Which was the last year Tito was considered “elite”.

[Smooth Princess]

Depending on how much credit you give his non winning performances it's somewhere between 2006 and 2008. You can argue that going to a draw against Rashad Evans after a point deduction and having some decent moments against Machida in a decision loss keep him at an elite-ish status. Personally I'd say his second loss to Chuck put a stamp on him no longer being "elite" so I lean towards 2006.

 

[TGArthur]

Right before being KO'd by Chuck

 

[Shaun K]

Just to let you guys know it was a lllloooooooooonnnngg time before the rashad fight. I cant remember the exact dates but when i heard news of that fight i was like wtf. iirc it fell off the mountain immediately after chuck destroyed him the first time. I considered tito done a couple years before tuf. Dont get me wrong i love tito, had a huge impact on the sport, but was never the same after he lost to chuck. Chuck shattered his psyche

 

[cws80us]

I have never considered Tito an elite fighter.
In fact, I currently do not even consider him a fighter at all, relative to the talent level of today's crop.
He always seemed to crumple under distress, he is terribly limited in his skill set, and I considered him sloppy at anything other than ground-and-pound.

In my opinion, he is the beginning and the end of the chapter titled, "Lay-n-Pray" in the book of martial arts.

Then you're apparently no student of the sport and suffer from severe recency bias. Tito was one of the best during his era. He was UFC champion and a pioneer of the sport. You cannot discount that just because he can't compete with modern fighters. The fighters are always evolving and getting better. Some day we'll look back at today's fighters and think the same about them.

 

[bartleby929]

this year when he became an elected official lol

 

[ineverpost]

He beat the GOAT Chael so he is in his prime right now

 

[BROWNPRIDE]

2000 he’s a bum.

 

[bartleby929]

Then you're apparently no student of the sport and suffer from severe recency bias. Tito was one of the best during his era. He was UFC champion and a pioneer of the sport. You cannot discount that just because he can't compete with modern fighters. The fighters are always evolving and getting better. Some day we'll look back at today's fighters and think the same about them.

Agree 100% - if Tito isn't mentioned in your top 10 LHW pioneers/goats, you haven't watched the sport long enough. The only reason why he isn't as huge of a star as he should be is cause Iceman was the better version of Tito in every way.

 

[BrickHitBack]

2002

 

[cheesus]

Probably 2018 when he KO'd Chuck. That version of Chuck would beat every other 205er, his movement and speed was phenomenal and he had an iron chin. And Tito made quick work of him. Absolutely elite.

Tito was a beast back then, he was training 5 times a week, 6 times a week for 3 times a week ! And on one of those days he was training 2 days a week ! It was a bitter sweet victory, with that violin, cheese and wine. Chuck was trying to make his grapes.

 

[lilianjie]

For me, it was when he beat a prime wand.

 

[SaigeVanZant]

Still number 5 in the top 3

 

[Benoitthegr8]

Touché, I’ll always remember Tito as a good fighter and often the greatest light heavyweight of the night...lol, he did actually really bring the weight cut to a new level, being one of the first guys to utilize his size advantage to its fullest potential. That being said he would get into trouble if he couldn’t get the fight to the ground against guys who had decent TDD and stand up. Unfortunately was never able to level out his rudimentary striking enough to compete with the elite fighters of the day, beating Wandy and Belfort were nice feathers in his cap, but realistically they were Middleweights as was Frank Shamrock.

Except for the obvious fact that Tito did his thing and grinded a boring win over Wand. I've always been a Pride > UFC guy but it is what it is

 

[spannered]

We aren't counting his wins over Shlemenko and Sonnen?

Sonnen, no. He was washed up by then. Schlemnko was a good win, but he had no business fighting at LHW, and was basically sheltered from the real top 10 at MW in Bellator at the time.

Tito's win over Bonnar was probably more impressive, which was just before from memory.

But in hindsight, he was done after the Rashad fight, which I think he won. And that was a huge name at the time. He just got walked through after, if we exclude the Bader win.

 

[clutchCAT420]

Still is. Elite councilman

 

[EndlessCritic]

Schlemnko was a good win, but he had no business fighting at LHW, and was basically sheltered from the real top 10 at MW in Bellator at the time.

Are we living in the same reality?

Shlemenko won the Season 5 MW tournament. He then won title fights against Falcao, Doug Marshall, and Brennan Ward.

Maiquel Falcao won the Bellator Season 6 MW tournament and thus became the #1 contender.
Doug Marshall won the Bellator Season 8 MW tournament and thus became the #1 contender.
Brennan Ward won the Bellator Season 9 MW tournament and thus became the #1 contender

There was a pool of about 25 guys across those four tournaments, and Shlemenko emerged on top. Who the heck else was Shlemenko supposed to fight other than the tournament winners?

 

[HHJ]

After the Machida fight,he not only had a long string of losses,but his performance overall was declining rapidly

 

[Blayt7hh]

That win over Ryan Bader was a huge upset and was a potential sign that Tito was coming back as an elite fighter in LHW, but then Rashad stopped that dead in its tracks, unfortunately.

Otherwise, his prime most likely was around 2004-2007, with 2007 being the year that he drew (arguably won) against an upcoming Rashad Evans (who was seen as a great prospect at the time). Losing to Chuck Liddell twice and Randy Couture hampers his career a bit though.

But then, what about the early 2000s (up to 2003) where he was the LHW champion and was defending his LHW championship?

I think you would consider his title reign as his prime

 

[Mike]

Imagine thinking beating a prime Shlemenko isn't a good win.

Imagine thinking beating a fringe ranked mw as a lhw is impressive

 

[is a]

I think you would consider his title reign as his prime

Most likely yea, but there were some moments after his prime such as the Ryan Bader win that surprised a lot of ppl, where there were talks about Tito still being in the game.