this. I think DC has the striking edge and I'm not sure Randy could overcome the size advantage in the rest of the division given how much better all HW's are these days.
The heavyweights are a lot better these days? It’s mostly the same heavies, only old and near retirement plus Ngannou who has 1 single dimension plus Stipe.
I’m thinking here the heavies of today get smoked by Randy era heavies. I’m not seeing much better at all, let alone “how much better…”
Randy never fought anyone like Stipe and Cain. He was finished by Brock. He might have been competitive against Ubereem and Werdum but I’d give both those guys a really good shot against either Sylvia or Gonzaga. His biggest HW wins IMO were back in 2000-2002.
He beats just about everyone except maybe Stipe, because of hand speed. Randy has some of the best cardio in UFC history. Cormier and Randy would be alot like Couture and Randleman. Randy does not get pushed around and Cormier is a machine, but sometimes fades in the later rounds. Also Jones in the first fight used some his Roman Greco to slow Cormier down. Randy's Roman Greco is just as good. I guess you use the USADA aurgement, but Henderson did pretty good post USADA.
boxy - Team Quest guys would struggle terribly under USADA. They wouldn’t sniff a title shot.
I don’t get this argument. Virtually every fighter was using before USADA, presumably a lot fewer are using now. Either way the playing field was/is equal. Were Team Quest guys somehow better at using PEDs than their contemporaries?
JOB - A prime Randy lost to Barnett and Ricco and had to move down to 205 because he was just too small to fight at heavyweight. He doesn't do well today against modern heavyweights. Even though they haven't progressed as much as other weight classes, they are still a lot better than they were.
Randy doesn’t break the top 10 IMO.
You say this, yet, Fedor in his prime, was more dynamic, faster, and more well rounded than any guy in the division today. Nog, before Fedor gave him CTE, was more dynamic, faster, and more well rounded than anyone but maybe Cain.
The peak HW’s of 12 years ago, beat the peak ones today. I’d bet everything on that. Fedor would massacre Stipe. The only HW over the last 15 years that gives prime Fedor trouble, is Cain, and MAYBE bigfoot, due to size differences and styles.
Randy would do just fine. Cain has always been overrated, Overeem is chinny and has horrible fight IQ, Werdum has worse fight IQ, Stipe is good but looks better than he is because of poor competition, Lewis and Ngannou are big and unskilled, DC is legit competition.
JOB - A prime Randy lost to Barnett and Ricco and had to move down to 205 because he was just too small to fight at heavyweight. He doesn't do well today against modern heavyweights. Even though they haven't progressed as much as other weight classes, they are still a lot better than they were.
Randy doesn’t break the top 10 IMO.
You say this, yet, Fedor in his prime, was more dynamic, faster, and more well rounded than any guy in the division today. Nog, before Fedor gave him CTE, was more dynamic, faster, and more well rounded than anyone but maybe Cain.
The peak HW’s of 12 years ago, beat the peak ones today. I’d bet everything on that. Fedor would massacre Stipe. The only HW over the last 15 years that gives prime Fedor trouble, is Cain, and MAYBE bigfoot, due to size differences and styles.
Agreed. I made the thread last year comparing current era, pride era, and Coleman in UFC era heavies and the current crop with very few exception did not fare very well. I think those who say current heavies have evolved so much are mostly repeating what others say (the game has evolved) and aren’t really looking at things very closely. Today’s heavies for the most part aren’t anything special.
United Yorkie Rescue - Just for a quick point of reference, Mark Hunt is still a relevant top 10 HW. Prime Couture would have done just fine in today's HW division.