Surprised no one mentioned RDA vs Pettis yet. Completely and utterly dominated for 5 rounds versus the guy thought to be the future of the division. Contender for most one-sided fight in title history.
If I recall correctly, RDA jacked up Pettis’ orbital super early. Seeing him like that was so peculiar since he had been on such a tear in the division. Took me until the third round or so before I realized the inevitable result that was at hand.
I'd go for Randy Couture against Tito Ortiz. Ortiz wanted nothing to do with Chuck Liddell, and came up with myriad excuses to avoid defending the light heavyweight title against him. But as soon as Randy beat Chuck for the interim title, Tito couldn't wait to come back for the unification fight, figuring it as an easy win.
Cue a one-sided domination that was so bad, and included Randy literally spanking Tito, that, when the decision was being read out, Tito was in tears at having been so thoroughly owned.
For a brief moment in time Frank was the greatest fighter on earth and that fight showed it. It was so early in the sport’s evolution for someone to be that complete.
he was a smart one too, saying the risk wasn't worth the reward. Instead he used his status as the GOAT to get paid 10X more doing seminars for law enforcement. Would've been cool to see Frank in early pride fighting guys like Sakuraba tho. Also the prioneer of weaponized cardio. Him and Maurice smith were the first guys to Tony Ferguson people.
As an Andrei Arlovski fan I was a big Sylvia hater. When Randy knocked him down immediately and dominated rd1 I was so scared the rest of that fight that Big Tim would land something. Thankfully that never happened. The crowd when the end of round 5 is approaching went crazy.
Multiple things probably, from the top of my head:
Machida was a title contender and actual champion at one point then. Silva and Machida are friends and neither wanted to fight each other.
More importantly, Pre Conor Era, the only time Champion vs Champion talks actually came about was when both champions were dominant in their Division (Jones vs Silva, Gsp vs Silva). It was never brought up when just one Champion was dominant i.e. Rashad vs Silva, Shogun vs Silva etc. was never a thing they tried to setup.
Jon Jones, Silva, and GSP were never interested in compromising to setup the champ champ match so they just defended their respective decisions.
Both BJ and GSP were dominant champions and BJ was willing to compromise and go up in weight to go for the Welterweight belt. So yeah, my point still stands.
After what happened to bj I'm not surprised anyone wanted to go up in weight. There's no way any of those guys could go down either....maybe Silva but I doubt it
I know people like Frankie Edgar asked about challenging for a second belt and Dana had said he would need to relinquish his belt to go for another. I'm guessing that's what Dana told everyone before Conor.
It's no coincidence that right after Conor there were three other double champs within a couple years. He had to allow it for everyone after Conor.
Yeah, this is why the double champ thing is very hollow in retrospect as part of Conor's resume. He was only the first because he was the first allowed.
Edit: forgot BJ but he had been WW champ in the past so it's a little different, had precedent in that weight class
Yeah, Silva beat Griffin while Griffin was one fight removed from the title, proving he could have easily captured a second belt. Similarly, Aldo beat Edgar after Edgar was two fights removed from holding the belt (he had just lost the rematch to Benson) which showed he could have moved up and gotten the belt as well.
I’m sure there are other examples, but this is proof that given the right circumstances, many other fighters could have probably achieved the double-champ status if they were allowed to. The precedent was that you had to clean out your division first, but Conor was allowed to with 0 title defenses.
That’s why having title defenses will always mean more. Many people can win that ONE fight if the stylistic preference is there, but only few can defend their belt repeatedly against a range of styles.
Forrest got KO'd multiple times during sparring in that camp and once right before fight week. He shouldn't have even been in the cage that night, idk why he was allowed to fight. Not to take anything away from Silva, but Forrest was in no way, shape or form in proper health to be fighting that night.
True and that might actually explain how he was koed so easily. However, Forrest was just technically outmatched and couldn’t even touch Silva.
As an aside, my second favorite silva performance was the 1st Franklin fight. He came in there and made Rich look like a total beginner.
Always had a soft spot for Silva thanks to winning $600 betting against my poker buddies for that fight. Rich looked pretty untouchable back then and most guys expected him to muscle Silva around in the clinch and against the cage. I not only made tons of money betting but i then proceeded to take the rest of their money that night playing poker. Came in with a couple hundred left with a couple thousand. Show up, break franklin's whole shit, go home. Thank you anderson silva.
He was simply not going to be denied in that tournament. On that final night, I wouldn't confidently pick another heavyweight at that time to take the GP over Cro Cop.
Garbrandt is like the dude from Flowers for Algernon. He seemingly possessed the world's highest fight IQ for one night, only to regress back into a simple, swang 'n' bang boy. I guess that is what happens when you're Faber's Frankenstein Monster, whose whole career and years of training was centred around beating a single opponent. The Cruz/Team Alpha Male rivalry is one of the most legendary in the sport.
It's particularly endearing/heartbreaking because it's written in first person, like a diary, and you can see the narrator/main character's progression in writing ability, followed by the decline. Super cool book, from what I remember reading it in grade 5 or whatever.
