Let me play the devil's advocate.. hear me out.

Everybody talks about how great mirko is, but I got thinking. It seems to me that he's no greater than any other (top) kickboxer. He has skills, like a top kickboxer should. I simply feel he's one of two guys to bring in a better brand of fighting system, Mark Hunt being the other. I beleive that if other kickboxing greats would transition, Mirko would lose some of his stardom becuase his skills would immediately be matched. Guys like ray Sifo, Jerome LeBanner, Michael McDonald (in his prime), Rick Roufus, etc. are all great fighters arguably equally as skilled as Mirko.

nutshell: mirko is a skilled fighter who took a superior fighting system to pride and used it well, but others could have done the same. Thus, he's not as great as the mma world says; rather, he's simply a good kickboxer fighting against lesser quality fighting systems.

Thoughts?