One of the saddest things to never happen. Fedor in the ufc in his prime would have been outstanding 
THERE WAS A GLITCH IN THE MATRiX -Bobby Lupo -
GSP fought a murderer's row compared to the tomato cans Fedor fought.
The truth is: Fedor was managed like a boxer. He had his 3 big wins (Herring, Nog, Mirko) and then it gets very thin.
GSP's 25 wins are more meaningful than Fedor's 30+
GSP fought Karo (when that meant something) in his 6th pro fight.
but GSP also couldnt finish any of his last 4 yrs worth of fights. even the weaker one in Hardy!
in primes, some years GSP fought ONE Time. some years Fedor fought FIVE times!
and what makes decision wins over Condit, Alves, Kos, Hardy, etc so much better than wins over Herring, Schilt, Arlovski, Sylvia, Hunt, etc?
IMO its beacuse alot of fans have a hard on for the WW division and are not so hot on the HW division. beating Herring once at the time Fedor did means more to me than beating Koscheck two times.
GSP turned into a point fighter for safety sake after some random KO....
While Lups is correct & Fedor & AS did have easier fights than GSP, he turned some bouts into something FAR less meaningful than UFC 1 fights; however, the MOST compelling data is not that either! It lies in the possibilities each fighter had.
Fedor fought at HW and he fought those that stepped to him period. Who did he not fight that he should have?? Or are you going to argue like some random jackass that fighters are not cutting weight to fight in less tough fights??
AS put guys to sleep but he fought Fryklund, Leban, Ace, Lutter, Irvin, Leites & Cote in 7 out of 9 fights over 3 years! He could have fought the best at LHW like Page and Evans when they were the best but he failed to challenge them.
However GSP TOO failed to challenge AS! This after stating his "goal" was the MW title. That speaks volumes so yes with AS's finishes and GSP's duck IMO leads to: AS>GSP logically.
Fedor by default
Bobby Lupo -D241 -XcessiveZ -Bobby Lupo -Speaking the truth as usual.And GSP is the GOAT. He only had one easy fight (hardy) Fedor and Anderson's resumes are riddled with gimme fights.
Serious question.
Could GSP do as well against Anderson's opponents, as Anderson did against them?
Chael, Vitor Belfort, Demian Maia, Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, just to name a few.....
That's interesting (But not relevant IMO) A middle of the road all time HW: Cleveland Williams would have beaten every one of Sugar Ray Robinson's opponents.
For the sake of talking, If Saku can beat Vitor, why can't GSP? GSP would jab Maia to a living death in a boring one sided boxing match. Hendo lost to Shields, so why not GSP?. Griffin would swat GSP like King Kong. Forrest is a medium sized HW.
I think it IS relevent when you say Anderson is greater than Fedor. by saying Anderson is the Greatest, that is exactly what it implies, that Anderson is greater than everyone.
So I would just like to hear someone who has that opinion, say-
Anderson is the greatest, yet he would not be able to beat the guys Fedor did.
It's a simple question, that I have yet to have ONE person who claims Anderson is the Goat, be able to answer it.
Anderson is the greatest, and he could beat anyone that Fedor ever beat (even if he obviously wouldn't be the favorite in all of those); but even if he couldn't, it would be irrelevant.
time traveling 12er -D241 -XcessiveZ -Bobby Lupo -Speaking the truth as usual.
And GSP is the GOAT. He only had one easy fight (hardy) Fedor and Anderson's resumes are riddled with gimme fights.
Serious question.
Could GSP do as well against Anderson's opponents, as Anderson did against them?
Chael, Vitor Belfort, Demian Maia, Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, just to name a few.....
Could Anderson do better against Fedors opponents than Fedor did? Oh wait, they both fought Henderson and Anderson did better. It's bad logic.
You're talking to me about "bad logic".
Anderson's reign was from 2006-2012
He fought Dan Henderson 2 years into the prime of his reign, and fought Dan at MW where Dan hasn't had as much success compared to Lhw.
Fedor's reign was from 2000-2009
He fought Dan Henderson 2 years after his reign in 2011, as well as fought Dan at a lighter weight he normally fights at, and when Dan was racking up arguably his biggest 4 fight win streak in his illustrious career.
And to top it all off, you are using ONE fight out of a combined 77 fights and assuming that the other 76 fights would have the same results, based on ONE fight.
And you're comin at me with "bad logic"
D241 -Bobby Lupo -D241 -XcessiveZ -Bobby Lupo -Speaking the truth as usual.And GSP is the GOAT. He only had one easy fight (hardy) Fedor and Anderson's resumes are riddled with gimme fights.
Serious question.
Could GSP do as well against Anderson's opponents, as Anderson did against them?
Chael, Vitor Belfort, Demian Maia, Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, just to name a few.....
That's interesting (But not relevant IMO) A middle of the road all time HW: Cleveland Williams would have beaten every one of Sugar Ray Robinson's opponents.
For the sake of talking, If Saku can beat Vitor, why can't GSP? GSP would jab Maia to a living death in a boring one sided boxing match. Hendo lost to Shields, so why not GSP?. Griffin would swat GSP like King Kong. Forrest is a medium sized HW.
I think it IS relevent when you say Anderson is greater than Fedor. by saying Anderson is the Greatest, that is exactly what it implies, that Anderson is greater than everyone.
So I would just like to hear someone who has that opinion, say-
Anderson is the greatest, yet he would not be able to beat the guys Fedor did.
It's a simple question, that I have yet to have ONE person who claims Anderson is the Goat, be able to answer it.
This question too is truly amplified in nature as AS's camp said they wanted the fight with Fedor & the size difference would not matter and AS would come in at about 220 for the fight.
I don't believe for a second that AS really wanted the fight or even Mir, but he's opened that door. The door of truth, and left himself behind as so many have when that door was opened IMO.
AS cut (as do most all) for most of his fights and in doing so avoided the toughest while fighting in what was the weakest division in the history of the game.
" Dan at MW where Dan hasn't had as much success compared to Lhw."
Would every fighter have more trouble at MW than higher, or just Dan? How would Fedor do at 185? Would he struggle as Dan did? He's naturally bigger and does not have the wrestling weightcutting background. Is Dan, bizarrely, as a lifelong wrestler and a guy who walks around at just 199-205, somehow more affected by the cut to 185 than all the other middleweights, and more than Fedor would be?
"And to top it all off, you are using ONE fight out of a combined 77 fights and assuming that the other 76 fights would have the same results, based on ONE fight."
Some might say that "bad logic" is putting all of the weight in your GOAT argument on your bizarre obsession with how each would do against the other's opponents, while simultaneously dismissing the ONE real-life example we have of them sharing an opponent -- no, you prefer to stick to hopeless speculation about how each would do against all the OTHER opponents than the one they actually DID both fight.
orcus - Anderson is the greatest, and he could beat anyone that Fedor ever beat (even if he obviously wouldn't be the favorite in all of those); but even if he couldn't, it would be irrelevant.
So he said he wants Fedor & Mir and fought Griffin & Bonnar but it does not matter? LMFAO clown
You said prior that you did not favor AS VS very good HW wrestlers, has this changed or did Fedor fight none?
" fighting in what was the weakest division in the history of the game."
So weak that for some reason hall of famer Dan Henderson was on multiple occasions in multiple organizations hopelessly unable to dominate it, despite walking around smaller than virtually all other middleweights and having more weightcutting experience than any of them. Easier weightcut + more experience cutting = failing because of the weightcut? Truly a mystery!
"You said prior that you did not favor AS VS very good HW wrestlers, has this changed or did Fedor fight none?"
Fedor fought two, Randleman and Coleman. Anderson would beat both of them, the versions that Fedor fought, do you disagree?
"So he said he wants Fedor & Mir and fought Griffin & Bonnar but it does not matter?"
Yes, it does not matter. GOAT isn't about what a fighter says. If a middleweight who began his career as a lightweight couldn't beat a single heavyweight, it doesn't mean that Roy Nelson is "greater" than he is, contrary to what D241 insists.
orcus - " Dan at MW where Dan hasn't had as much success compared to Lhw."
Would every fighter have more trouble at MW than higher, or just Dan? How would Fedor do at 185? Would he struggle as Dan did? He's naturally bigger and does not have the wrestling weightcutting background. Is Dan, bizarrely, as a lifelong wrestler and a guy who walks around at just 199-205, somehow more affected by the cut to 185 than all the other middleweights, and more than Fedor would be?
