Determining the All-Time Greats of Mixed Martial Arts

Fedor is with no doubt the current all time great, especially if we are speaking about HWs.

7 years of domination on his division and counting. 31 victories and à losses and so many good fighters beaten. He is also the most respected fighter by the hardcore fans and is very influencial.

There is no days without Fedor threads on the main mma forums.

0 losses*

In my opinion, Coleman and Gracie are in similar situations, except Gracie was there at the very beginning. Both brought new styles that changed the game, and neither really evolved into the new breed of mixed martial artist. Coleman’s problem is that he’s fought too long, and fans now see him as a tired old man.

Fedor still has what MMA has taken away from most fighters. He’s got the old kind of martial arts mystique, whereby a guy from a tiny town in Russia can come in, training at his local gym, and beat 30 guys with only one controversial loss. MMA took away a lot of the mystery away from martial arts, in that it became apparent fairly early on (after the first dozen or so UFCs) that size did in fact matter, and the modern MMA gym emerged to, so its become all about the guys who are bigger, faster, and train harder to win. It’s not hard to see why a guy like Brock Lesnar or GSP can be so dominant, and that’s not taking anything away from what they’ve done. Almost nobody has the old aura of the invincible martial artist anymore, though I’d say Anderson Silva is pretty close too.

 Fedor still has the old mystique in that he’s smaller than most of his opponents, doesn’t train anywhere fancy, looks beatable in most of his fights and yet wins every time

Fedor is an enigma and the greatest MMA fighter ever…

Not to mention he’s small for a HW, doesn’t train at a “famous” camp, doesn’t have million dollar equipment like other fighters (ie trains in a playground), looks bored, never talks shit, beats K1 Level strikers on the feet, Beats olympic caliber wrestlers and BJJ Champions on the ground, and has never truly lost.

Fedor is the GOAT.

remembered because he isn’t fighting for the people keeping the records. If Brock wins the next 15 against UFC competition he will be labeled the greatest HW ever. He is a product of the machine.

Remember that guy from the first season of Ultimate Fighter. He tops my list of worst ever. There was a guy from the season with Mac Danzig that sucked ass too…can’t remember his name, but I was watching Inside MMA and they showed him getting his ass kicked in some small show. He was a little bitch.

Fedor is dangerous not because of his huge skill set people go on about (his striking is ok not great very flat footed and realy olny throws 1 or two punches not a big combo guy). As a displine of fighting his skill is sambo, his skill as a fighter is the ability to see openings and keep calm while waiting for them. AA was battering Fedor and i think its the first time i seen fedor fustrated but low and behold AA makes one mistake and its night night.

I will never understand why Randy Couture is ranked as highly as he is. It has been almost a decade since he won more than two fights in a row.

Fight Finder isn’t your friend so yiou should stop talking about him like he is. In any list of all-time great HW’s it comes down to 4 main guys right now, Nog, Randy, Coleman and Fedor with the other spots up for grabs. Randy’s resume speaks for itself so does Nog’s, people know how I feel about the overatedness of non-zuffa fighter but out of respect for mma i’ll throw in Fedor and Coleman started it so he gets in.

The interesting thing to me will be the next 5 years which I believe will really help cement the next generation of great HW’s in mma. By then the list will look very different and should really hold more value since most older HW’s will be retired and we can judge their entire careers in full.

Wayne Gretzky dominated the NHL in an era that was far tougher than today’s game. Perhaps hockey was less technical in those days, but the physical aspect of the sport was much more dominating. It wasn’t uncommon for players to headhunt constantly throughout a game without ever being penalized. Players could set picks, crush opponents without the puck, and cross check at will. Despite the tough environment, Gretzky always found a way to produce.

Whoever sold you these damaged goods should be exterminated from the information business.

The era in which Wayne Gretzky played was docile compared to the game that is played today. There is only one violent aspect that was more prevalent in the sport at that time : fighting. The instigator rule, where the player that initiates a fight receives two additional minutes of penalty did not come into effect until the late 80s, after Gretzky’s most formidable seasons had transpired. This means that an enforcer (read goon) could start fights without penalizing his team (both players received equal penalties), which enabled him to start fights with anyone who might initiate unwanted contact with the team’s stars (such as Wayne). Wayne was protected by Dave Semenko or Marty McSorely for much of his career, allowing him relatively free range to work his offensive magic without great fear of dire repercussions. Gretzky also benefited from playing prior to the trap.

Today, the instigator rule has reduced the opportunities for fighting and a new breed of hockey players has emerged: the head hunter. Generally unskilled with hockey sticks and pucks, this player has honed the skills of injuring other players while head hunting with their checks, and at times hitting opposing player after he no longer has possession of the puck (late check), and knee attacks. Thomas Kaberle of the Toronto Maple Leafs was a victim of a late hit delivered by Cam Jansen of the NJ Devils in 2007, requiring him to miss much of that season due to the concussion he received. Players who hit to cause maximum injury are relatively new in the sport. Prior to the instigator rule, there would have been immediate physical repercussions for Janssen that would usually allow a team to regulate (and limit) such attacks on their stars.

As for the other strange assertions in your text, hitting a player without the puck has never been allowed, nor has cross-checking.

The game of hockey is the most dangerous it has ever been. It is played faster, by larger athletes, who have more equipment and exercise no restraint in their hits. You hear players complain all the time how there is no respect on the ice anymore (more stick-work, head-hunting, knee attacks etc.).

All that being equal, Wayne Gretzky was my idol growing up and I consider him to be the greatest hockey player to have played the game, along side of Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr.