Who Was The Greatest MMA Fighter Of The 90's ?

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Igor Vov had a run like no other, especially when you consider that he would fight 2 - 3 opponents a night and often fight his 2nd or 3rd opponent after breaking his hands on the first one.

Obviously the level of competition was subpar, but that was MMA back then.

I think he's won more MMA tournaments than any other fighter and taught Fedor how to strike before Fedor fought Cro Cop, dude was a badass who was ahead of his time.

 

[sonhow]

Igor Vov had a run like no other, especially when you consider that he would fight 2 - 3 opponents a night and often fight his 2nd or 3rd opponent after breaking his hands on the first one.

Obviously the level of competition was subpar, but that was MMA back then.

Yes level of competition is impossible to compare. Marco Ruas was one of the kings but managed to get beaten by Alexander Otsuka who many would consider "a can " these days.

 

[King.]

If you're willing to consider Pancrase as MMA with its strange rule set, then it kinda' has to be Bas.

Otherwise, I'd say Frank Shamrock.

Hmm. If including Pancrase and choosing Bas, then you can make a better case for Ken Shamrock. Dominated Bas twice, beat Funaki, Maurice Smith, Dan Severn, Taktarov (if there would have been judges) to name a few...

Also, the nineties I think have to be split up. Late nineties were vastly different from say 1993-1996.

 

[MMAlover123]

I think he was more on the decline after 2000.

True, i'd say Saku was at his peak when he was the first to defeat Royce ( the fight taken place in the year 2000) ... the guy that was a family member of the Gracies as untouchable at the time in 2000. ... i agree around the late 90's Saku was in his prime , you're right.

 

[Drake]

Sebastian Rutten.

 

[ShingenTakezo]

Agreed, but the same could be said about the 2000s. 2009 Jones sleeps 2003 Liddell.

Be real, he decisions '03 Liddel! He doesn't sleep him, either by sub or KO!

Liddell's chin was phenomenal in the day and his TDD was legit too, I understand what Bones done with Cormier when you all of 5'9 and have a foot of a reach disadvantage it's gonna be hard to take a guy down, Chuck is much 'rangier' than DC!

Bottom line Bones still wins but if there was a sleep moment then I'd go with The Iceman landing a hail mary!

 

[Andre Xiong]

Sakuraba or Frank Shamrock.

Royce Gracie is another name that will obviously come up. I feel like Royce fought the most "Tuff Man" type opponents out of the 3. Sakuraba fought fair amount of Brazilians (many of whom were BJJ blackbelts), Frank Shamrock fought well known Pancrase fighters (Funaki, Kondo, Bas, Horn, Vernon White, TK, and eventually Ortiz.

Royce lives mainly off his tournament wins over guys like 1-glove Jimmerson and DeLucia, his best opponent being Ken Shamrock.

 

[strawberry]

Do you think Bas would have beaten Igor? I'm just kind of curious as to why you are picking Bas over him. I think he's up there for this discussion but it's really hard to pick anyone over Igor for this.

Igor was one of my very favorites at the time and I have no problem with anyone listing him as their #1 guy from the 90's. What he did from 97-99 was particularly impressive.

Personally- yes. I think Bas would have beaten him. And, looking back, it's criminal that we never got that fight.

But, hey- I thought DC would manhandle Jon Jones. The first event I watched was UFC 4 in 1994. Twenty years, hundreds of events and thousands of fights later, and I still don't know jack shit beyond some history and trivia...

 

[Yo Pazienza]

The guy went 38/10/1 from 93 to 99.
With wins over Takahashi, Bas, Ken and Frank Shamrock, Suzuki, DeLucia, Guy Mezger (2), yuki kondo(2), Semmy Schilt (2)
All of them were true toughs at the time.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Igor was one of my very favorites at the time and I have no problem with anyone listing him as their #1 guy from the 90's. What he did from 97-99 was particularly impressive.

Personally- yes. I think Bas would have beaten him. And, looking back, it's criminal that we never got that fight.

But, hey- I thought DC would manhandle Jon Jones. The first event I watched was UFC 4 in 1994. Twenty years, hundreds of events and thousands of fights later, and I still don't know jack shit beyond some history and trivia...

I started watching in the 90s too, a VHS of Shamrock vs Severn 1 was the first event I saw.

I respect your point of view but I think Igor would have taken him, it is a shame it never happened though.

 

[MilesAbove]

90s - Vovchanchyn and Kiyoshi Tamura.

 

[strawberry]

Hmm. If including Pancrase and choosing Bas, then you can make a better case for Ken Shamrock. Dominated Bas twice, beat Funaki, Maurice Smith, Dan Severn, Taktarov (if there would have been judges) to name a few...

Also, the nineties I think have to be split up. Late nineties were vastly different from say 1993-1996.

I agree about splitting the decade up. The whole sport changed around '96/'97.

As for Ken vs. Bas: Ken's wins over Bas came when Bas was still very green. I think by '97 or so Bas would have taken Ken, especially in NHB/MMA rules with closed fists. But, of course, Ken deserves to be in this debate as much as anybody.

 

[titomoreno]

frank shamrock

 

[SavageAngel]

90`s biggest star and purse was Rickson Gracie. In terms of talent and domination probably Igor V.

00`s Absolute Fedor!!!!!!

10`s In terms of media hype and stardom Jones, but in reality it`s Aldo.

You can also get the transitions, like Anderson was P4P between 06-12. Or Saku 98-01.

 

[Hanz_Blitz]

Saku or Igor

 

[Darth Arlovski]

Don Frye

 

[Char Jawz]

Bas, Ken, Royce or Rickson - Hard to argue against any of these guys.

 

[TheScorpionDude]

Igor Vovchanchyn. After him Sakuraba was the shit. After that its Big Nog. Somewhere in between it's Wanderlei. After that its Fedor for the longest and most dominant GOAT run.

Till a while back it's probably GSP and after GSP will probably be someone NOT on PED's.

 

[Joe_Armstrong]

Frank Shamrock

 

[kazama]

Late 90s

Randy Couture
Chuck Liddell