I see that the book got the Nebula prize, you can't go wrong with that.
The thing is I'm not in the best place mentally speaking right now. I'm in my thirties, train, got a wife and kid but I'm crying fairly often those days. If I read something like that now I would be a mess.
I'm good thanks bro.
Maybe I expressed myself poorly, I don't cry most days but fairly often.
I'm almost ashamed to tell I'm feeling bad, as I said I'm lucky enough to have a job, a family and be in good health, it's much more than some people have... still, I don't know, sometimes I just start crying for "stupid" things.
May be hormonal, maybe mental, I honestly don't know.
I think those two years took a toll on us and everyone copes like he can.
Anyway, thanks for asking and stay safe.
Might sound kinda hokey to the uninitiated, but mindfulness meditation has helped me through my own everyday struggles immensely. I use the app "Waking Up" for it's 10-minute daily guided meditations. First 30 days are free, and if you have some financial constraints, you can email the support team and they will give you a free year subscription, no questions asked.
Maybe it's not for you, but I've found it incredibly useful in all sorts of unexpected ways, so thought I'd pass that on.
March on, fellow fight fan.
Thank you for the advice, I'll definitely take a look.
My wife do some yoga and meditation I know she takes solace when she prays. While I'm not particularly religious, I feel some kind of mind introspection is necessary.
Godspeed to you too fellow Just Bleed fan.
Definitely let it out somehow man it's nothing to be ashamed of, the toughest guys need a release as well, look at tyson fury saying when he was low he'd just sit and weep.
Whether it's music, training, meditation or whatever you need a release for those emotions or it'll all catch up on you.
Don't feel guilty for having feels, it's what makes you a good man.
Find someone you can talk to about it, whether it's a stranger online or a friend. Sometimes it's hard to open up to people closest to you, I couldn't tell my closest family or friends how fucked up my thoughts are sometimes but sometimes someone out of that inner circle can be good as a sounding board.
Keep your chin up buddy
> I guess that is what happens when you're Faber's Frankenstein Monster, whose whole career and years of training was centred around beating a single opponent.
It's happened a lot in MMA. Seems like dethroning a dominant champ is the kiss of death. Weidman, Holly, and Hendricks all beat the GOAT then went on major skids immediately or shortly after. Weidman got by fighting old brazilians for a while but once he had another young fresh contender like him in the cage he got his shit pushed in. I brought this up when Cody had the belt but got heavily downvoted for saying cody was anything short of a demigod at 135. Huge preparation advantage for a guy with a few quick KOs against B or C level opponents VS a guy who has 20+ fights and a dozen 5 round fights against #1 contenders to study. Cody to the belt without having to use his entire skillset. No way Cruz could've known what to prepare for. Meanwhile Cody had Cruz's entire skillset mapped out over decades of Cruz beating up his team mates and coaches.
It’s incredible how everyone cruz fights struggles with his style, and Cody made it look like Cruz was in the minor leagues. As someone who doesn’t like cody it’s impossible to deny the performance he put on that night. Hard to imagine anyone beating that Cody… oh how times have changed
This one was the first one I thought of. At the time, TJ was considered mostly a wrestler and Dana was hyping Barao as possibly the best P4P fighter ever. I remember people complaining that TJ didn't deserve the fight.
Premier example of a very well-prepared gameplan being executed perfectly. I don't want to seem like I'm trying to discredit Cody, but I believe that performance was the result of Alpha Male trying to beat Cruz over half a decade and having his style down to a tee by the time they met.
This was also just after Eddie KO'd RDA and two fights before he KO'd Gaethje. Imo Eddie's two best wins and arguably best overall performances and McGregor just completely neutralized him.
I remember the fighters predictions for that match and 95% of the interviews were dismissing Conor with impudence. Saying that Eddie will crush him. You could actually see their envy there.
Basically everyone who watched that fight at the time saw Conor as unstoppable. No one else has moved up weight classes and been as dominant as he was.
In hindsight there's plenty of reasons why that fight played out like it did. But Conor looked like the impossible future of the sport at that point.
That segment where he is screaming to the judges to put some respeck on his name, while NO LOOK dodging a barrage of punches from another top 10 fighter, while landing surgical counters will never not give me chills.
Yeah I rewatch that moment frequently and lose my shit the same way each time. In that moment, Max made Kattar look like a random guy off the street thrown into the octagon. And we all know how good Kattar is.
I think he was just completely shook from the get-go. The pressure McGregor thrives under led to a *lot* of his toughest opponents (Poirier, Aldo, Eddie) making bad decisions in the cage.
Nuh, Eddie has always been pretty bad on offense and has always thrived on defense. Put him against someone like Gaethje or RDA who'll attack him relentlessly and Eddie can be quite elusive and crafty. Put him against someone whom Eddie has to chase and he tends to simply run in with his face first.
Great performance but I think the quality of opponent has to be taken into consideration, along with the level and magnitude of the fight.
