Which fighter has earned the most respect in defeat?

Fabio. Before, I thought he was entertaining, but he was still meh. Now, next time he fights, and all other future fights. I'll root for him.
 
Possibly Lesnar vs. Mir I? There seemed to be a realization after how he man-handled Mir in that fight that he legitimately belonged in the upper echelon of the UFC Heavyweight division.
 
Someone who doesn't make bullshit excuses. So much for Tito or anyone who's Brazilian.
 
Igor against Mark Coleman in the Pride 2000 Grand Prix. Not just surviving so long when he was losing was so impressive, but the fact he went through tough opponents that whole night. Actually, anyone who fights in multiple fights in a tournament deserves heads up.
Zachery824 said:
Urijah Faber in his second loss to Mike Brown. Urijah broke both his hands early in the fight and still went all 5 rounds. Same with the Barao fight but with a broken rib instead of his hands.
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Yeah, any fighter who breaks a bone, especially somewhere in or around the arm, shoulder, or leg deserves to mentioned as "ballsy."
Zachery824 said:
Fabio Maldonado in the Glover fight.
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Yes. That dude showed a lot of heart.

Also, that mention of Condit was well-deserved. After either the 2nd or 3rd round (I believe) he was signalling to the crowd to get loud, after losing possibly a record amount of blood in a UFC fight, getting pummeled, and despite fighting the hometown crowd's favorite fighter. That was total ballsy, and definitely earned Condit a lot of fans, particularly in Canada.

Lastly, Chael Sonnen got a lot of well-deserved props after his 1st loss against Anderson Silva in that war. There's no denying he had something special to make it that deep with the greatest champion of all-time.
 
if you cant think back more than 1 year dont post. We all read so many fucking threads about Fabio and Vera, why more?

Im way too high right now but to me, Bigfoot when he lost to Werdum. I only saw 1 fight of Bigfoot's until then, it was him getting the split against Rizzo. Before that he had knocked out fucking Cabbage Coreira haha.
 
Also, as much as I dislike him, Roy Nelson going the full 3 rounds against Junior Dos Santos was pretty amazing. JDS threw everything he had at him, and Roy Nelson wouldn't get KO'd.
blocnoir said:
Kongo with Velasquez. Never threw the towel.
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Wow, that was a great example. I can't believe it's only been mentioned once.

Also, even though Sean Sherk was bleeding like crazy (how he won was beyond me), I think Kenny Florian in that epic lightweight title fight showed a lot of heart. He was getting throw around by Sean Sherk and controlled, but he kept pushing and pushing and pushing and pushing. You can't help but admire both guys after that epic war.
 
Diaz after the condit loss. He took it like a man.

Penn after the 2nd GSP match. Even brought his mom to tell everyone how great GSP was.
 
Sam Stout losing to Jermey Stephens

Stout became one my favorites after that fight
 
Fruits said:
Also, as much as I dislike him, Roy Nelson going the full 3 rounds against Junior Dos Santos was pretty amazing. JDS threw everything he had at him, and Roy Nelson wouldn't get KO'd.

Wow, that was a great example. I can't believe it's only been mentioned once.

Also, even though Sean Sherk was bleeding like crazy (how he won was beyond me), I think Kenny Florian in that epic lightweight title fight showed a lot of heart. He was getting throw around by Sean Sherk and controlled, but he kept pushing and pushing and pushing and pushing. You can't help but admire both guys after that epic war.
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I don't want to generalize, but admiration (or even respect) for Kongo seems pretty rare on this board, or at least that's what I saw in the threads that I created about him. Which is pretty sad considering the great fighter that he is, IMO.
 
^^^ Kongo gets some love. I'm not particularly a "big fan" of his (I'm really a fan of everyone who's willing to fight to some extent), but I thought he gave a valiant effort that is worthy of being praised. Whether a guy is a total dick or the greatest dude in the world, if they give us an epic fight or show a ton of heart, even in a loss, we should be thankful for it.

I'd like to throw in BJ Penn after his 2nd loss to GSP in that super fight. That was epic how he "went for two golds." Even though he got destroyed, the fact he did what no other UFC champion up to this point has had the balls to do (face another champion at their weight class-specifically, moving up!) is worth being praised.

Also Rampage in his loss to Forrest (which is debatable; I don't really have an opinion on the decision), and after both his losses to Wanderlei Silva, especially the 2nd one.
dragnwar3r said:
Bonnar in the first Forrest fight
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I'd also like to throw in Bonnar after the Jones fight. The fact he made it to a decision was incredible.
 
Zachery824 said:
Urijah Faber in his second loss to Mike Brown. Urijah broke both his hands early in the fight and still went all 5 rounds. Same with the Barao fight but with a broken rib instead of his hands.
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this. was never a fan of faber, but his will is iron clad and you can't help but respect a guy who will never even think about giving up.

plus fabio.

bisping has never done anything in the octagon that gave me a remote feeling of respect, aside from actually stepping in and competing at that level of mma and not getting mauled to death.
 
Shogun/Machida I - Shogun beat that ass & was robbed

Fedor/Bigfoot - Bigfoot's GnP would have killed any other fighter, Fedor could have continued.

Everyone involved in Shogun/Hendo, was no losers in that fight.
 
Shogun vs. Machida 1 because he won in many people's opinions and showed he was still capable of being champion

Edgar vs. Henderson 2 because a lot of people were complaining leading up to the rematch that Frankie didn't deserve it - he goes and arguably wins the rematch and loses a very close decision and people kind of changed their tune - that and the drop to 145 got back a lot of the goodwill that was lost when he whined his way into the rematch

Most of Chris Lytle's losses, he still put on a great fight and left the fans wanting more
 
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