He has secured his position as an all-time great and a hall of famer, but he lacks the reign and the dominance to be on the GOAT short list.
I’ll add that while Cejudo has won and defended in two weight he has not done what Daniel Cormier did and cleared out a division.
There are still so many BWs for Cejudo to beat. He is not yet a top-2 all-time BW. TJ and Cruz are both ahead of him.
Great points. He is a bit like Connor where he took the stream lined path to “greatness” via the big profile accomplishments but still has not had the reign of consistency. If he is now a BW, he is not even yet the GOAT BW. His first title win was also very debatable and has not “avenged” it or put the doubt to rest like DJ did with Benavidez for example.
Yes.
Cejudo is comparable to Conor. Similar list of spectacular wins. Much, much less protected (he has beat every type of fighter) and without the losses exposing large flaws. But, his wins list isn’t as deep.
Soul Gravy - 1) GSP (defeated 3 generations of fighters)
Jones (says GSP and Jones are nearly interchangeable)
DJ
Fedor
Aldo (stronger competition than Anderson’s, almost as long of title defense streak as Anderson’s)
Anderson (more losses in dominant fashion)
GSP and Fedor are interchangeable at number 1 spot.
Jones does not belong on the list. Lots of questionable competition.
DJ did not have depth of competition in his division, but he should be recognized for being one of the most complete and well-rounded fighters to ever exist.
Anderson doesn’t belong on the list. He had some awful appearances even in fights he won. His “domination” was mostly smoke and mirrors.
Aldo was a great champ and is a great fighter, but I just never think of him as legendary in the same way I do Fedor and GSP.
Also, any GOAT list without Saku on it is suspect at best.
Jones has questionable competition and Fedor doesn’t?
Anderson doesn’t belong at all in the convo?
Aldo is not up there with the rest because he is not as “legendary”? That is kind of an admission of subjective criteria is it not? I think that is why you are ranking Saku so high. There is a difference between a legend and a GOAT.
I noted that I put Saku myself in the Randy and Hendo category. They don’t have the sustained reigns of dominance but have long lists of great wins still. Hard to judge Saku against the usual candidates because of how Pride matched him up.
It may be subjective, but it’s is still accurate.
I didn’t say Aldo wasn’t up there, I said I had a hard time thinking about him in the same terms as Fedor and GSP.
Fedor fought better competition than Jones.
Anderson belongs nowhere near the conversation. They put him against guys who couldn’t strike to give him highlight reel finishes and of course everyone ate it up.
Loses count for points, too. Penn’s loss to Machida or Saku’s loss to Igor count for more than a lot of Anderson’s wins.
Wasa-B - I think perhaps the main take away is that Aldo deserves to be in the convo amongst the standard candidates.
I think people seem to acknowledge DJ is one of the GOATs but isn’t put up at the top of the list. With him being in One, I guess he is focusing more on $ than “legacy” since he already has a GOAT worthy legacy imo. I suppose he could come back for a “super fight” to settle the score with Cejudo and that would give him his first bonafide marquee fight now that Cejudo’s star has risen? Cejudo again, seems a bit more Connor-esque in chasing the big profile fights and prob will not want to look back to really settle the DJ situation like Connor never looked back at FW even though he did not defend the FW title once.
Aldo is the most consistently underrated person in GOAT conversations.
Beating Frankie Edgar and Chad Mendes twice is as impressive as it gets.
Soul Gravy - 1) GSP (defeated 3 generations of fighters)
Jones (says GSP and Jones are nearly interchangeable)
DJ
Fedor
Aldo (stronger competition than Anderson’s, almost as long of title defense streak as Anderson’s)
Anderson (more losses in dominant fashion)
GSP and Fedor are interchangeable at number 1 spot.
Jones does not belong on the list. Lots of questionable competition.
DJ did not have depth of competition in his division, but he should be recognized for being one of the most complete and well-rounded fighters to ever exist.
Anderson doesn’t belong on the list. He had some awful appearances even in fights he won. His “domination” was mostly smoke and mirrors.