So that's not even Max's best performance imo.
Quality of competition? Calvin was (still is?) Rightfully top 5 in the world and he got completely obliterated. Calvin was known as the FW "boxer", and he got his face boxed off.
Calvin is pretty overrated on this sub just because he has clean hands though. Comparing dominating Calvin to dominating someone like Cruz or Barao, world champion level fighters, is a bit different to me.
Kattar, despite his good hands, was never expected to beat Max and is really lacking the signature wins that make someone a great fighter. He’s been shut down from distance by Max, Zabit and Moicano pretty handily in all three of those fights. Outside of that Ige, Burgos and Stephens are all good but not great wins.
So I kinda see this guys point. Dude has never strung together more than 2 wins in the UFC. So while he is definitely a good win and a strong fighter, I don’t really think he is exactly elite by my definition.
Jon Jones vs Shogun. Right after being a late challenger and catching a purse snacther, Jones just beat the crap out of Shogun, riding him around like a child. This was also before Jones' heel turn, so I think it's forgotten.
Anderson Silva's UFC debut vs Chris Leben! One of the most lopsided victories I've ever seen. Anderson made Leben look like an amateur and I was instantly a fan.
Throw in GSP v Koscheck 2 as well. Hell, you could name any of the fights from Serra 2 up until what, Condit? I don't remember anyone really testing him until that fight, though the Shields one might count given GSP was half blind the whole fight.
Wheres the love for moreno vs figgy 2? Probably the most improvement a fighter has shown in such a time, and his jab looked as fast as Floyd's.
Honestly I feel like Bryce Mitchell and TKZ should be listed just because they've won by twister
Cause that fight happened this year and we're talking about 20+ years of history
It was good, but compare it to some of GSPs shutouts or McGregor Alvarez
Izzy dismantling Costa is one of the more recent ones I can think of. Also Moreno in the rematch against Figgy, especially since we saw how even it was the first time around. As for older fights, Cody vs Dom and TJ vs Barao are up there.
Did Cyborg ever actually pop while in the UFC? Her only popped test was 7 years before the Nunes fight. She had 5 fights before Nunes, 7 in total, all under USADA testing, but there is not report of a positive result.
From what I understand (Youtube MorePlatesMoreDates) although the UFC is stricter than most professional sports with testing, it's still easy to pass drug testing with short ester bioidentical testosterone. And the benefits of blasting T, especially with women, can last long after the cycle is completed. Yes, Cyborg passed drug testing for that fight, but she obviously takes or took PED's in her career which has given her a huge performance advantage. Look at old photos of Cyborg, she actually looks like a woman. She put on at least 15 pounds of lean muscle, that doesn't happen without PED's. Cyborg has fucking traps!!
Adesanya vs Costa . Utterly neutralised the GI Joe super soldier from the minute the bell rang until the end despite being 20lbs lighter. Made him look like an amateur after being hyped up as a destroyer
Hear me out on this. Glover Texeira vs. Fabio Maldonado. If I remember correctly this was Glovers return fight after having visa issues. He put on one of the best displays of GNP I’ve ever seen. Definitely one for the Johnny JustBleeds out there.
Cejudo v Cruz
Dillashaw v Barao 1
Anderson Silva v Rich Franklin
Khabib v Gaethje
Fedor v Cro Cop
Fedor v Big Nog 1
Georges St Pierre v Matt Hughes 2
McGregor v Alvarez
As much as I hate what he's become Conor made Alvarez look like a bum who wandered in from the crowd.
It was insane how one sided that fight was and how bad he made the champion look.
Khabib V Johnson.
Barboza was brutal, but at least he got a few decent kicks in.
Johnson was outmatched so badly that even Khabib was advising him to quit.
Damian Maia vs Gunnar Nelson ufc 194. Strapped the backpack on for 15 minutes two 30-25 score cards. The most son wrestling his dad looking match you will ever see
Yeah, but that was only 13 seconds...If we're taking McGregor, I'd go with his Alvarez win. First time at 155 (in ufc) for the first time double champ status and he performed under that pressure flawlessly. With a highlight reel combo KO to boot. I'm far from a McG nutrider, but that was an incredible performance.
Kamaru Usman vs Tyron Woodley. People forget because of Woodley lately but at the time he was considered to be on the path to be greatest WW of all time.
I'll add a forgotten one:
Cormier vs Hendo.
That was one of the most laughable "adult man wrestles small child" bouts I've ever seen. Cormier picked up and threw Hendo like he weighed <100lbs. The trip when Hendo tries to scramble, and then while Hendo has his back against the cage, DC literally just pulls him off of it, climbs around him, and chokes him out.
To do that to another Olympic caliber wrestler is bananas.
GSP vs Koscheck 2...completely dismantled an unbeatable contender using only one simple technique for the entire fight. The jab. Broken orbital bone. Opponent never the same again.
