Billyz - you have to take into account much more than the ridiculous technique involved in a move no one has ever seen before. This wasn't some Capoeira guy fighting a no name on a card in the back alleys of brazil. 1-The level of competition involved in the person who ate the kick to the face. Bendo is elite and was a champion for a reason not some guy on bully beatdown who you can showcase things on. 2-The marquee of the fight and its implications, this was as someone already named the last round, of the last title fight of the last card of an amazing org of an even fight to that point. People dream of rising to the occasion on the third out bases loaded game seven of the series type situations. Now picture it being the last series ever to be played in a particular storied stadium and you have an equal moment This move was the grandslam to close out the WEC. 3. the implications - this move won the title for a challenger and a shot to fight for the title in the UFC in his next fight what other move in history has done that?
4. Opportunity, the stars truly lined up for this to occur (last show last round title fight etc) but that only adds to the magic of it all.
I challenge anyone to find a single move in MMA that was this important to not just a fighter but the organization AND spectacular at the exact same time.
Like I said in the original post, the circumstances around it certainly make it more magical.
But in terms of just comparing move vs. move, i think it's #2.
crazy submissions are great and all but they have a way of showing up quite often but ive never seen another pettis kick i mean the things named after him for a reason
Neck Cranks I have to respectfully disagree, the move was landed on a higher degree of opponent than Sato's beautiful arm bar.
I personally have to put circumstances into the mix into the relevance of the strike. As was stated the armbar was 6 seconds into the fight. A flash sub card can be waived on that one and we have seen it before. Had it been Maia doing it on Anderson Silva in Dubai then it would be ranked higher. This moment in time was after 25 minutes of back and forth fighting by num 1 and num 2 in the league/division.
Ryo's move is stuff of legend but Anderson was not the greatest fighter at the time although highly regarded.
Fedors recovery over the slam was epic and only helped cement his legend.
Once again though it was the lining of aspects out of the fighters control that made this so amazing THING in MMA. Similar to Griffin and Bonnar being of importance not because of substance (and horrible technique) alone but implications as well, this kick had it all plus just stupid technique and timing
