Thread: A question for the MMA fans

I don't get to watch much MMA, but the list below is the guys I have seen that have impressed me the most. I know that they are not all the same weight class, but just wondered how these guys would rank and if there is anybody else that should be on an all time great list

P.S my list is not in any kind of order


Fedor Emelianenko
Mark Hunt
Josh Barnett
Dan Severn
Matt Hughes
Mirko Filipovic
Wanderlei Silva
Don Frye
Rickson Gracie
Chuck Liddell
Bas Rutten
Tito Ortiz
Frank Shamrock
Royce Gracie


Cheers

Big H, this is WAY too weird. I was just about to start a "who are your pfp all-time greats?" lists!!!!

in no part order

crocop
fedor
wandy
vitor
hughes
Bas

more to come...

noguiera should be on there.

Originally Posted by BIG H

I don't get to watch much MMA, but the list below is the guys I have seen that have impressed me the most. I know that they are not all the same weight class, but just wondered how these guys would rank and if there is anybody else that should be on an all time great list

P.S my list is not in any kind of order


Fedor Emelianenko
Mark Hunt
Josh Barnett
Dan Severn
Matt Hughes
Mirko Filipovic
Wanderlei Silva
Don Frye
Rickson Gracie
Chuck Liddell
Bas Rutten
Tito Ortiz
Frank Shamrock
Royce Gracie

Cheers

Good fighters, I highlighted the ones who I thought didn't belong on any kind of MMA P4P list. Once you start to understand MMA and what makes people like Fedor and Wanderlei so successful, you realize the Gracies, Severn, and Don Frye just don't cut it. Ortiz isn't a bad fighter at all, but he's reached his prime and has already been destroyed on more than one occasion, all before ever entering a Pride ring. Severn and Frye are entirely too old school, completely lacking the ability to strike and whether it's on the ground or standing up they're very lathargic - not explosive like this new crop of mixed martial artists. The Gracies, we all know how well they do when it's time to step up to a big challenge. Royce can't compete with evolved fighters like Matt Hughes or Kazushi Sakuraba, and Rickson refused to fight such people as Bas Rutten or Wanderlei Silva ( so he could keep his padded record :P ). Some fighters you should check out are Takanori Gomi, Mauricio Shogun Rua, Murilo Ninja Rua, Quinton Jackson, Antonio Noguira, Phil Baroni (not the best but exciting) alot more I'm just too lazy to come up with em.

Correct, Severns, Frye and Shamrock do not belong in the same category as Huges and Ortiz -- who (Ortiz) I don't think is washed up, and whether he is past his prime is questionable. I think Ortiz is still very much in the ballpark competitively. Severns was a very one dimensional fighter -- and fighter may not even be the proper term; he was a greco wrestler, who dominated early on because of his size and awesome Greco abilities. He punched like a girl, period. Frye was absolutely a better boxer than Severns, and a better fighter, but he is too old, too stiff, too unable to adapt. Its almost embarassing watching someone like Frye continue to fight. The lack of adaptability and flexibility is the major crippling factor with older fighters. When you see someone like Shamrock trying to fight Ortiz, its an obvious mismatch, primarily because Shamrock is past his prime, has lost his killer instinct, and cannot respond or adapt to cogent attacks. And although he has wrestled, his wrestling habits are old school, not fresh, and lack flexibility -- hence the ease with which Ortiz takes him down. Ortiz is hardly the best wrestler in UFC -- but he's a lot better than Shamrock -- who was regarded quite highly for his wrestling skills l0 years ago. Royce Gracie, as his fight with Huges showed, is way beyond his element fighting the new school guys. ALso, I think Gracie has to have his major tool -- the Gi. Without it, he not only seems quite helpless against good fighters, but he looks like a concentration camp escapee! The Gi helped Gracie in two ways: it allowed him to hide his rather gaunt physique and portray someone who might actually have some muscle hidden beneath it; it also was a powerful weapon, which I am guessing is why you don't see it in the UFC -- I assume it is not allowed just because it is a weapon. ALthough Huges still would have trounced Gracie with the Gi, Gracie wouldn't have appeared so helpless -- it might have added some depth to his arsenal in this fight.

raleights & Gillpad - interesting stuff fellas

Hasnt Coture already proven that past your "prime" means nothing..? True I think soem of the older styles in UFC wouldnt cut it because the sport has evolved, but I think that if Severn were younger and capable of particiapting in these newer UFS, hed train like the rest of the fighters currently out there- might stand a good chance too.