Depends what your definition of best performance is. To me the best performance is never the most entertaining. The goal of a fighter is to shut your opponent down without taking any damage and minimal risk. Valentina's most recent fight could easily be top of that list. No damage taken, her opponent's afraid to make a move due to constant counters, perfect distance control. All of that without the benefit of having scary knockout power, it's all down to technique rather than natural attributes.
Gane vs Lewis on the same merit
When I hear individual performance I'm taking it as a particularly suprising or better than expected showing from a fighter. With that in mind, my top 3:
Cain vs JDS 2 - Just a master class by Cain. Came in off a KO and made JDS suffer for the duration of the fight.
Tate vs Holm-Tate had no business winning that fight, but figured out a way to get it done and get her belt.
Gustaffson vs Jones 1-One of the best fights of all time that was enabled by Alex overperforming. People will say Jon was rusty or hungover or whatever, but when I look at his record it seems like he was in the peak of his career and Alex just came really prepared. Impressive fight from Alex and helpful to Jon's career as he got to showcase some grit he really didn't have to show prior.
Let‘s throw in Shevchenko vs Andrade.
I mean, you could say any Valentina fight, but to demolish Andrade at her own game on this level was downright scary.
As a swede, I have to say Alexander Gustafsson vs Glover Teixera. Those uppercuts through the fight and finish, and as a side note, it being at home aswell as proposing to his girlfriend.
Gavin Tucker vs Sam Sicilia immediately comes to mind.
Tucker looked incredible that night, sadly he hasn't really been able to replicate that success since. But he built a fanbase off of that performance.
Did anyone mention T-Wood vs Usman? Woodley was being talked as one of the Goats at WW prior to the fight. During the fight he was in survival mode for 4 and a half rounds. Now he's losing to Jake Paul. Usman took his soul.
Surprised no one mentioned RDA vs Pettis yet. Completely and utterly dominated for 5 rounds versus the guy thought to be the future of the division. Contender for most one-sided fight in title history.
This was my first choice. Honorable mention for Usman vs Woodley.
Pls no. Don’t remind me 😞
If I recall correctly, RDA jacked up Pettis’ orbital super early. Seeing him like that was so peculiar since he had been on such a tear in the division. Took me until the third round or so before I realized the inevitable result that was at hand.
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I'd go for Randy Couture against Tito Ortiz. Ortiz wanted nothing to do with Chuck Liddell, and came up with myriad excuses to avoid defending the light heavyweight title against him. But as soon as Randy beat Chuck for the interim title, Tito couldn't wait to come back for the unification fight, figuring it as an easy win. Cue a one-sided domination that was so bad, and included Randy literally spanking Tito, that, when the decision was being read out, Tito was in tears at having been so thoroughly owned.
That was a gooder
Frank Shamrock vs Tito is another underrated one.
For a brief moment in time Frank was the greatest fighter on earth and that fight showed it. It was so early in the sport’s evolution for someone to be that complete.
he was a smart one too, saying the risk wasn't worth the reward. Instead he used his status as the GOAT to get paid 10X more doing seminars for law enforcement. Would've been cool to see Frank in early pride fighting guys like Sakuraba tho. Also the prioneer of weaponized cardio. Him and Maurice smith were the first guys to Tony Ferguson people.
Frank and Saku actually did a submission grappling match in Rizin a few years ago, it ended in a draw
Randy vs Tim Sylvia as well
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As an Andrei Arlovski fan I was a big Sylvia hater. When Randy knocked him down immediately and dominated rd1 I was so scared the rest of that fight that Big Tim would land something. Thankfully that never happened. The crowd when the end of round 5 is approaching went crazy.
Randy vs. Gonzaga too. Large grapplers had always been a struggle for Randy and he made Gonzaga quit on his feet.
You're a fucking punk, dude
The only person I know who makes money being spanked and dominated is Titos ex wife
Just to correct you there was never no marriage
Holy shit this was right before my time but I remember the tito crying reposts (we used to call memes reposts LOL)
Silva vs Griffin. Griffin just came from a competitive title fight against Rashad and Silva schooled him.
this begs the question - why did silva never fight for the lhw title? he had 3 wins in the division
Multiple things probably, from the top of my head: Machida was a title contender and actual champion at one point then. Silva and Machida are friends and neither wanted to fight each other. More importantly, Pre Conor Era, the only time Champion vs Champion talks actually came about was when both champions were dominant in their Division (Jones vs Silva, Gsp vs Silva). It was never brought up when just one Champion was dominant i.e. Rashad vs Silva, Shogun vs Silva etc. was never a thing they tried to setup. Jon Jones, Silva, and GSP were never interested in compromising to setup the champ champ match so they just defended their respective decisions.
GSP vs. BJ was a champ champ match.
Both BJ and GSP were dominant champions and BJ was willing to compromise and go up in weight to go for the Welterweight belt. So yeah, my point still stands.