Aldo was a great champ and is a great fighter, but I just never think of him as legendary in the same way I do Fedor and GSP.
Also, any GOAT list without Saku on it is suspect at best.
Jones has questionable competition and Fedor doesn’t?
Anderson doesn’t belong at all in the convo?
Aldo is not up there with the rest because he is not as “legendary”? That is kind of an admission of subjective criteria is it not? I think that is why you are ranking Saku so high. There is a difference between a legend and a GOAT.
I noted that I put Saku myself in the Randy and Hendo category. They don’t have the sustained reigns of dominance but have long lists of great wins still. Hard to judge Saku against the usual candidates because of how Pride matched him up.
It may be subjective, but it’s is still accurate.
I didn’t say Aldo wasn’t up there, I said I had a hard time thinking about him in the same terms as Fedor and GSP.
Fedor fought better competition than Jones.
Anderson belongs nowhere near the conversation. They put him against guys who couldn’t strike to give him highlight reel finishes and of course everyone ate it up.
Loses count for points, too. Penn’s loss to Machida or Saku’s loss to Igor count for more than a lot of Anderson’s wins.
Its accurate in your subjective mind.
I just don’t see the kind of comprehensive criteria listing and weighing like Wiggum does for example. Like, isn’t Aldo’s level of competition up there if not better than Fedor’s?
You are very critical of both Jones and esp of Anderson’s opponents but Fedor is the only one that fought cans. I am also Fedor fan btw as you may recall from that era (I am also a judoka to boot).
BJ actually deserves some mention too actually, maybe 2nd tier with DC and Khabib right now and/or perhaps similar to Randy, Hendo, Saku although he actually had a reign as LW champ where as Randy and Hendo never did. The BJ loss to Machida and Saku loss to Igor weighing over Anderson’s wins is a completely subjective hot take of yours however…not to say that Saku fighting Igor to a draw after the 90 minute Royce fight wasn’t legendary (even if it was arguable that it shouldn’t have been a draw?).
USADA CEO already declared Jones to be innocent after a year long investigation:
"The independent arbitrator found that Jon Jones was not intentionally cheating in this case, and while we thought 18 months was the appropriate sanction given the other circumstances of the case, we respect the arbitrator's decision and believe that justice was served," USADA CEO Travis Tygart said in the statement."
And Nate Diaz got a positive test from USADA too. Does that mean that Diaz is using steroids too this whole time? LMAO. That's why USADA revised their whole test AS A RESULT OF THE CASES OF JONES AND NATE, because it was clearly WAY TOO sensitive beforehand.
Soul Gravy - 1) GSP (defeated 3 generations of fighters)
Jones (says GSP and Jones are nearly interchangeable)
DJ
Fedor
Aldo (stronger competition than Anderson’s, almost as long of title defense streak as Anderson’s)
Anderson (more losses in dominant fashion)
GSP and Fedor are interchangeable at number 1 spot.
Jones does not belong on the list. Lots of questionable competition.
DJ did not have depth of competition in his division, but he should be recognized for being one of the most complete and well-rounded fighters to ever exist.
Anderson doesn’t belong on the list. He had some awful appearances even in fights he won. His “domination” was mostly smoke and mirrors.
Aldo was a great champ and is a great fighter, but I just never think of him as legendary in the same way I do Fedor and GSP.
Also, any GOAT list without Saku on it is suspect at best.
Jones has questionable competition and Fedor doesn’t?
Anderson doesn’t belong at all in the convo?
Aldo is not up there with the rest because he is not as “legendary”? That is kind of an admission of subjective criteria is it not? I think that is why you are ranking Saku so high. There is a difference between a legend and a GOAT.
I noted that I put Saku myself in the Randy and Hendo category. They don’t have the sustained reigns of dominance but have long lists of great wins still. Hard to judge Saku against the usual candidates because of how Pride matched him up.
It may be subjective, but it’s is still accurate.
I didn’t say Aldo wasn’t up there, I said I had a hard time thinking about him in the same terms as Fedor and GSP.
Fedor fought better competition than Jones.
