ESPN MMA Conversation

d1spel

good article, fedor is best ever
331 Days ago

juleswinnfield34

fedor from about 2001-2006 was racking up quality wins vs alot of pretty good to great fighters. during that span he padded his win total with some completely unrecognizable fighters. after 2006, he really hasnt beaten anyone who would be considered top level or top 10 fighters. the top level fighters he has fought since then, have beaten him. at this point in in time, hes the best heavyweight of all time. but he is not the best pound for pound fighter, that title belongs to anderson silva
332 Days ago

juleswinnfield34

fedor , in his entire career, has about a half dozen quality wins. a quality win means he beat someone who has spent at least some time ranked in the top 10 of their division. all of those quality wins came pre 2007. since late 2006, he hasnt defeeated anyone who was considered elite at the time of the fight and the ones that were, he lost to. his wins over big nog, mark coleman, and cro cop are all impressive, but again, they all took place before 2007, since then, hes been beating unranked guys, or losing...
332 Days ago

JoshSm17

thank you Fedor, simply greatest of all time in this sport
332 Days ago

JoshSm17

You talk about the guy who lost to those unrakned japanese guys? dont be so stupid, fedor beat the best guys and everyone he faced for 10 years. just do some research at wikipedia. Elite strikers, grapplers, wrestlers, former UFC champs are among them. While AS competing in the weakest division of the sport. Lets not over value his wins :)
332 Days ago

juleswinnfield34

also, silva is 37 years old and has a 31-4 career record and hasnt lost in almost 8 years while fighting in the unquestioned best mma organization in the world. fedor, is 35 years old, 2 years younger than silva, and has a career record of 34-4 and is 3-3 in the last 2 years. again, hes younger than silva, has the same number of total fights, and has fallen off the map. silva is still dominating.
329 Days ago

juleswinnfield34

anderson silva has about 8 quality wins since 2006. he has beaten the unquestioned best fighters in his division and in other divisions. there was never a time when people thought the best fighter in his divison was in another organization. fedor just simply didnt fight the best fighters of his time, its just a fact, the best hws over the last 6-8 years have been in the ufc, and we all know fedor never saw the octagon.
329 Days ago

juleswinnfield34

i thinnk u need to understand when he beat those former UFC champions. beating arlovski when arlovski wasnt a top 15-20 fighter is not the same as beating him when he was a top 3-5 fighter. from 2001-2006 he had about 8-10 quality wins versus about 6 quality fighters. quality meaning ranked in the top 10 or highly rated up and comers. his 6 year run of beating big nog, sobral, mark coleman, cro cop, and mark hunt is very impressive, which is why he was the best HW of his time. but hes not the best p4p fighter based on his opponents over the last 6 + years...
329 Days ago

juleswinnfield34

u must not heard of anderson silva. the guy who has dominated the deepest and best mma organization in history... fedor did very well beating up unranked japanese guys, but lets not over value his wins. alot of them, in fact most of them, came against less then stellar talent.
332 Days ago

LabsInsider

The problem with heavyweights in there aren't a lot of big guys and if they are athletic they don't fight. The HW talent pool you used to have in Boxing is bleak and MMA never had a supremely impressive heavyweight. Out of any division the HWs are the most untested with great talent. There isn't one true HW which is a physical specimen, has speed, and skill. Lesner was big and had some speed, but lacked diverse skill. Guys like Bigfoot lack speed and is just big, not athletic - giant syndrome. Fedor had skill but he is a small bulky HW whom was able to combine his skill with power. He is a great fighter, but not the GOAT.
332 Days ago

