MMA P4P GOAT Rankings (2015): #1

[kurt]

Who is the #1 pound-for-pound greatest MMA athlete of all time?

2011 thread: http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=918184

Click to read more...

 

[kurt]

My nominations:

Fedor Emelianenko
Record: 34-4-1
Undefeated Streak: 33* (TK "loss" due to cut from illegal strike, tournament format required a winner to advance so could not be ruled a no contest)
UFC Title Defenses: N/A
Notable Wins: Nogueira x2 (PRIDE & Interim UFC HW Champ), Coleman (UFC HW Champ), Randleman (UFC HW Champ), Sylvia (UFC HW Champ), Arlovski (UFC HW Champ), Filipovic (PRIDE GP champ), Hunt, Arona, Schilt
Comments: Probably a natural LHW. Dominant from 2000-2009. Biggest criticism is not fighting top competition from 2007 onward.

Jon Jones
Record: 21-1
Undefeated Streak: 22* (1 loss due to DQ)
UFC Title Defenses: 8
Notable Wins: Rua (UFC LHW Champ, PRIDE GP champ), Jackson (UFC LHW Champ), Machida (UFC LHW Champ), Evans (UFC LHW Champ), Belfort (UFC LHW Champ), Cormier (UFC LHW Champ, Strikeforce GP Champ)
Comments: Issues outside the cage, but inside the cage there is no question to his dominance from 2009-2015.

... more to come.

 

[Avs_19]

Tough decision but I went with Jones.

IMO, the only "easy" title fight he had was vs Chael. Besides that he has fought the best out there. Took the belt from Shogun and then had 8 straight title defenses over Rampage, Machida, Rashad, Vitor, Chael, Gus, Glover, and DC. Should still be undefeated too if it wasn't for that dumb disqualification in the Hamill fight.

 

[Acallabeth]

Jon Jones is the best MMA fighter I've seen.
He's naturally at least of the same weight as Fedor, and I believe prime Emelianenko would defeat him, but it's just a speculation. He's not invulnerable or flawless in the octagon, but Jones is a more complete warrior who has smashed his competition, and he's #1 for me.

 

[I am the Liquor]

I votes Silva. If its a tie between Fedor and Jones I vote for Jones. Tough choice between him and Silva for me.

 

[The Jesus*]

My top 5 is

Silva (Aldo will be #1 after he beats McGregor)
Aldo
Fedor
Jones
GSP

 

[kurt]

Sorry, been busy the last couple days. Another nomination:

Anderson Silva
Record: 33-6-1
Undefeated Streak: 20* (17 if you exclude his DQ for an illegal upkick)
UFC Title Defenses: 11* (10 if you exclude Lutter fight where he missed weight)
Notable Wins: Henderson (PRIDE MW & WW Champ, SF LHW Champ), Franklin x2 (UFC MW Champ), Belfort (UFC LHW Champ), Griffin (UFC LHW Champ), Okami, Newton (UFC WW Champ), Marquardt (SF WW Champ), Maia, Sonnen x2
Comments: Probably a natural LHW. Dominant from 2000-2009. Biggest criticism is not fighting top competition from 2007 onward.

---

For me it's Fedor still, but Jones is likely going to run away with this in the next year or two if he can stay out of trouble.

 

[kurt]

Only 13 votes so far... get your votes in!

 

[I am the Liquor]

I think the votes are in.

Not too many come here much anymore.

 

[The Jesus*]

I cant vote because I've been naughty. But I'd vote for Silva.

 

[Stealth JD]

Hard to say. Some of the older fighters like Gracie and Hughes have had their reputations somewhat tarnished because you remember them getting defeated later in their careers...even though at their prime, they could probably take a guy like GSP. When you've got young guys like Aldo and Jon Jones being compared to the likes of Couture and Shamrock, they still have all the luster which will undoubtedly be removed if they keep fighting into their late 30's.

For that reason, I'd vote Jon Jones. His only loss is via DQ, and he's one of the most dominant fighters of his era. But put him in the ring with a 29 year old Shamrock or Randy Couture or Chuck Liddell and he may not look so untouchable. Heck, Royce Gracie may have been the best of all-time...but the loss to Hughes is what people remember...not fighting guys bigger than him or for hours at a time during training.

 

[kurt]

Looks like Jones is starting to run away with this. I agree, it's easier to consider a guy the top of the heap when you haven't witnessed his decline yet. I think Jones is a good choice though.

 

[Rocko604]

I went with Fedor, but it's hard to say who the GOAT is when some of these fighters are still active.

IMO, I think Weidman should be on this list as well.

 

[kurt]

I went with Fedor, but it's hard to say who the GOAT is when some of these fighters are still active.

IMO, I think Weidman should be on this list as well.

I agree it's hard when fighters are still active, for 2 reasons.

1. You haven't seen how completely dominant they may prove to be. This counts against them a little bit in conversations like this.
2. You haven't seen their decline, or lost their sense of dominance from recent memory. I think this is the biggest influencing factor, as once upon a time people were saying Miguel Torres should be considered one of the GOATs. I think this works against Fedor too.

And yeah, I'll add Wideman after this one.

 

[Jasper]

I think the votes are in.

Not too many come here much anymore.

Wait until Dec 12. Lots of people around for the big events.
If Weidman beats Rockhold it's going to bump him up a lot in my books. This is just as big as the other fight, if not more so, to me.

 

[jaric1862]

Jon Jones Should not of won this

It should be

1. Anderson Silva
2. Georges St-Pierre
3.Fedor Emelianenko
4.Jon Jones
5. Jose Aldo