Jones, Adesanya, Fedor, Cruz, Aldo, Barao, Chuck etc... all had (or have) great win streaks.
How high up would you rank Igor's 37-0-0-1 compared to the others?
Igor put that streak together from 1996 through April of 1999 and had wins over Saku, Goodridge, Bueno, Barreto, Shoji, Carvalho, Nutter, Branco and Varelans in there and he beat prime Kerr in the no contest, with or without the rule infraction.
The NHB era was a different landscape and I consider Igor's win streak the most impressive of the NHB era (even more than Royce's) though it is very difficult to compare a streak in the NHB era to one such as Adesanya's in 2020. Adesanya is beating better competition overall but gets to do so after everything from coaches to camps to supplements have evolved and he gets gloves, Igor was often fighting without even those.
At any rate, it would be tough to rate the greatest win streaks in MMA history but I do know Igor's is the greatest of the NHB era and its still a top 20 all time streak across all eras.
He had a great run there for a stretch, but most of those wins were against no names and low level opponents. Compare that to someone like Silvas or Jones’ runs at their peak or Fedor’s for instance. Theres no comparison.
how many current MMA fighters could have done what Igor did?
This. Get back to me when a modern fighter has fought more than once in the same night and without the benefit of months of preparation for a specific opponent.
One more awesome thing about Igor's 37-0-0-1 run... he did it up at HW (often with no weight limit) while Igor was a true LHW and perhaps could of been a MW if he had a modern nutritionist in charge of his cut.
I have so much respect for the guys who fought real NHB. Multiple opponents, weight differences, shady promoters, brutal rules with most likely limited medical help afterwards... more like gladiators than athletes. The doors open and you fight whatever’s in front of you. To not only fight but thrive in that environment? Vovchanchyn is truly one of the greats.Â
I have so much respect for the guys who fought real NHB. Multiple opponents, weight differences, shady promoters, brutal rules with most likely limited medical help afterwards... more like gladiators than athletes. The doors open and you fight whatever’s in front of you. To not only fight but thrive in that environment? Vovchanchyn is truly one of the greats.Â
He won like 6 tournaments and one was a 32 man event.Â
how many current MMA fighters could have done what Igor did?
This. Get back to me when a modern fighter has fought more than once in the same night and without the benefit of months of preparation for a specific opponent.
It is crazy how overlooked Igor usually is when people talk about the history of the sport. It sucks that most of Igor’s early fights were seen by so few people.Â
I have so much respect for the guys who fought real NHB. Multiple opponents, weight differences, shady promoters, brutal rules with most likely limited medical help afterwards... more like gladiators than athletes. The doors open and you fight whatever’s in front of you. To not only fight but thrive in that environment? Vovchanchyn is truly one of the greats.Â
He won like 6 tournaments and one was a 32 man event.Â
Plus who knows how many fights that never made it to official records.Â