Anderson belongs nowhere near the conversation. They put him against guys who couldn’t strike to give him highlight reel finishes and of course everyone ate it up.
Loses count for points, too. Penn’s loss to Machida or Saku’s loss to Igor count for more than a lot of Anderson’s wins.
Its accurate in your subjective mind.
I just don’t see the kind of comprehensive criteria listing and weighing like Wiggum does for example. Like, isn’t Aldo’s level of competition up there if not better than Fedor’s?
You are very critical of both Jones and esp of Anderson’s opponents but Fedor is the only one that fought cans. I am also Fedor fan btw as you may recall from that era (I am also a judoka to boot).
BJ actually deserves some mention too actually, maybe 2nd tier with DC and Khabib right now and/or perhaps similar to Randy, Hendo, Saku although he actually had a reign as LW champ where as Randy and Hendo never did. The BJ loss to Machida and Saku loss to Igor weighing over Anderson’s wins is a completely subjective hot take of yours however…not to say that Saku fighting Igor to a draw after the 90 minute Royce fight wasn’t legendary (even if it was arguable that it shouldn’t have been a draw?).
Aldo's list of wins is way better than Fedor's. By a longshot
Let me also say that I am a fan of all these guys. Maybe less of Jones than the others personally but I still always recognized his greatness.
I think DJ is a tough one because his quality of opposition is going to be not weighed highly but I do think the fact that the FLWs never really got the push and respect from western audiences that don’t like the smaller weights holds him back. or perhaps that the div hadn’t been around as long to develop the talent and profiles?
Aldo is a perfct case of someone not having the highlight reel performances (in the UFC anyhow when it counted) and not really being too much of a star and then he faltered as bad as possible in his big moment. But his resume still speaks for itself.
Soul Gravy - 1) GSP (defeated 3 generations of fighters)
Jones (says GSP and Jones are nearly interchangeable)
DJ
Fedor
Aldo (stronger competition than Anderson’s, almost as long of title defense streak as Anderson’s)
Anderson (more losses in dominant fashion)
GSP and Fedor are interchangeable at number 1 spot.
Jones does not belong on the list. Lots of questionable competition.
DJ did not have depth of competition in his division, but he should be recognized for being one of the most complete and well-rounded fighters to ever exist.
Anderson doesn’t belong on the list. He had some awful appearances even in fights he won. His “domination” was mostly smoke and mirrors.
Aldo was a great champ and is a great fighter, but I just never think of him as legendary in the same way I do Fedor and GSP.
Also, any GOAT list without Saku on it is suspect at best.
Jones has questionable competition and Fedor doesn’t?
Anderson doesn’t belong at all in the convo?
Aldo is not up there with the rest because he is not as “legendary”? That is kind of an admission of subjective criteria is it not? I think that is why you are ranking Saku so high. There is a difference between a legend and a GOAT.
I noted that I put Saku myself in the Randy and Hendo category. They don’t have the sustained reigns of dominance but have long lists of great wins still. Hard to judge Saku against the usual candidates because of how Pride matched him up.
It may be subjective, but it’s is still accurate.
I didn’t say Aldo wasn’t up there, I said I had a hard time thinking about him in the same terms as Fedor and GSP.
Fedor fought better competition than Jones.
Anderson belongs nowhere near the conversation. They put him against guys who couldn’t strike to give him highlight reel finishes and of course everyone ate it up.
Loses count for points, too. Penn’s loss to Machida or Saku’s loss to Igor count for more than a lot of Anderson’s wins.
Its accurate in your subjective mind.
I just don’t see the kind of comprehensive criteria listing and weighing like Wiggum does for example. Like, isn’t Aldo’s level of competition up there if not better than Fedor’s?
You are very critical of both Jones and esp of Anderson’s opponents but Fedor is the only one that fought cans. I am also Fedor fan btw as you may recall from that era (I am also a judoka to boot).
