Reading the All-Time HWGP thread, it struck me just how disillusioned people still are by this notion of a "prime Fedor" and how supposedly that version of him was somehow leaps and bounds better than the one we watched get dominated by an also-fairly overrated Bigfoot Silva (Mike Kyle anyone?)
Frankly, it's time for a reality check. Fedor's rampage through the heavyweight division for 9 years was done in a vacuum. Fedor never did 'clean out' his division in his prime like we're seeing from Anderson Silva and GSP (never fought Barnett or Couture), but worse yet his undefeated streak is marred by intermittent crush-fights to prolong it in ways top UFC fighters could only dream. The level of resistance UFC fighters are forced to walk uphill against is far more consistent, which quite honestly makes Anderson's undefeated streak in 5 years even more impressive than Fedor's undefeated streak in 9.
I won't sit here and make outrageous claims Fedor was a paper tiger or was not legit, he rightly was the best fighter in his division for many years and the few difficult fights he did have he did what he needed to do to win. And to Fedor's credit, he never played it safe, he tried to finish every fight as quickly as possible instead of fighting scared like GSP. However, Fedor's last 2 fights have only shined a brighter, clearer light on his talents and is less indicative of a substantial decline than it is an illumination of what he would look like under a more stringent environment of competition.
Too many difficult words
If I was on my pc I would vtfu 
His skills are impressive for a smaller hw but that is pretty much where it ends. He's too small for today's HW division and he has not lost much size since his prime
Just in case not a troll.
Is pretty clear you don't know what are you looking at. Fedor speed, reflexes, power have degraded over the last 3 years. Just like Shaquile Oneil who was dominating the NBA at the same time when Fedor was ruling Pride. Now Shaq is just another guy in the roster not the most feared center in the NBA. Old age, wear and tear does not equals he's been exposed.
Man, this discussion is brought up in every other thread.
Yes, it's very common for a guy that's not all that talented to go on a 9 year unbeaten strike. It happens all the time.
Counter argument: His record is padded and his management protected him bla bla.
Rebuttal to Counter: Name other fighters that have gone through the list of fighters he has without a single loss.
Counter to Rebuttal through Misdirection: Today's UFC HW division is far superior to that vaccuum Fedor was fighting in, therefore today's HW fighters are better than Fedor.
Rebuttal to that Counter: Name other fighters that have gone through the list of fighters he has without a single loss. Different time, different era with different fighters in their prime. Can't even compare.
End discussion.
End discussion.
TS, do you follow a single other sport?
No one has done what Fedor did.
That being said, it's probably an accurate assessment to say his skills havent fallen off that much, but he is fighting a whole new breed of HW that is bigger, stronger, and more technically skilled than those he faced on his Pride run (Nog and CroCop being the exceptions)
Fedor should really be a 205er, especially currently. He was always undersized for a HW , which makes his run even more impressive, despite the fact that he did fight several cans during that same stretch that padded his record.
The same can be said for many fighters of that era.
Example: Matt Hughes, the most dominant Welterweight of all time, during his title run beat...
Frank Trigg twice
BJ Penn a natural lightweight
Sean Sherk a natural lightweight
Renato who has a listed record of 7-5
Joe Riggs with a record of 34-13
Or Tim Sylvia who fought such top competition as Gan McGee, Tra Telligman & Assuerio Silva
@epg No it's not an excuse. War wounds and age wear you down. It's a fact
Fedor's weight hasn't changed much but if you can't see that his body composition has changed quite a bit, you're not looking very hard.
He was never ripped, but he was a pretty big dude up around 238 lbs or so. He had some MAJOR strength (see him tossing 250lb herring like it's nothing) also, and it's quite obvious that he has lost a good amount of that muscle mass along with some strength also.
The sport is evolving and there will be fighters better than Fedor ever was, true. The same can be said about any fighter...
You just can't find another epic run like he did, cans mixed in or not! The HW division is still evolving and there are some amazingly talented guys making their mark these days....
I hope whistleblower visits this thread and completely and utterly humiliates you and your ridiculous revisionist statement.