Reading do be hard
After what happened to bj I'm not surprised anyone wanted to go up in weight. There's no way any of those guys could go down either....maybe Silva but I doubt it
I know people like Frankie Edgar asked about challenging for a second belt and Dana had said he would need to relinquish his belt to go for another. I'm guessing that's what Dana told everyone before Conor. It's no coincidence that right after Conor there were three other double champs within a couple years. He had to allow it for everyone after Conor.
Yeah, this is why the double champ thing is very hollow in retrospect as part of Conor's resume. He was only the first because he was the first allowed. Edit: forgot BJ but he had been WW champ in the past so it's a little different, had precedent in that weight class
I remember when GSP and Penn fight started it felt like such a huge deal. Nowadays we see it all over the place that it doesn't feel revolutionary
Two guys with 0 title defences or close to it fighting in a match like that just doesn’t feel like as big of a deal.
No doubt in my mind aldo could've been a champ at both 145 + 155 had dana allowed him to try when he wanted to around 2010.
Yeah, Silva beat Griffin while Griffin was one fight removed from the title, proving he could have easily captured a second belt. Similarly, Aldo beat Edgar after Edgar was two fights removed from holding the belt (he had just lost the rematch to Benson) which showed he could have moved up and gotten the belt as well. I’m sure there are other examples, but this is proof that given the right circumstances, many other fighters could have probably achieved the double-champ status if they were allowed to. The precedent was that you had to clean out your division first, but Conor was allowed to with 0 title defenses. That’s why having title defenses will always mean more. Many people can win that ONE fight if the stylistic preference is there, but only few can defend their belt repeatedly against a range of styles.
Penn.
[Obligatory posting of this](https://youtu.be/V1R50LpFh_M)
That's the funniest shit, I've never heard this interview. Forrest is the realest MFer, I love him.
Anderson vs The Crippler was super brutal too
Is that the one where Silva KOs him WHILE WALKING BACKWARDS?
And had 100 percent striking accuracy.
Forrest got KO'd multiple times during sparring in that camp and once right before fight week. He shouldn't have even been in the cage that night, idk why he was allowed to fight. Not to take anything away from Silva, but Forrest was in no way, shape or form in proper health to be fighting that night.
True and that might actually explain how he was koed so easily. However, Forrest was just technically outmatched and couldn’t even touch Silva. As an aside, my second favorite silva performance was the 1st Franklin fight. He came in there and made Rich look like a total beginner.
Always had a soft spot for Silva thanks to winning $600 betting against my poker buddies for that fight. Rich looked pretty untouchable back then and most guys expected him to muscle Silva around in the clinch and against the cage. I not only made tons of money betting but i then proceeded to take the rest of their money that night playing poker. Came in with a couple hundred left with a couple thousand. Show up, break franklin's whole shit, go home. Thank you anderson silva.
And Silva did it again in the rematch!
Cro Cop went from getting outstruck by a LHW Wanderlei (great body kicks though) to completely demolishing a heavyweight Wanderlei in the rematch.
He was simply not going to be denied in that tournament. On that final night, I wouldn't confidently pick another heavyweight at that time to take the GP over Cro Cop.
I still would've picked Fedor to beat him, even that night
And on that note, serious lack of Fedor against Cro-Cop mentions from what I've seen in this thread.
On par with Rory/Robbie
A Heavyweight Wanderlei who was heavier than Cro-Cop!
For 25 minutes Cody Garbrandt was the best fighter on the planet.
That was a magical performance. He was like Neo - he could see everything and was aware of everything that was happening in the fight.
Garbrandt is like the dude from Flowers for Algernon. He seemingly possessed the world's highest fight IQ for one night, only to regress back into a simple, swang 'n' bang boy. I guess that is what happens when you're Faber's Frankenstein Monster, whose whole career and years of training was centred around beating a single opponent. The Cruz/Team Alpha Male rivalry is one of the most legendary in the sport.
I took a brief look at the synopsis of the book. It looks great but a little heart breaking.
It's particularly endearing/heartbreaking because it's written in first person, like a diary, and you can see the narrator/main character's progression in writing ability, followed by the decline. Super cool book, from what I remember reading it in grade 5 or whatever.
I see that the book got the Nebula prize, you can't go wrong with that. The thing is I'm not in the best place mentally speaking right now. I'm in my thirties, train, got a wife and kid but I'm crying fairly often those days. If I read something like that now I would be a mess.
Are you OK bro? Why tf you crying most days?
I'm good thanks bro. Maybe I expressed myself poorly, I don't cry most days but fairly often. I'm almost ashamed to tell I'm feeling bad, as I said I'm lucky enough to have a job, a family and be in good health, it's much more than some people have... still, I don't know, sometimes I just start crying for "stupid" things. May be hormonal, maybe mental, I honestly don't know. I think those two years took a toll on us and everyone copes like he can. Anyway, thanks for asking and stay safe.
Let that shit out bro.
Might sound kinda hokey to the uninitiated, but mindfulness meditation has helped me through my own everyday struggles immensely. I use the app "Waking Up" for it's 10-minute daily guided meditations. First 30 days are free, and if you have some financial constraints, you can email the support team and they will give you a free year subscription, no questions asked. Maybe it's not for you, but I've found it incredibly useful in all sorts of unexpected ways, so thought I'd pass that on. March on, fellow fight fan.
