If this thread has been done I’ve missed it. Kind of a broad question referring to all Pride fighters who had their best years during their Pride runs. Does 25-30 year old Fedor beat Jones? Is 24 yr old Shogun or a young Wanderlei the LHW champ? Any others that would be potential champs in todays UFC? It’s a shame todays HW division is so shallow, wouldn’t mind seeing Jones vs prime Big Nog too
3 Likes
HW and LHW are a shadow of what they were during the Pride era.
Honestly, with the exception of LW, I’d say all divisions are weaker now than they were, and even LW is less well-rounded than it was.
9 Likes
Yeah id agree. The issue is the people watching now who didn’t experience the old era but think they know because they can look something up on paper.
Id love to see young Fedor vs JBJ and I would say Pride Rampage, Shogun, Wandi, And prolly even Hendo could be LHW champs.,
Hughes (UFC, I know) could be WW Champ.
6 Likes
I think Prime CroCop would have rape raped Francis or Stipe
6 Likes
Modern drug testing would fuck all the pride guys hard. Other than PEDs, skill levels have increased DRASTICALLY in 20 years and there aren’t as many mismatches at the highest levels.
Basically everything that made pride such a great show for the fans is gone today.
7 Likes
I think the major changes in MMA over the last 20 years have been in the Lighter Weight Divisions and Women’s. But when it comes to Heavyweights or Light Heavyweights I think it has become very evident in recent years that we are not watching the Best Fighters we have ever seen save for an exception like Jon Jones.
Look at the current #1 HW Contender in the 2023 UFC Division, his ONLY loss is to a Pride fighter…. Pride was done in 2007 over 15 years so no matter what the context that is something that should not have happened if the changes were THAT drastic.
Or look at last year’s LHW Champ Glover Teixiera who was from that era and the success he was able to find near his mid 40’s after we have been watching him over 2 Decades. These are guys from not only 1 generation back but multiple generations in the fight game and they hang just fine when the body holds up.
Guys like Volk are the example of the evolution at its best where we are watching the best. But this crop of HWs and LHWs? No they are not the Best we have seen.
3 Likes
I have to disagree with your drastic skill increase statement. There’s still almost zero striking defense, virtually no head movement, footwork is still poor, offensive BJJ is abysmal, and fewer skilled wrestlers in general. What made Pride great was not just the mismatches, but that they had some of the best fighters of all time under their banner.
1 Like
I am going to use Jon Jones as an example here due to the fact he seems to be the most dominant fighter we have seen that is still in todays crop of fighters.
I believe some HW’s would give him some issues. Especially those with great submissions. I am not sure but Vitor caught Jon in a submission at 205. Vitor isn’t a HW… I would like to think if a prime Nog or someone that is a HW with the same submission skills caught him it might be a L on his record. Jon would still starch/outlast/submit many other HW’s of the time but I feel he would have an issue or two with some.
Fedor is a HW that would be very interesting if they were both in their prime. Fedor was unstoppable in his day… similar to Jones today. It did seem Fedor fought more consistently though.
1 Like
Have you seen how bad LHW is?? It’s atrocious.
Jiri & Alex have some of the worst striking defense ive ever seen and they are at the top.
Someone like prime Shogun would destroy those two.
3 Likes
Sak would clean out 185 and 205
4 Likes
JBJ would beat every single PRIDE FC fighter in their prime. Cage or ring I do not care. LHW or HW I do not care. He’s simply the greatest combat sports athlete of all time and it’s not even close. He’ll out strike your favorite fighter and then take them down when he decides to. Simple as that
LHW today Pride guys would rape them. LHW sucks. Magomed is probably the only guy who’s beating most of the Pride LHW’s
I made a thread a while back saying prime Liddell would be champ today in the ufc and I firmly believe that. Due to matchups and styles though I do like Magomed to beat the Pride guys though
Jones at LHW and Jones at HW is better than everybody. He’s not getting beat by any version of shogun or rampage I’m sorry guys. You can be a fan of a guy but also admit he’s not going to win
Chuck Liddell is my 2nd favorite fighter of all time but would I pick him to beat Jones prime? Course not. I do think he’d put up a great fight though and hurt Jones at least once
None of the HW’s are beating HW JBJ. Fedor would be the only threat but he’s too small and JBJ feasts upon fighting guys smaller than him. This would be no different
Fedor and Nog would do very well at HW. Fedor would be a dominant champion. Nog would hold the title briefly a time or two.
Cro Cop would do ok but probably be at 205. Maybe challenge for the title or have a brief reign.
Wanderlei (probably at 185) would be outside the top 5, probably struggle to be in the top 10.
Shogun (also at 185) would fare better than Wanderlei but I doubt he would hold the title.
Dan Henderson would do great. Spend years in the top 5. Maybe win the title once or twice but not have long reigns.
Hate to say it but Gomi wouldn’t do jack at 155 or 45.
Take Jon Jones out of the equation and the quality of the HW and LHWs in 2023 is absolute garbage by comparison. He is 1 guy not 2 entire Divisions lol.
Look at Tonight’s UFC Card for an example.
The HWs are Josh Parisian and Martin Buday.
The LHWs are Kyle Daukus and Khalil Rountree.
If you don’t think the Pride Legends can hang in those Divisions I don’t think you know what you are watching.
8 Likes
If we’re talking about them fighting in the UFC I think Magomed beats just about every Pride LHW
is a very good striker. He’d have a great chance against the likes of Wanderlei and he’s well out of the top 10.
1 Like
Rountree is a good striker but he is pretty one dimensional. I think if you are getting KO’d by Johnny Walker or submitted by Paul Craig who went to a draw with the broken down washed version of Shogun that it is not crazy to think a prime healthy Shogun could hang as he was multiple levels above that version.
The evolution is drastic from Gomi to Volk at the Lighter Weights like mentioned. No disagreement there.
But I don’t think it is the same at the Higher Weights as evident by the statement… the 17-1 current 2023 UFC HW #1 Contender’s sole loss is a Pride fighter… that shouldn’t even be a sentence if the change was that drastic. It is very telling.
2 Likes
both have good points .I think the older pride fighters had more killer instinct and similiar skill but most on roids
Just like any sport, the newer generation is gonna be better than the older generations.
1 Like