BJ actually deserves some mention too actually, maybe 2nd tier with DC and Khabib right now and/or perhaps similar to Randy, Hendo, Saku although he actually had a reign as LW champ where as Randy and Hendo never did. The BJ loss to Machida and Saku loss to Igor weighing over Anderson’s wins is a completely subjective hot take of yours however…not to say that Saku fighting Igor to a draw after the 90 minute Royce fight wasn’t legendary (even if it was arguable that it shouldn’t have been a draw?).
How many all-time top ten fighters (in their primes) did Aldo face at his weight? Fedor faced two.
USADA CEO already declared Jones to be innocent after a year long investigation:
"The independent arbitrator found that Jon Jones was not intentionally cheating in this case, and while we thought 18 months was the appropriate sanction given the other circumstances of the case, we respect the arbitrator's decision and believe that justice was served," USADA CEO Travis Tygart said in the statement."
And Nate Diaz got a positive test from USADA too. Does that mean that Diaz is using steroids too this whole time? LMAO. That's why USADA revised their whole test AS A RESULT OF THE CASES OF JONES AND NATE, because it was clearly WAY TOO sensitive beforehand.
Jones was innocent the whole time. He's the GOAT.
Even if we throw the PEDs out, Jones has a greater resume than GSP?
Something I’ll add to my “strength of schedule” criteria: Jones and GSP beat every single type of fighter. There was no mystical “perfect” opponent that was going to beat them in their primes.
By contrast, if people were to draw up a mystical opponent for Silva, it was Chris Weidman. People were saying for years that Silva needed to prove himself against a great offensive wrestler with submission skills. People said something similar for Fedor, but there wasn’t anyone around PRIDE at the time. It’s why Barnet and Randy were such interesting fights. (Not that Randy’s submission skills were great, but they were better than the Hammer House guys).
Even Aldo lost to his mystical perfect opponent. He only fought one striker ever who was in his league and it was Conor.
There are two what-ifs for Khabib: a great striker with excellent wrestling and a pure submission player who can create chaos. We might never get the Tony fight. But, beating Gaethje will raise Khabib’s claim to greatness. He will have beaten top well-rounded fighters (RDA, Dustin); great strikers (Edson and Conor); and his nightmare matchup of a true sprawl and brawlers.
Soul Gravy - 1) GSP (defeated 3 generations of fighters)
Jones (says GSP and Jones are nearly interchangeable)
DJ
Fedor
Aldo (stronger competition than Anderson’s, almost as long of title defense streak as Anderson’s)
Anderson (more losses in dominant fashion)
GSP and Fedor are interchangeable at number 1 spot.
Jones does not belong on the list. Lots of questionable competition.
DJ did not have depth of competition in his division, but he should be recognized for being one of the most complete and well-rounded fighters to ever exist.
Anderson doesn’t belong on the list. He had some awful appearances even in fights he won. His “domination” was mostly smoke and mirrors.
Aldo was a great champ and is a great fighter, but I just never think of him as legendary in the same way I do Fedor and GSP.
Also, any GOAT list without Saku on it is suspect at best.
Jones has questionable competition and Fedor doesn’t?
Anderson doesn’t belong at all in the convo?
Aldo is not up there with the rest because he is not as “legendary”? That is kind of an admission of subjective criteria is it not? I think that is why you are ranking Saku so high. There is a difference between a legend and a GOAT.
I noted that I put Saku myself in the Randy and Hendo category. They don’t have the sustained reigns of dominance but have long lists of great wins still. Hard to judge Saku against the usual candidates because of how Pride matched him up.
It may be subjective, but it’s is still accurate.
I didn’t say Aldo wasn’t up there, I said I had a hard time thinking about him in the same terms as Fedor and GSP.
Fedor fought better competition than Jones.
Anderson belongs nowhere near the conversation. They put him against guys who couldn’t strike to give him highlight reel finishes and of course everyone ate it up.
Loses count for points, too. Penn’s loss to Machida or Saku’s loss to Igor count for more than a lot of Anderson’s wins.
Its accurate in your subjective mind.
I just don’t see the kind of comprehensive criteria listing and weighing like Wiggum does for example. Like, isn’t Aldo’s level of competition up there if not better than Fedor’s?