"And to top it all off, you are using ONE fight out of a combined 77 fights and assuming that the other 76 fights would have the same results, based on ONE fight."
Some might say that "bad logic" is putting all of the weight in your GOAT argument on your bizarre obsession with how each would do against the other's opponents, while simultaneously dismissing the ONE real-life example we have of them sharing an opponent -- no, you prefer to stick to hopeless speculation about how each would do against all the OTHER opponents than the one they actually DID both fight.
To D2 right?
He'd have done fine fighting Fryklund, Leban, Ace, Lutter, Irvin, Leites & Cote in 7 out of 9 fights over 3 years!
Instead he fought much better as he did in every class he fought in.
It's fuckin stupid to use an oddball freak like Hendo to support any generalization about a weight class; moreover, cutting kills T and Dan had a T problem (low T).
orcus - "You said prior that you did not favor AS VS very good HW wrestlers, has this changed or did Fedor fight none?"
Fedor fought two, Randleman and Coleman. Anderson would beat both of them, the versions that Fedor fought, do you disagree?
"So he said he wants Fedor & Mir and fought Griffin & Bonnar but it does not matter?"
Yes, it does not matter. GOAT isn't about what a fighter says. If a middleweight who began his career as a lightweight couldn't beat a single heavyweight, it doesn't mean that Roy Nelson is "greater" than he is, contrary to what D241 insists.
You're right he did not mean it. He preferred to fight who he did!
But he did fight Griffin & Bonnar who could have fought HW easy. So his camp was not lying! What's the diff? It's relevant 10/10.
I would not bet those fights (Coleman or the Monster) but I don't think they were meat 10/10 either. Sonnen held him down 4.5 rounds FFS.
time traveling 12er -D241 -XcessiveZ -Bobby Lupo -Speaking the truth as usual.
And GSP is the GOAT. He only had one easy fight (hardy) Fedor and Anderson's resumes are riddled with gimme fights.
Serious question.
Could GSP do as well against Anderson's opponents, as Anderson did against them?
Chael, Vitor Belfort, Demian Maia, Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, just to name a few.....
Could Anderson do better against Fedors opponents than Fedor did? Oh wait, they both fought Henderson and Anderson did better. It's bad logic.
The Fedor/Anderson comparison is more valid to me than the GSP/Anderson one.
Fedor was a soft HW. Anderson could have easily fought Fedor as a soft HW himself giving up maybe 10 pounds of lean mass.
GSP isn't anywhere near the size of Anderson. GSP was an average WW. GSP soft is 195 pounds. Anderson soft is 220 pounds. Anderson was a big MW. When you are talking about big MW's you're talking about guys that could easily fight at LHW and not be overweight (see Lyoto), you're talking about guys who could easily fight at HW with a little chub.
orcus - " Dan at MW where Dan hasn't had as much success compared to Lhw."
Would every fighter have more trouble at MW than higher, or just Dan? How would Fedor do at 185? Would he struggle as Dan did? He's naturally bigger and does not have the wrestling weightcutting background. Is Dan, bizarrely, as a lifelong wrestler and a guy who walks around at just 199-205, somehow more affected by the cut to 185 than all the other middleweights, and more than Fedor would be?
"And to top it all off, you are using ONE fight out of a combined 77 fights and assuming that the other 76 fights would have the same results, based on ONE fight."
Some might say that "bad logic" is putting all of the weight in your GOAT argument on your bizarre obsession with how each would do against the other's opponents, while simultaneously dismissing the ONE real-life example we have of them sharing an opponent -- no, you prefer to stick to hopeless speculation about how each would do against all the OTHER opponents than the one they actually DID both fight.
Even you don't actually believe Dan would beat Fedor consistently. I said it then and I'll say it again. It was a lose-lose fight for Fedor. Hendo was one of the only guys in that size range that could beat him. Combined with Fedors recent propensity to stand and wang, I mean what could possibly go wrong?
Dude with a cement block for a head and a crow-hop with a tomahawk for a right hand.
Dan was the perfect foil for Fedor. Fedor wins, who cares he is supposed to win. Fedor loses, Oh god he lost to a MW!!!
