, DC showed off everything he does better than everyone else - and Jones showed off that he's still the baddest dude to ever lace em up. No matter which side you fall on in this rivalry, it was fun as hell to watch them roast each other and then go to war in the cage two times.
Never forget
"Hey pussy are you still there"
1-1
Who would have thought that the biggest fight in our sports history would involve a Diaz brother not named Nick? Some how this clash of personalities and styles made a guy who many people had given up on as being a champion level fighter into a megastar who will be relevant in the lightweight division as long as Conor McGregor is.
Tito Ortiz vs Ken Shamrock
3-0 Tito
Another rivalry that in the cage wasn't that great, but holy shit was it fun to watch outside of the cage
The original PPV king built his mystique off of kicking Kenny's ass and making dope ass tee shirts.
Their first meeting was actually an entertaining scrap and signified something of a changing of the guard in early MMA
The original PPV king built his mystique off of kicking Kenny's ass and making dope ass tee shirts.
Their first meeting was actually an entertaining scrap and signified something of a changing of the guard in early MMA
Tito's head vs Chuck's fists
2-0 Chuck
Another highly entertaining old school rivalry
It had everything
ducking
finishes
An eyepoke Jon Jones would be proud of
trash talk
we laughed, we cried it was glorious at a time when the only MMA fighters that anyone knew besides people on the UG were Chuck, Tito and Randy
It had everything
ducking
finishes
An eyepoke Jon Jones would be proud of
trash talk
we laughed, we cried it was glorious at a time when the only MMA fighters that anyone knew besides people on the UG were Chuck, Tito and Randy
The Gracies vs Sakuraba
The Gracie Hunter is one of the best nicknames in the sport, and this is one of the sports most fun and memorable rivalries
In hindsight many of these fights are not that exciting, but Sakuraba's got some cool ass submissions and this rivalry is one of the big reasons that JMMA grew to be so large at it's peak
Also Sakuraba is cool as fuck and if you hate him like @Rex Kwon Do does you're probably a sociopath
In hindsight many of these fights are not that exciting, but Sakuraba's got some cool ass submissions and this rivalry is one of the big reasons that JMMA grew to be so large at it's peak
Also Sakuraba is cool as fuck and if you hate him like @Rex Kwon Do does you're probably a sociopath
Anderson vs Lord Shael
Result
Anderson is the GOAT and Chael has never lost
For you new fans that don't know shit, let me tell you something
Anderson Silva was fucking invincible in his prime when it came to middleweights
Seriously
love or hate him, the biggest critique that anyone could levy against Silva in his prime was that the division he lorded over was weak
But within that division he was untouchable. To this day Silva has done things in a way that no MMA fighter has come closed to matching just in terms of raw spectacle and there was a time that people thought he'd never lose
Then along came Chael. Before Conor McGregor put trash talk to new heights, Shael was out here weaving stories about busses, carrots, home invasions, and BBQs and shit talking the whole of brazil. What Colby Covington is doing now is nothing but a cheap and boring imitation
And to make matters worse, in the cage their first fight was a masterpiece. Remove the trash talk and you got the story of the underachieving Sonnen, a career journeyman, going up against the greatest who ever did it and then proceed to BEAT HIS ASS for 23 minutes. On the ground, on the feet, it didn't matter. And then Silva did was Silva does, and pulled it out. Still on of the most memorable fights to ever happen, and eve without a rematch this would be one of the best rivalries to ever grace the sport. Their first fight was probably the climax of an era when the sport was at an all time high in terms of sheer fun
Anderson Silva was fucking invincible in his prime when it came to middleweights
Seriously
love or hate him, the biggest critique that anyone could levy against Silva in his prime was that the division he lorded over was weak
But within that division he was untouchable. To this day Silva has done things in a way that no MMA fighter has come closed to matching just in terms of raw spectacle and there was a time that people thought he'd never lose
Then along came Chael. Before Conor McGregor put trash talk to new heights, Shael was out here weaving stories about busses, carrots, home invasions, and BBQs and shit talking the whole of brazil. What Colby Covington is doing now is nothing but a cheap and boring imitation
And to make matters worse, in the cage their first fight was a masterpiece. Remove the trash talk and you got the story of the underachieving Sonnen, a career journeyman, going up against the greatest who ever did it and then proceed to BEAT HIS ASS for 23 minutes. On the ground, on the feet, it didn't matter. And then Silva did was Silva does, and pulled it out. Still on of the most memorable fights to ever happen, and eve without a rematch this would be one of the best rivalries to ever grace the sport. Their first fight was probably the climax of an era when the sport was at an all time high in terms of sheer fun
GSP vs BJ Penn
Result
GSP 2-0
watch UFC Primetime
To the death Georges
nuff said
To the death Georges
nuff said
Frank Mir vs Brock Lesnar and his strawberries
Result
1-1
