Media Who is the Greatest MMA fighter of all-time?

[MrBlackheart]

I don't know for HW, I don't think anyone will surpass Fedor. He was quite unique fighter/specimen.

But don't get back to what you said, yes that's part of the evolution of this sport or any sport for that matter. You can say that it will always be constantly changing, it's never going to be stagnant the athletes you consider the GOATs of their respective sports.

That’s my point. “Of all time” includes past, present, and future. People in the past like in 2009 didn’t know who Jon Jones or Khabib was. Just like people today won’t know what great fighters will come by 2040. There’s always incomplete information. So to claim something “of all time” is ignorant. A more honest and correct terminology is “greatest up to now” but I guess “GUTN” is not cool slang.

 

[Simple Southerner]

 

[JoeRowe]

Greatest = resume & accomplishment. Khabib doesn't even belong in the conversation as he simply didn't put in the same amount of high-level work.

The other 6 are definitely in the top pantheon level & hard to distinguish. I went Jones but I could make a case for the other 5 as well.

 

[BEATDOWNS]

it's fun sometimes to troll and say it's Fedor but he fell off too hard in the end.

 

[don't ask]

On paper, it's Jones by a clear margin. It comes down to how much you hold his PED controversies against him.

After that it's harder.

I'd put GSP and Fedor in the next bracket together. Fedor for going undefeated for so long in a division where one punch ends a fight, and GSP for being the most well-rounded fighter ever (alongside maybe MM) along with his longtime divisional dominance and avenging all of his losses.

Anderson would come next in my book. Not as well rounded as the 3 above him and certainly had some PED controversy like Jones, but probably has the best highlight reel in MMA history and at his peak had IMO the best aura of invincibility. His win streak was incredible also.

Demetrious is next. He's a very hard one to rate, as I could see someone making the argument for him being #1, and him being #6. The knock against him is I feel that his division just wasn't as built up with as skilled of fighters that the others on this last had to face. Maybe that's just lack of name value of those fighters, but that's how I see it.

Khabib is another one that is hard to rate. On paper - he's perfect, and probably the most dominant fighter in MMA history (i.e. barely lost any rounds, never hurt). He just doesn't have the long-standing dominance that the others on this list have. He retired after 3 title defenses - many of the fighters on this list have 6+.

I love Jose Aldo, one of my favorites on this list. I just think there is now too much cloudiness around who is actually the best FW of all time (with Max and Volk now also having great runs) so it's hard to have him above anyone else here.

You're overlooking the eye pokes, the cherry picking of fights, the rules the UFC has bent or broken for Jones and the mysterious lay-off that ended when Francis left. Jones has single-handedly turned the HW division into a joke.

It's a lot more than the PEDs that prevent us from calling him the GOAT.

 

[BFoe]

Damn, I didn’t even notice the old stickied thread was gone.
Fedor is the GOAT.

I think there are really 3 in contention: Fedor, GSP, and Jones. For me, I can’t rank a serial PED cheat like Jones over GSP or Fedor. Now between GSP and Fedor, it’s very tough to choose. I of course go with Fedor, but nothing wrong with picking GSP. If there could be such a thing as “co-GOATs,” it would be those two.


To rank the poll options:

1. Fedor
2. GSP
3. Jones
4. Silva
5. Mighty Mouse
6. Aldo
7. Cruz
8. Khabib

EDITED now that Cruz is added.


@Takes Two To Tango We have 8 men’s divisions, sir
I don’t think anyone would really believe Dominick Cruz is the overall GOAT or anything, but it seems weird to list the GOAT of each division but skip BW.

 

[Dana's Moonface]

These are biased lists, with everyone naming their favourite fighter

It's obvious that Jon Jones is the Goat and I think by a considerable margin too

 

[BFoe]

it's fun sometimes to troll and say it's Fedor but he fell off too hard in the end.