That said. If I were to bet on those two on that fight a million times, I bet on Fedor every time.
The only legit comparison is Fedor to Anderson since the two of them were close enough in size if they fought at HW to make it a legit HW fight.
GSP to Anderson is a ridiculous comparison. GSP at 185 would be chubby while Ando would be tore the fuck up.
"GSP isn't anywhere near the size of Anderson. GSP was an average WW. GSP soft is 195 pounds."
lol, this is GSP against Shields, where he said he weighed 194 on fight night. This is "soft"? http://mauinow.com/files/2011/05/ufc129_12_gsp_vs_shields_007.jpg
In other words, 195 is actually GSP in IN-RING, FIGHTING SHAPE.
" Anderson soft is 220 pounds."
This is Anderson weighing in at 205: http://img.bnqt.com/CMS/mmajunkie/assets/ufc-101/anderson-silva.jpg
In other words, Anderson is only 10lb heavier than GSP in that picture.
GSP says he is walking at 200 now and he looks like this: http://mmanews.sescoops.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/gsphuge.jpg
"Anderson was a big MW. "
Even Bisping starts his camp at 230. Is he a big MW?
"GSP to Anderson is a ridiculous comparison. GSP at 185 would be chubby while Ando would be tore the fuck up."
Again:
GSP at 184 would look like this or a bit bigger: http://mmanews.sescoops.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/gsphuge.jpg while Anderson at 185 looks like this: http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID20066/images/ryan_remiorz_AP.jpg
Osbot -time traveling 12er -D241 -XcessiveZ -Bobby Lupo -Speaking the truth as usual.
And GSP is the GOAT. He only had one easy fight (hardy) Fedor and Anderson's resumes are riddled with gimme fights.
Serious question.
Could GSP do as well against Anderson's opponents, as Anderson did against them?
Chael, Vitor Belfort, Demian Maia, Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, just to name a few.....
Could Anderson do better against Fedors opponents than Fedor did? Oh wait, they both fought Henderson and Anderson did better. It's bad logic.
The Fedor/Anderson comparison is more valid to me than the GSP/Anderson one.
Fedor was a soft HW. Anderson could have easily fought Fedor as a soft HW himself giving up maybe 10 pounds of lean mass.
GSP isn't anywhere near the size of Anderson. GSP was an average WW. GSP soft is 195 pounds. Anderson soft is 220 pounds. Anderson was a big MW. When you are talking about big MW's you're talking about guys that could easily fight at LHW and not be overweight (see Lyoto), you're talking about guys who could easily fight at HW with a little chub.
Well if you choose to ignore the fact that GSP said it was his "goal" to win the MW crown and then ducked AS, you may have point.
GSP has beaten more top contenders than any fighter ever. Big Nog is his only rival in that game.
Fedor and Anderson beat up on some overmatched no hopers. That's why they have HL reels.
It doesn't look as spectacular when you're beating the best of the best like GSP did.
Vitor and Hendo are all-time greats and Anderson highlight reeled them as much as any of his overmatched no-hopers.
"They have pulled renegotiation moves in the past with Pride. Fedor fought for Inoki and Bodog despite his Pride contract."
^Agree that M-1 renegotiated, as they did with Showtime/Strikeforce, however Fedor was not under contract with PRIDE when he fought in Inoki-Bom-Ba-Ye's NYE show in 2003. And as you mentioned, he had the right to fight in Russia even with his PRIDE contract.
Sort of: "Sakakibara was furious that Fedor was booked for the Inoki event and claimed that it violated his PRIDE contract.
However, Mijatovic ended up booking Fedor for the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye event. How was this done? At the time of the booking, Fedor (along with his brother and other fighters) worked in PRIDE as representatives of the Russian Top Team. DSE’s deal with Mijatovic was for RTT talent. So, Vadim Finkelstein (and Apy Ectheld) ended up forming the Red Devil fight club. Fedor, his brother, and other Russian stars were now property of Red Devil and not with RTT any longer.
Therefore, Mijatovic legally could make the booking of Fedor because he was no longer a member of RTT and DSE only had an arrangement with RTT."
http://www.fightopinion.com/2007/12/21/my-personal-outlook-on-the-japanese-mma-scene/