You are very critical of both Jones and esp of Anderson’s opponents but Fedor is the only one that fought cans. I am also Fedor fan btw as you may recall from that era (I am also a judoka to boot).
BJ actually deserves some mention too actually, maybe 2nd tier with DC and Khabib right now and/or perhaps similar to Randy, Hendo, Saku although he actually had a reign as LW champ where as Randy and Hendo never did. The BJ loss to Machida and Saku loss to Igor weighing over Anderson’s wins is a completely subjective hot take of yours however…not to say that Saku fighting Igor to a draw after the 90 minute Royce fight wasn’t legendary (even if it was arguable that it shouldn’t have been a draw?).
How many all-time top ten fighters (in their primes) did Aldo face at his weight? Fedor faced two.
All time top ten opponents at their weights?
Fedor’s top opponents were Nog x 2, Crocop, Herring, AA, Sylvia, Coleman x2, Randleman? You can argue AA and Syliva were no longer prime however. First Coleman fight was close to Coleman’s GP win although you have to acknowledge both those guys were sub prone throughout their careers.
Aldo’s: Edgar x 2, Mendes x 2, Faber, Brown, TKZ, Lamas…you can argue the first Mendes and TKZ were not prime. Round that out with Moicano, Stephens, Hominick, Gamburyan, Florian. I think Aldo has a clearly deeper resume while not having the bigger names. Like Coleman and Randleman are names by being former UFC HW champs and stars but are they better opponents a Lamas or Gamburyan for example who aren’t big names?
USADA CEO already declared Jones to be innocent after a year long investigation:
"The independent arbitrator found that Jon Jones was not intentionally cheating in this case, and while we thought 18 months was the appropriate sanction given the other circumstances of the case, we respect the arbitrator's decision and believe that justice was served," USADA CEO Travis Tygart said in the statement."
And Nate Diaz got a positive test from USADA too. Does that mean that Diaz is using steroids too this whole time? LMAO. That's why USADA revised their whole test AS A RESULT OF THE CASES OF JONES AND NATE, because it was clearly WAY TOO sensitive beforehand.
Jones was innocent the whole time. He's the GOAT.
Even if we throw the PEDs out, Jones has a greater resume than GSP?
I could see an argument for GSP having a better resume than Jones because GSP won titles at 2 different weight >
I could see either Jones or GSP at #1. There are arguments for both
wiggum - Something I'll add to my "strength of schedule" criteria: Jones and GSP beat every single type of fighter. There was no mystical "perfect" opponent that was going to beat them in their primes.
By contrast, if people were to draw up a mystical opponent for Silva, it was Chris Weidman. People were saying for years that Silva needed to prove himself against a great offensive wrestler with submission skills. People said something similar for Fedor, but there wasn’t anyone around PRIDE at the time. It’s why Barnet and Randy were such interesting fights. (Not that Randy’s submission skills were great, but they were better than the Hammer House guys).
Even Aldo lost to his mystical perfect opponent. He only fought one striker ever who was in his league and it was Conor.
There are two what-ifs for Khabib: a great striker with excellent wrestling and a pure submission player who can create chaos. We might never get the Tony fight. But, beating Gaethje will raise Khabib’s claim to greatness. He will have beaten top well-rounded fighters (RDA, Dustin); great strikers (Edson and Conor); and his nightmare matchup of a true sprawl and brawlers.
Exactly, that’s why i think it was crucial for Fedor to beat Barnett, Lesnar and Randy.
But I’ll leave fedor alone in this thread.
I think Jones, Silva and GSP are top 3. However you want to rank them is fine by me.
wiggum - Something I'll add to my "strength of schedule" criteria: Jones and GSP beat every single type of fighter. There was no mystical "perfect" opponent that was going to beat them in their primes.
By contrast, if people were to draw up a mystical opponent for Silva, it was Chris Weidman. People were saying for years that Silva needed to prove himself against a great offensive wrestler with submission skills. People said something similar for Fedor, but there wasn’t anyone around PRIDE at the time. It’s why Barnet and Randy were such interesting fights. (Not that Randy’s submission skills were great, but they were better than the Hammer House guys).