It happens when anyone fights too long, but shouldn’t he mainly be judged in what he accomplished? He was a shadow of himself at the end, but still earned a TS twice in the #2 MMA promotion in the world. It’s not like he sucked or anything.

 

[BFoe]

We already had this thread with thousands of votes.

It's been decided GOAT St Pierre is the winner

That’s a very valid pick, but didn’t that thread get started right after he beat Bisping? I was always interested to see how people would rank the GOATs once we had little more distance from them. Sherdog gets bad recency bias.

 

[Dana's Moonface]

It happens when anyone fights too long, but shouldn’t he mainly be judged in what he accomplished? He was a shadow of himself at the end, but still earned a TS twice in the #2 MMA promotion in the world. It’s not like he sucked pr anything.

He was only 33 and had roughly 30 fights before he hit a skid. It has nothing to do with age, or miles on the clock

It's well known that fighters in heavier weight classes should have better longevity

 

[BFoe]

He was only 33 and had roughly 30 fights before he hit a skid. It has nothing to do with age, or miles on the clock

It's well known that fighters in heavier weight classes should have better longevity

It has a whole lot to do with miles on the clock. Stipe for example has been pro for 11 years, and has 24 fights. Fedor did that in just under 5 years.

Fedor had a string of injuries: knees, hands, back injuries….he was pretty open about the fact that he was retiring in 2012 due to injuries piling on. His chin going was largely due to returning too fast after the Bigfoot fight, I think, although obviously wear and tear over the years contributes too.

 

[Sweater of AV]

 

[ferrisjso]

Fedor is only winning cause its Pride month.

 

[gspieler]

Fedor...

10 years undefeated at HW
Resume includes Nog 2x, Cro Cop, Arlovski, Sylvia, Hunt, Herring, Coleman 2x, Schilt, Randleman, Arona, etc
Many HL reel finishes
Good/great everywhere
Never ran from his opponents strengths or used dirty tactics
Stoic personality gave him aura of invincibility
Good ambassador for the sport
Told Dana to f off, when Dana tried to steamroll him into one UFC's one-sided contracts

 

[orca]

fedor would always win in a poll hes a fan favorite
but if u talk who had the best resume all time
the hardest resume
who fought the most stacked division its jones

jones survived in a pre USADA era and drug testing era
meanwhile fedor started losing in a drug testing org

coincidence?

 

[forsh]

Peak Fedor beats everyone.

 

[BabyBlue_Bomber]

Jones.

 

[orca]

Fedor...

10 years undefeated at HW
Resume includes Nog 2x, Cro Cop, Arlovski, Sylvia, Hunt, Herring, Coleman 2x, Schilt, Randleman, Arona, etc
Many HL reel finishes
Good/great everywhere
Never ran from his opponents strengths or used dirty tactics
Stoic personality gave him aura of invincibility
Good ambassador for the sport
Told Dana to f off, when Dana tried to steamroll him into one UFC's one-sided contracts

lol being a good guy persona doesnt mean your already the goat
we should be talking about how hard the competition
the fighters they fought

the only good names in his record is nog and cro cop
the rest is like this lmfao
i know bro no one can beat jones resume
not in this lifetime it sucks right?

 

[orca]

You're overlooking the eye pokes, the cherry picking of fights, the rules the UFC has bent or broken for Jones and the mysterious lay-off that ended when Francis left. Jones has single-handedly turned the HW division into a joke.

It's a lot more than the PEDs that prevent us from calling him the GOAT.

fedor started losing in a drug testing org ( sounds fishy to me,but yeah hes clean yea bro)
meanwhile jones is succesful in pre usada
and USADA era

and can u tell me wich fights did he poke his opponents
where they havent given time to recover resulting him winning?

il wait

 

[10000yearsold]

Khabib for me very clearly. No issues, no losses, not even really any adversity. Cleaned out his division and shut it down. Still to this day, after years of retirement, the same contenders he shut down, issueless, rule over the class.