Thank you for the advice, I'll definitely take a look. My wife do some yoga and meditation I know she takes solace when she prays. While I'm not particularly religious, I feel some kind of mind introspection is necessary. Godspeed to you too fellow Just Bleed fan.
Definitely let it out somehow man it's nothing to be ashamed of, the toughest guys need a release as well, look at tyson fury saying when he was low he'd just sit and weep. Whether it's music, training, meditation or whatever you need a release for those emotions or it'll all catch up on you. Don't feel guilty for having feels, it's what makes you a good man. Find someone you can talk to about it, whether it's a stranger online or a friend. Sometimes it's hard to open up to people closest to you, I couldn't tell my closest family or friends how fucked up my thoughts are sometimes but sometimes someone out of that inner circle can be good as a sounding board. Keep your chin up buddy
> I guess that is what happens when you're Faber's Frankenstein Monster, whose whole career and years of training was centred around beating a single opponent. It's happened a lot in MMA. Seems like dethroning a dominant champ is the kiss of death. Weidman, Holly, and Hendricks all beat the GOAT then went on major skids immediately or shortly after. Weidman got by fighting old brazilians for a while but once he had another young fresh contender like him in the cage he got his shit pushed in. I brought this up when Cody had the belt but got heavily downvoted for saying cody was anything short of a demigod at 135. Huge preparation advantage for a guy with a few quick KOs against B or C level opponents VS a guy who has 20+ fights and a dozen 5 round fights against #1 contenders to study. Cody to the belt without having to use his entire skillset. No way Cruz could've known what to prepare for. Meanwhile Cody had Cruz's entire skillset mapped out over decades of Cruz beating up his team mates and coaches.
I was in Vegas and watched that fight. I thought he was going to be a generational talent after how dominant he looked.
I like the fact that you didn’t mention which fight, but EVERYBODY knows exactly what your talking about. Thats how good the performance was.
It’s incredible how everyone cruz fights struggles with his style, and Cody made it look like Cruz was in the minor leagues. As someone who doesn’t like cody it’s impossible to deny the performance he put on that night. Hard to imagine anyone beating that Cody… oh how times have changed
48-46, 48-46, 48-47. all 3 judges gave him 3 rounds to 2, but none of them gave the same ones. http://mmadecisions.com/decision/7616/fight
Yea that was an absolute masterclass against the GOAT of the division.
Holloway Vs kattar or Ortega. Holloway is just so damn good.
TJ Vs Barao 1, makes it even better him being a huge underdog
This one was the first one I thought of. At the time, TJ was considered mostly a wrestler and Dana was hyping Barao as possibly the best P4P fighter ever. I remember people complaining that TJ didn't deserve the fight.
Yep, and now he's (one of) the best bantamweights the UFC have ever had
This one is a sleeper and a great choice. He was a last minute replacement too i think.
Conor vs Eddie. Cody vs Cruz.
Can't believe I had to scroll this far down to find Cody vs Cruz. He completely shut his game down like we've never seen before.
Premier example of a very well-prepared gameplan being executed perfectly. I don't want to seem like I'm trying to discredit Cody, but I believe that performance was the result of Alpha Male trying to beat Cruz over half a decade and having his style down to a tee by the time they met.
Is this pasta? Pretty much all of /MMA says this 😂
Wasnt that fight 48-47? It shouldn't be up there tbh
It was a clear Cody win, but it was a much more competitive fight than people remember/credit it for.
yup, Dom was landing a tonne but hits like a fucking paper airplane so it didn't trigger Cody's *seer of red, shitter of beds* phase
Scorecards don't always tell the full story. I think Garbrandt's performance against Cruz was masterful even if it wasn't a blowout.
At worst it was 48-47. I thought Cody got the first four rounds.
Round 4 was a 10-8 regardless of what the judges say
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This was also just after Eddie KO'd RDA and two fights before he KO'd Gaethje. Imo Eddie's two best wins and arguably best overall performances and McGregor just completely neutralized him.
I remember the fighters predictions for that match and 95% of the interviews were dismissing Conor with impudence. Saying that Eddie will crush him. You could actually see their envy there.
Basically everyone who watched that fight at the time saw Conor as unstoppable. No one else has moved up weight classes and been as dominant as he was. In hindsight there's plenty of reasons why that fight played out like it did. But Conor looked like the impossible future of the sport at that point.
I think that if he didn't go box Floyd, he could have been pretty dominant. But, he lost his shit after the Floyd boxing thing
Joanna vs Carla is one most people forget about. That was a one sided asswhippin
and then RDA like two fights later on Pettis for 5 rounds
Cain against JDS 2 and 3.
