Fedor is the greatest HW in MMA history beyond a shadow of a doubt. But if I had a gun to my head, Silva would be my pick for the best MMA fighter of all time. To stay unbeaten in the freaking UFC for almost 5 years and 13 fights is just beyond comparison. And I know Fedor's resume. And I know his win streak. But to me, it doesn't compare to the UFC throwing their best at Anderson for 5 years. Seriously it's easy to scoff at guys lik Cote or Leites NOW, but make no mistake, these guys earned shots at Silva by winning. They each were on a streak when they met Silva and he ended it. Nope, there's a reason why the title defense record in the UFC is only 8 fights. It's because they keep throwing the best challengers at the champions. Period. Fedor, on the other hand, has spent the last 5-6 years getting soft touches. And it was hit or miss before that. Silva > Fedor in my opinion.
Silva also thinks Steven Seagal is amazing. I would trust my opinion more than Anderson's... Afterall, did Anderson pick Bigfoot???? No, but I did. Brahhahahahahahahhahahaha!!!!!!!!!!
I really think they are very close in comparison. However, Fedors run in Pride was better than Andersons in UFC. Anderson never had a Nog or Crocop level win. Henderson and Franklin were his best wins. Hendo was past his prime and Franklin was never great. Anderson also had those bad losses in Pride and a couple of other bad showings. I'm not even Anderson and GSP are actually the closer comparison, in my eyes.
Well, let's be honest. We are all fight fans and we know if a fighter tells the doctor that he "can't see out of" a damaged eye, that fight is being stopped. I don't think Fedor ever said he wanted the fight stopped. The way he got up off his stool was like he was ready to go back out for round 3. But once he said he couldn't see, that was just like saying he could no longer fight. But the sad thing about this linked article is the fact that douch bags have had some success in making Fedor reconsider retiring. They should be shot. No one that has HIS best interest or HIS legacy in mind, would convince him to fight again. There is no point. He isn't even close to the elite in the division anymore nor could he possibly ever get back to that point. One caveat however, I would still love to see a Fedor-Couture match.
Honestly, someone tell me why Cro Cop continues to be considered a marquee win? I am huge fan of highlight reel knockouts but the guy has never been a great mixed martial artist. Freaking Kevin Randleman was routinely getting beaten like a rag doll in Pride yet managed to pound out Mirko. If not for beating Mirko, Randleman would have held the record for consecutive Pride losses with 7. Seriously, if not for absolutely owning Josh Barnett, Mirko would be no more than a slightly better Heath Herring with a kick boxing background.
Past his prime. :: He had just come of the biggest win of his career in PRIDE at 185. Two of them in fact.
This is revisionist history. At the time he was actually favored over Fedor by many and the most feared man in Pride.
Yeah, it's funny, he touts Cro Cop as a huge win on Fedor's resume yet slams Henderson on Silva's resume. This is the same Dan Henderson that knocked out Belfort and Wanderlai in his last 2 middleweight bouts before challenging Silva. Henderson had the Pride MW division on absolute full security prison lockdown. And Silva choked him out in less than 2 rounds. The handling of Henderson is a huge win for Silva.
Franklin was favoured over Anderson and considered one of the most versatile fighters in the UFC. What exactly does that weigh?
Of course he was. He was the UFC champ. Since when does anyone favor challengers from other orgs? Silva hadn't much before he got to the UFC.
I'm not disputing where his standing was at the time. I am simply saying, in retrospect, with a better understanding of those who were talented and those that weren't, Cro Cop didn't do much to seperate himself from the pack. And yes, it is revisionist. Hell, at one time Ken Shamrock really was the "World's Most Dangerous Man". Sometimes things need to be revised.
He started his PRIDE career in his 30s? And? He wasn't some youthful stud tearing through the ranks. His absolute peak in terms of ranking was LEAVING Pride. He lost a relatively inconspicuous decision above his best weight then when he came back down he was thought to be a force. Which was true, no one outside of Silva beat him in his next 3 fights. Then again, these are the same people who think Fedor's wins over Coleman were so incredibly significant. A man whose "prime" had ended on the canvas of the octagon before the turn of the millennium.
At 205.. At middleweight he was exactly a year removed from knocking out Wanderlai Silva. The Henderson that fought Rampage and then Anderson Silva wasn't in his prime, but he was far from shot. Hell, Henderson didn't look shot 2 years later when he became the first guy to stop Michael Bisping.
Cmon man. I think you may be drinking the TLC juice. Up until the Fedor fight Randelman was the only blemish on Crocops ledger. It it was a lucky punch. Besides, that loss was avenged. Mirko was tearing through the HW division going through the liked of Igor, Coleman, Herring, Aleks, Barnett. Not only beating them, but destroying them. Did TLC hack your acct or something?
Except beating Alex Stiebling, Lee Murray, Kato, Sakurai, Carlos Newton and Jeremy Horn. The only thing against Anderson is he had two bad losses from when he hadn't grappling skill.
In my opinion, and this is looking at EVERYTHING in retrospect, Silva's two destructive stoppages of Franklin were more impressive than Fedor winning via decision over Mirko.
Cro Cop definitely wasn't a bad fighter in his hay-day. His UFC career definitely detracts from his career overall however.
Bullshit. The dude was subbed by Big Nog less than a year before getting pounded by Randleman. Like I said, I love highlight reel KO's. But tell me the one great fighter Cro Cop beat? The two best guys he faced, beat him with relative ease.
Franklin beat every other UFC MW and then got his ass handed to him twice by Silva. Even if the division was shit, Franklin owned it and Silva didn't even break a sweat in beating him twice. To me, that is far more impressive than grinding out a decision win over a guy like Cro Cop that had already been submitted and knocked out in his career.