Even Aldo lost to his mystical perfect opponent. He only fought one striker ever who was in his league and it was Conor.
There are two what-ifs for Khabib: a great striker with excellent wrestling and a pure submission player who can create chaos. We might never get the Tony fight. But, beating Gaethje will raise Khabib’s claim to greatness. He will have beaten top well-rounded fighters (RDA, Dustin); great strikers (Edson and Conor); and his nightmare matchup of a true sprawl and brawlers.
This is a great point and why Wiggum is the man.
Yes, absolutely Weidman on Anderson and Randy/Josh vs Fedor. Not Fedor’s fault that Josh PED’ed himself out of that fight though.
You can argue Aldo also lost to Holloway and twice who was a striker in his league. Aldo is one of my favs but I will be the first to admit that most of the guys he beat were shorter wrestle boxers (Faber, Brown, Edgar, Mendes) although those were the top guys and of that era. Aldo’s did not evolve which is why he was stylistically vulnerable to Connor and Holloway who both are taller but also fight longer.
Stephens and Moicano would only be medium skilled strikers and Moraes is pretty good but that wasn’t a win at the end of the day.
And yes, Gaethje gives Khabib the wrestle-boxer he has not faced. I guess to a lesser extent the submission guy. He did dominate RDA although RDA isn’t like Maia level BJJ. Tony is more like unorthodox sub guy.
But at the end of the day, Jones and GSP beat every under the sun…esp GSP who beat the best of all Even if we consider Hendricks to have beaten GSP, it was by a thin margin and at the peak of GSP’s burnout and that was peak Hendricks.
USADA CEO already declared Jones to be innocent after a year long investigation:
"The independent arbitrator found that Jon Jones was not intentionally cheating in this case, and while we thought 18 months was the appropriate sanction given the other circumstances of the case, we respect the arbitrator's decision and believe that justice was served," USADA CEO Travis Tygart said in the statement."
And Nate Diaz got a positive test from USADA too. Does that mean that Diaz is using steroids too this whole time? LMAO. That's why USADA revised their whole test AS A RESULT OF THE CASES OF JONES AND NATE, because it was clearly WAY TOO sensitive beforehand.
Jones was innocent the whole time. He's the GOAT.
Even if we throw the PEDs out, Jones has a greater resume than GSP?
I could see an argument for GSP having a better resume than Jones because GSP won titles at 2 different weight >
I could see either Jones or GSP at #1. There are arguments for both
GSP also had better opposition than Jones…and doesn’t have the PED mark.
wiggum - Something I'll add to my "strength of schedule" criteria: Jones and GSP beat every single type of fighter. There was no mystical "perfect" opponent that was going to beat them in their primes.
By contrast, if people were to draw up a mystical opponent for Silva, it was Chris Weidman. People were saying for years that Silva needed to prove himself against a great offensive wrestler with submission skills. People said something similar for Fedor, but there wasn’t anyone around PRIDE at the time. It’s why Barnet and Randy were such interesting fights. (Not that Randy’s submission skills were great, but they were better than the Hammer House guys).
Even Aldo lost to his mystical perfect opponent. He only fought one striker ever who was in his league and it was Conor.
There are two what-ifs for Khabib: a great striker with excellent wrestling and a pure submission player who can create chaos. We might never get the Tony fight. But, beating Gaethje will raise Khabib’s claim to greatness. He will have beaten top well-rounded fighters (RDA, Dustin); great strikers (Edson and Conor); and his nightmare matchup of a true sprawl and brawlers.
Exactly, that’s why i think it was crucial for Fedor to beat Barnett, Lesnar and Randy.
But I’ll leave fedor alone in this thread.
I think Jones, Silva and GSP are top 3. However you want to rank them is fine by me.
I think Fedor’s management may ultimately be responsible for not further his legacy. Barnett was not his fault. Didn’t Randy also try to get out of the UFC to fight Fedor but was withheld by Zuffa?