Northwest Guy

Oh one other thing, the GOAT talk.. .... come on guys, i get that you're fans, but that definition belongs to Anderson Silva, he is still on his streak... he's 2 years older than Fedor and Honestly, Silva is in a promotion that leaves no doubt that he's fighting the best of the best, even this late in his career.... You can't go around saying Fedor is the GOAT, i'm sorry but you just can't... If they fought in their primes at catchweight even though Fedor is a HW i would put money that Anderson would beat Fedor for sure.
332 Days ago

gadaire

juleswinnfield34 Based on your comments it is obvious that you are biased against Fedor. So you are clearly not capable of having a rational discussion either. Give credit where credit is due. Regardless of how you feel about the man, it is simply fact that he is one of the best ever.
331 Days ago

juleswinnfield34

what hav i said that could be considered irrational or biased against fedor??? i know who his opponents have been over the last 7-8 years and they have not been top ranked fighters. they were either past their prime, or were ranked for a minute and then disappeared. again ill say, from 2001-2006 he was a beast and beat some of the best fighters on the planet. since 2006, hes fought aging former champs, or chumps...
329 Days ago

yankees7448

"Pretty sure all three guys Fedor lost to were ranked in the Top 10 P4P fighters." They were all ranked in the top 10 of their respective divisions but the only one of those 3 even close to being top 10 p4p was Dan Henderson.
332 Days ago

juleswinnfield34

marco, u literally just made an excuse for every single one of fedors losses. its clear trying to have a rational discussion with u about this fighter, is pointless. also, the fact that fedors losses all came to top ranked fighters shows he cant beat the top ranked guys, he can only dominate unranked fighter. most of his fights, hav come against unranked fighters, and the ranked guys he has fought have either beaten him or been passed their prime when they fought.
332 Days ago

Marco1818

true, still Top 10 in their weight class demonstrates their quality. The only person who truly beat/manhandled Fedor was Bigfoot. Despite the beating Fedor took, he still stood in the ring ready to keep fighting. The Doc rightly stopped the fight, but Fedor would have kept going. Fedor got caught against Werdum and if he didn't overzealously try to finish him and fall into Werdum's guard, pretty sure Fedor doesn't lose that fight. The Henderson loss was a bit of a fluke and that fight was stopped prematurely. But, it is what it is.
332 Days ago

Marco1818

"You can't go around saying Fedor is the GOAT, i'm sorry but you just can't." I simply ask....why not? Since there really is no point in arguing who would win in a fantasy fight between Anderson Silva and Fedor, lets just take a quick look at their losses. (not counting the Fedor No-Contest cut fight as a loss) Anderson Silva: -Luiz Azeredo (159 pound fighter): Record 15 wins, 10 losses - Daiju Takase (183 pound fighter) Record 10 wins, 13 losses - Ryo Chonan (169 pound fighter) Record 20 wins, 13 losses - Yushin Okami (183 pound fighter) Record 26 wins, 7 losses Fedor: -Fabrico Werdum (246 pound fighter) Record 16 wins, 5 losses - Antonio Silva (264 pound fighter) Record 16 wins, 4 losses - Dan Henderson (205 pound fighter) Record 29 wins, 8 losses So in your opinion Anderson Silva is the GOAT, yet the guys he lost to have a combined record of 71-43 for a 62% winning percentage....while guys that Fedor lost to have a record of 61-17 for a 78% winning percentage... The point I am getting to is that though Fedor faltered a bit at the end of his career, he still lost to only highly ranked fighters and successful guys. Pretty sure all three guys Fedor lost to were ranked in the Top 10 P4P fighters. Anderson Silva on the other hand lost to some mediocre guys. In your book it's okay for your GOAT to have lost to sub par fighters?....good luck with that. For me GOAT has to be someone that exuded dominance over a long period of time. Anderson Silva would rank high on this list, but Fedor would still be on top of it. As for winning streaks, Silva's though impressive still pales in comparion to Fedor not losing a fight in 10 years. Something like 15 vs 28....just doesn't compare even when you enter your subjective opinion that you think the UFC has better fighters than Pride did back in the day. As for the fantasy fight, Fedor would simply be too big for Silva. Silva has lost to guys under 160 pounds, in their primes a guy like Fedor would be an abolute nightmare for Anderson Silva.
332 Days ago