Quit wasting our time. Fedor was a great fighter but MMA heavyweights of today are just too big. Argument for a 225 weight class? Defo!! Randy would not have won the HW championship with the HW's of today.
There is not one single fighter in this world that would've defeated prime Fedor.
I'm etching this onto the stone that contains the 10 commandments. This is now the 11th commandment.
4thHorsemen - Yes, it's very common for a guy that's not all that talented to go on a 9 year unbeaten strike. It happens all the time.
Counter argument: His record is padded and his management protected him bla bla.
Rebuttal to Counter: Name other fighters that have gone through the list of fighters he has without a single loss.
Counter to Rebuttal through Misdirection: Today's UFC HW division is far superior to that vaccuum Fedor was fighting in, therefore today's HW fighters are better than Fedor.
Rebuttal to that Counter: Name other fighters that have gone through the list of fighters he has without a single loss. Different time, different era with different fighters in their prime. Can't even compare.
End discussion.
End discussion.
Agreed. Sadly this will NEVER count as "end of discussions" for the "what have you done lately" idiots. Pride WAS the top of the line for HWs when he dominated so STFU!!!
10 years of domination is AMAZING. And the way he did, without barely losing a round, beating Nog in the guard where he was most feared, taking it to Crocop standing, etc. was damn impressive.
Wear and tear is fucking real! Have you ever competed at high levels? Losing a mere 5% of your overall skill can be the difference between #1 and #20 in the rankings.
And to me, even more than physical wear and tear, I really think Fedor hasn't had his HEART into fighting for years. Since he remarried, became super religious, and with the simple lifestyle he seems to had, the burning desire to win, improve, train and do the necessary sacrifices have gone out the window.
It might well be that a "prime Fedor" might not be #1 today, but it's like saying Gretzky or Jordan or Montana wouldn't be #1 today. Maybe true, but WE WILL NEVER KNOW. So STFU stating OPINIONS as facts!!!!
If we're being entirely honest, the losses in speed and power are probably due to the fact that he's apparently not using steroids anymore (in addition to ageing).
That's not particularly a knock on Fedor. Any of the top fighters would see a drop in their performance if they stopped using.
The funniest thing about all this "Fedor is way past his prime" talk is that NO ONE was saying it when he was beating Sylvia, Arlovski, and even Rogers.
When some of us would say "he looked slower and confused and somewhat fatigued against Arlovski", they'd say "lol, hater, he would kill anyone in the UFC, he won with one punch in the first round faggot, he's actually better than before because now he has actual KO power."
When some of us said he struggled with Rogers who is C-level, they said "lol, hater, he would kill anyone in the UFC, a guy twice his size managed to push him once or twice but was otherwise totally ragdolled by Fedor and got his head knocked off with one punch, which also proves again that Fedor now has true KO power".
When he lost to Werdum it's "lol, Werdum loses that fight 99 out of 100 times, the worst we can say is that maybe Fedor hasn't been working on his BJJ enough, I'd hate to be Werdum in the rematch, he would kill anyone in the UFC".
Then after getting crushed by Bigfoot suddenly it's "2005 Fedor would have killed him, he's been getting worse for awhile now, you can see it in his last several fights, he's not the same fighter as he was, it's sad but time catches up to everyone".
If you remove all that cans and freakshows from Fedor's career, his real record is like 15-2. Still respectable for a heavyweight, but you have to admit his record definitely got a padding boost.
You're right he is a hack. Anyone could go in as a small hw and beat a prime crocop, big nog, Coleman, ramdleman. Anyone could win multiple gold medals in sambo at the same time as fighting top fighters. Anyone could do it with the respect that he gave to his opponents and the image he portrayed for himself. Fedor back in pride was the best fighter of all time. You're an idiot if you don't think so. I don't think he is the best anymore. I'm not a nuthugger. I just look at his accomplishments, who else has done these things? Couture is up there too, and I wish they could I've fought years ago. But it takes a person who is just learning about mma and didn't know the pride fedor to say that he was a hack and that he wasn't that great. Thy have probably only seen his recent fights and come up with this conclusion. I don't know how anyone could not have him in the top 10 greatest of all time rankings.
Lmao. Mma is still evolving and fedor was champ in the dark ages. End thread