Stylistically, Fedor wasn’t the most disciplined sprawl n brawler, the way he struck got him taken down a lot but against guys who couldn’t exploit it because they weren’t that comptentant on the ground or couldn’t defend subs. Fedor also cut easily so with Randy or Lesnar on top of him, that would have been trouble. There was still the possibility of Fedor KO’ing either later on but he would have been challenged to stay off his back against those 2 and withstand their GNP.
For Aldo, I should correct myself and say that his striking evolved to beat his second generation of contenders. He was a wilder brawler in the WEC but polished his technique for the UFC and developed a great jab for example. But I think his would have always lost to Connor’s who is longer and fights longer and Connor also excels at exploiting right handers. Aldo’s is more Dutch KB and is more closer range combinations.
wiggum - Something I'll add to my "strength of schedule" criteria: Jones and GSP beat every single type of fighter. There was no mystical "perfect" opponent that was going to beat them in their primes.
By contrast, if people were to draw up a mystical opponent for Silva, it was Chris Weidman. People were saying for years that Silva needed to prove himself against a great offensive wrestler with submission skills. People said something similar for Fedor, but there wasn’t anyone around PRIDE at the time. It’s why Barnet and Randy were such interesting fights. (Not that Randy’s submission skills were great, but they were better than the Hammer House guys).
Even Aldo lost to his mystical perfect opponent. He only fought one striker ever who was in his league and it was Conor.
There are two what-ifs for Khabib: a great striker with excellent wrestling and a pure submission player who can create chaos. We might never get the Tony fight. But, beating Gaethje will raise Khabib’s claim to greatness. He will have beaten top well-rounded fighters (RDA, Dustin); great strikers (Edson and Conor); and his nightmare matchup of a true sprawl and brawlers.
Exactly, that’s why i think it was crucial for Fedor to beat Barnett, Lesnar and Randy.
But I’ll leave fedor alone in this thread.
I think Jones, Silva and GSP are top 3. However you want to rank them is fine by me.
I think Fedor’s management may ultimately be responsible for not further his legacy. Barnett was not his fault. Didn’t Randy also try to get out of the UFC to fight Fedor but was withheld by Zuffa?
Stylistically, Fedor wasn’t the most disciplined sprawl n brawler, the way he struck got him taken down a lot but against guys who couldn’t exploit it because they weren’t that comptentant on the ground or couldn’t defend subs. Fedor also cut easily so with Randy or Lesnar on top of him, that would have been trouble. There was still the possibility of Fedor KO’ing either later on but he would have been challenged to stay off his back against those 2 and withstand their GNP.
USADA CEO already declared Jones to be innocent after a year long investigation:
"The independent arbitrator found that Jon Jones was not intentionally cheating in this case, and while we thought 18 months was the appropriate sanction given the other circumstances of the case, we respect the arbitrator's decision and believe that justice was served," USADA CEO Travis Tygart said in the statement."
And Nate Diaz got a positive test from USADA too. Does that mean that Diaz is using steroids too this whole time? LMAO. That's why USADA revised their whole test AS A RESULT OF THE CASES OF JONES AND NATE, because it was clearly WAY TOO sensitive beforehand.
Jones was innocent the whole time. He's the GOAT.
Even if we throw the PEDs out, Jones has a greater resume than GSP?
I could see an argument for GSP having a better resume than Jones because GSP won titles at 2 different weight >
I could see either Jones or GSP at #1. There are arguments for both
GSP also had better opposition than Jones…and doesn’t have the PED mark.
Well, if we’re not gonna hold it against Fedor for not fighting Randy or Lesnar (cause it was Fedor’s choice not to join the UFC), then I wouldn’t put the PED mark on Jones, cause when you look at the facts, USADA CEO said Jones was innocent, as I showed in the above post. And USADA changed their whole test because of Diaz and Jones. That means they were admitting their test was way too sensitive.
But that’s a whole other conversation.
So if you’re just comparing their wins for P4P #1 spot, its very close, you can make an argument for either jones or GSP, but GSP has lost twice by finish. Jones is really undefeated for about 12 years straight.
But I could see GSP edging out Jones because of his middleweight title and avenging his only losses.