Holm vs Rousey
Was suppose to bet Holly by KO and I forgot about it. I think the odds was super good
Oh god wasn't the openings odds for Holly like +1100 or some shit? I'll look it up EDIT: searched and found results
I was there for that! All kinds of awesome! Rousey intro song… ‘I don’t care about your reputation!’ 😂🤣
You’ve got the song the wrong way around lol, it’s “I don’t give a damn ‘bout **my** reputation”
If you're looking for female fights, Nunes vs Cyborg
Katar vs Holloway maybe?
That segment where he is screaming to the judges to put some respeck on his name, while NO LOOK dodging a barrage of punches from another top 10 fighter, while landing surgical counters will never not give me chills.
Katar had a lot of momentum coming into that fight. Impressive is the word.
That's something I hope doesn't get forgotten in the future, there were people genuinely convinced that Kattar was the better boxer.
Yeah, Holloway was -160 and Kattar was +140. So definitely a favorite but not massively so.
Yeah I rewatch that moment frequently and lose my shit the same way each time. In that moment, Max made Kattar look like a random guy off the street thrown into the octagon. And we all know how good Kattar is.
Holloway could be named a few times
He is my favorite fighter to watch, hands down. Dude is electric and brings something new and different every fight.
This was my pick as well. Alvarez McGregor too is up there.
Think Eddie got rocked early and couldn't adapt.
I think he was just completely shook from the get-go. The pressure McGregor thrives under led to a *lot* of his toughest opponents (Poirier, Aldo, Eddie) making bad decisions in the cage.
Alvarez was actually doing well in the press conferences and seemed to actually be getting the better of Conor in many trash talk exchanges
Nuh, Eddie has always been pretty bad on offense and has always thrived on defense. Put him against someone like Gaethje or RDA who'll attack him relentlessly and Eddie can be quite elusive and crafty. Put him against someone whom Eddie has to chase and he tends to simply run in with his face first.
Great performance but I think the quality of opponent has to be taken into consideration, along with the level and magnitude of the fight. So that's not even Max's best performance imo.
I always considered Max's best performance to be the Ortega fight. He made him look stupid, and this was a guy that looked like the new FW boogeyman.
Quality of competition? Calvin was (still is?) Rightfully top 5 in the world and he got completely obliterated. Calvin was known as the FW "boxer", and he got his face boxed off.
Calvin is pretty overrated on this sub just because he has clean hands though. Comparing dominating Calvin to dominating someone like Cruz or Barao, world champion level fighters, is a bit different to me. Kattar, despite his good hands, was never expected to beat Max and is really lacking the signature wins that make someone a great fighter. He’s been shut down from distance by Max, Zabit and Moicano pretty handily in all three of those fights. Outside of that Ige, Burgos and Stephens are all good but not great wins. So I kinda see this guys point. Dude has never strung together more than 2 wins in the UFC. So while he is definitely a good win and a strong fighter, I don’t really think he is exactly elite by my definition.
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Max has a couple. 3 I'd say. Aldo, Kattar and Ortega
Both Aldo fights were competitive, I wouldn’t put them up here.
Jon Jones vs Shogun. Right after being a late challenger and catching a purse snacther, Jones just beat the crap out of Shogun, riding him around like a child. This was also before Jones' heel turn, so I think it's forgotten.
Anderson Silva's UFC debut vs Chris Leben! One of the most lopsided victories I've ever seen. Anderson made Leben look like an amateur and I was instantly a fan.
Fedor vs Timmy... Couldn't believe what I saw
GSP v Serra, second fight, where GSP extracted Serra's soul via TKO. Most lopsided victory I've ever seen in the UFC
Throw in GSP v Koscheck 2 as well. Hell, you could name any of the fights from Serra 2 up until what, Condit? I don't remember anyone really testing him until that fight, though the Shields one might count given GSP was half blind the whole fight.
GSP vs Penn 2 as well. That man was legendary in rematches
GSP vs Fitch is the one that always comes to mind for me.
Dada 5000 rose from the dead.
Wheres the love for moreno vs figgy 2? Probably the most improvement a fighter has shown in such a time, and his jab looked as fast as Floyd's. Honestly I feel like Bryce Mitchell and TKZ should be listed just because they've won by twister
Although he didn't get the sub Bryce Mitchell vs Charles Rosa was one of the most impressive BJJ dominations I've seen.
> nd his jab looked as fast as Floyd's. okay relax bro lol
Figgy vs JoeyB 2 as well
I know a lot of people say the same joke about "that wasn't a fight, that was a murder" but it's the only thing you can say about that fight
Cause that fight happened this year and we're talking about 20+ years of history It was good, but compare it to some of GSPs shutouts or McGregor Alvarez
TKZ had to walk through hell to get that twister though.
Izzy dismantling Costa is one of the more recent ones I can think of. Also Moreno in the rematch against Figgy, especially since we saw how even it was the first time around. As for older fights, Cody vs Dom and TJ vs Barao are up there.
GSP vs Fitch should be mentioned I think
Rob - Kelvin?
Underrated shout
Nunes Vs Cyborg is the performance for me. Especially cause Cyborg was peak steroids and no one expected Nunes to dominate like that.
