great peice… i agree with you in every way and that pic still leaves me amazed.. even if fedor loses i still think he can has like you said paved the way for the greats. some day there will be an mj, gretsky, bonds, rice etc of mixed martial arts

That’s what I’ve always thought. The guy is just so far and above everybody else that my jaw is on the floor nearly every time he fights.

With that out of the way, those dunk contests between MJ and Dominique Wilkins were unreal.

Now, can an MMA athlete reach a Wayne Gretzky level of performance relative to his peers? Gretzky holds 61 different NHL records. I’m not really sure how someone could be that dominant without dedicating his life to the sport, and the sport has hardly been around long enough for anyone to do that.

What we’d need is someone like Anderson Silva who fights for 15 years and wins multiple titles at multiple weight classes with only momentary blips (a flash KO here or a Damien Maia submission there).

Give it time.

I’m grateful that they’ve taken the time to put a tribute section for Jordan on here.. It show’s that Jordan was the globe’s most iconic sport’s figure ever. Even almost 10 years after his final retirement, he’s still the measure for greatness as to what we expect for our most idolized sports figures. He was the complete supreme being, both from a humanities standpoint & from a sport’s standpoint. He was the ultimate competitor and the ultimate professional. He came to work every single day & never took a night off. He changed the way his sport was looked at. He globalized the brand of basketball. He transcended the sport itself.

I remember still to this day.. Jordan was in his rookie season, He showed up to the Stadium dressed in a suit & tie etc.. At that time in the league, most players would loaf around in shirts & jeans or shorts & sneakers.. He was laughed at by his teammates. When asked why he would come to the game like was was going to a wedding or a boardroom, he replied, This is a business & if you want to be respected as a businessman, you need to act like it.. From that day forward, more and more players and athlete’s now show up and leave in the same manner.. Jordan is against the hip hop branding of sports. He thinks athletes should carry themselves to a higher standard, because they want to be paid as a such.. So they need to carry themselves as classy business men & women when going in the public eye..

As a life long Jordan fan, so much so, I named my first born after him who is a teenager now, I’ve heard just about every single interview Jordan has ever done.. What really stuck out last night was, although we all know behind the scenes he was very hard to be around at times and would cuss you out in a heartbeat, it was the first time on a public forum where we’ve heard Jordan even say a cuss word.. I thought that was very funny and in the context he used it was very amusing..

Not to compare Jordan to MMA.. It should have to go like this.. Taking parts of individual fighters for their distinct traits to compare them to the Michael Jordan of their sport..

Randy for his determination
Anderson Silva for his amazing skill
GSP for his athleticism & public image
Big Nog for his never quit attitude
Lesnar for his charisma & appeal

The reason I leave Fedor off is for a few key things.. Jordan lost, he didn’t win every time. But he lost because he was challenged against better competition and that drove him to be better and excel. He never turned down a challenge, win or lose. Sadly the same can’t be said about Fedor..Jordan’s own self determination and will to win hasn’t been matched in any athlete to date.. As was said last night.. There will never be another Michael Jordan.. There will be glimpses of greatness and athlete’s that excel and surpass his records, but we’ll never see another athlete with the total package to be the greatest at what they do in all of their sport as well as who and how they carry themselves away from the sport as Michael has done throughout his entire career.. His brand is so big on a global scale that his brand is worth more than a billion dollars even without him in the spotlight on the biggest stage.. That’s speaks for the appeal and the way he has carried himself through out his life. The way he broke down every barrier regarding race. He set a standard that has been unmatched and unsurpassed. When we speak of Michael Jordan, we never speak of a black man that played ball.. We speak of the greatest sport’s icon the world has ever known..