Northwest Guy

I'm not against Fedor, I just wish he had continued to pursue the very elite fighters, I think M1 Global did nothing good for the guy really... he could have probably reduced any doubt on his legacy if he had made the move over to the UFC, even if only to take on 1 or 2 fighters like Randy or Brock or whoever was there at the time... I don't necessarily hold it against him... i just feel like his fan base is a bit over the top about him... He was obviously the best Heavyweight in his era... I don't think he could hang with the top of the HW Division as it stands now, even when he was in his prime, but that's not his fault, the Sport and the division has evolved to the point that the fighters are much better particularly in the HW division... Either way... every man deserves to enjoy their retirement so for that, Congrats Fedor.
332 Days ago

nysepete

A good story by ESPN MMA crew -- when they get one right - they do a great job. This one was vergy good. Good job Chuck.
332 Days ago

kimber1911TLE

Sucks we never got to see Fedor Couture, or Fedor Lesner, or Fedor Mir.
332 Days ago

juleswinnfield34

that would be 3 more losses for fedor.
332 Days ago

kimber1911TLE

Youtube his greatest hits. Explosive killer instinct. Guy was a great fighter. Fact.
332 Days ago

JDtheCEO

Even though I had to watch his old fights on fox sports and dvds, I was always impressed by his poise. Dude never looked anxious or nervous....just ready to break your jaw or arm. Have a Dos Equis Fedor....stay thirsty my friend
332 Days ago

mattyd522

enjoy your retirement fedor you have earned it. thanks for the memories.
332 Days ago

HomeTownFighter

Great piece. He was a great champion. He was the pride champion which, at the time, was by far the top promotion in the world with all the top fighters. His only down fall was his association with M1 Global. At least he was loyal.
333 Days ago

Woodpkr89

What legacy the guy has fought tomato cans his whole career. He is a good fighter but not that great. Definitely not the greatest of all time or even the best heavyweight.
333 Days ago

Northwest Guy

To all the folks responding negatively to what this guy just posted, you know as well as i do that this will be Fedor's legacy, there are a large number of folks with similar feelings about Fedor.... I disagree, i think he did indeed fight the cream of the crop for a time... maybe 2-3 years... Pride was definitely the deeper promotion... Though in fairness, the latter side of his career you could definitely argue he faced weaker opposition... I think he had quite a run... where that puts him all time in the HW division... I think he's at or near the top... it's a young Sport... I personally think when all is said and done JDS will be the greatest HW of all time but, that might just be me... I think honestly people should just enjoy Fedor's fights etc. and not worry about where he is on the all time list... that's all speculation anyways.
332 Days ago

kimber1911TLE

Dude is just hating. He knows nothing about fighting.
332 Days ago

juleswinnfield34

listen, he speaks the truth. all of fedors quality wins came from 2007 and earlier. those big wins he had against guys like big nog and sobral and cro cop came almost a decade ago. anderson silva, is older, has more fight, and is still dominating the ufc. silva is the goat, no doubt about it.
332 Days ago

mattyd522

this status stinks of someone who calls themself a mma fan yet only watches the ufc
332 Days ago

CaptainTBryan

During most of the time he fought in Pride, their heavyweight division had more talent than the UFC's. Does your definition of "tomato cans" include the UFC champs like Nogiera, Randleman, Coleman, Silva, and Arlovski that were around when he was in his prime? You might want to check his record against them if you think he fought for a weak promotion or dodged competition.
333 Days ago

juleswinnfield34

also, the fights against coleman and randalman and big nog all happened in 2006 or earlier. since then, he hasnt had to go up against many top level fighters, mostly up and comers, or old guys with name recognition. and some of those up and comers (werdum, bigfoot) and those old guys (hendo) beat him...
332 Days ago

juleswinnfield34

arlovski was not a top fighter when he fought fedor. i believe he was bouncing around organizations and was fighting mostly up and comers or guys with potential like ben rothwell and roy nelson. not saying those guys werent good fighters, but they were not top level opponents.
332 Days ago

AlphamaleMij

Something a pink hat MMA fan would say. Like saying Ali never fought anyone good. Your a joke.
333 Days ago

HEAT_THUNDER_PACMAN_YANKEES_REDSOX_GIANTS_PATS

Jon jones will go down as the GOAT when it's all said an done.
333 Days ago

kimber1911TLE

It will be fun to find out over the next decade.
332 Days ago

CaptainTBryan

If he gets too big for light-heavyweight and has to go to heavyweight, he could be brought back down to the mortal realm.
333 Days ago

yankees7448

Quite possibly. The guys a beast.
333 Days ago