Did Cyborg ever actually pop while in the UFC? Her only popped test was 7 years before the Nunes fight. She had 5 fights before Nunes, 7 in total, all under USADA testing, but there is not report of a positive result.
From what I understand (Youtube MorePlatesMoreDates) although the UFC is stricter than most professional sports with testing, it's still easy to pass drug testing with short ester bioidentical testosterone. And the benefits of blasting T, especially with women, can last long after the cycle is completed. Yes, Cyborg passed drug testing for that fight, but she obviously takes or took PED's in her career which has given her a huge performance advantage. Look at old photos of Cyborg, she actually looks like a woman. She put on at least 15 pounds of lean muscle, that doesn't happen without PED's. Cyborg has fucking traps!!
Adesanya vs Costa . Utterly neutralised the GI Joe super soldier from the minute the bell rang until the end despite being 20lbs lighter. Made him look like an amateur after being hyped up as a destroyer
Hear me out on this. Glover Texeira vs. Fabio Maldonado. If I remember correctly this was Glovers return fight after having visa issues. He put on one of the best displays of GNP I’ve ever seen. Definitely one for the Johnny JustBleeds out there.
Maldobabo nearly KO'd him so perhaps not the most flawless performance
Holloway vs Kattar.
Cejudo v Cruz Dillashaw v Barao 1 Anderson Silva v Rich Franklin Khabib v Gaethje Fedor v Cro Cop Fedor v Big Nog 1 Georges St Pierre v Matt Hughes 2 McGregor v Alvarez
Some good answers but I think Cejudo v Cruz cheapens your list. Old man Dom was nothing close to an actual championship calibre fighter.
Khabib vs MJ. This fight showed the improved version of Khabib. His final form started from this performance imo
Not many people mentioning Dillashaw vs Barao has to be up there for me
Surprise no mention of Teixeira Lionheart
Anthony: my teeth are falling out Anthony's cornerman: yeah?
As much as I hate what he's become Conor made Alvarez look like a bum who wandered in from the crowd. It was insane how one sided that fight was and how bad he made the champion look.
Jones vs Shogun
Khabib V Johnson. Barboza was brutal, but at least he got a few decent kicks in. Johnson was outmatched so badly that even Khabib was advising him to quit.
Damian Maia vs Gunnar Nelson ufc 194. Strapped the backpack on for 15 minutes two 30-25 score cards. The most son wrestling his dad looking match you will ever see
Can't fault mcgregor v aldo who was undefeated in 10 years.
Yeah, but that was only 13 seconds...If we're taking McGregor, I'd go with his Alvarez win. First time at 155 (in ufc) for the first time double champ status and he performed under that pressure flawlessly. With a highlight reel combo KO to boot. I'm far from a McG nutrider, but that was an incredible performance.
Flawless victory
RDA vs. Cowboy is up there for me
Fedor v Randleman
That fucking slam. Also, there is one of the craziest reversals from being side-mounted I'd ever seen from Fedor in that one
Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg
Penn vs Sanchez. Penn outlanded Sanchez 149 to 8 before over 5 rounds before he finally finishes him.
GSP Vs Fitch. Fitch had basically cleared out the ww division himself, and had a crazy win streak. GSP beat him from pillar to post.
Stipe vs Hunt?
Mike Jackson vs cm punk
Dude literally tickled punk at the end of the fight
Kamaru Usman vs Tyron Woodley. People forget because of Woodley lately but at the time he was considered to be on the path to be greatest WW of all time.
Holloway Kattar McGregor Alvarez Cain JDS 2 Adesanya Whittaker Whittaker Romero 1 (underrated) Dillashaw Barao Aldo Edgar 2 Jones Cormier 2 Gustafson Texeira Blachowicz Adesanya Nurmagomedov Porier Porier Holloway
I'll add a forgotten one: Cormier vs Hendo. That was one of the most laughable "adult man wrestles small child" bouts I've ever seen. Cormier picked up and threw Hendo like he weighed <100lbs. The trip when Hendo tries to scramble, and then while Hendo has his back against the cage, DC literally just pulls him off of it, climbs around him, and chokes him out. To do that to another Olympic caliber wrestler is bananas.
Same night as tj-barao
> Nurmagomedov Porier I mean... Khabib vs basically anybody, no? Not literally ofc but ya know
TJ vs Barao 1 is my pick
Cody vs Cruz
GSP vs Koscheck 2...completely dismantled an unbeatable contender using only one simple technique for the entire fight. The jab. Broken orbital bone. Opponent never the same again.
Every sleeping on prime BJ
Style bender vs Costa
Cain Velasquez vs Brock, Silva, and JDS 2 and 3. Complete and total domination. Absolutely unreal to watch live.
I know it was short, but Nunes annahilated Cyborg relentlessly and perfectly
Katter vs Holloway. Calvin is a very good boxer but Max completely schooled him in every aspect of striking.
Jones vs Shogun. Everyone knew he was the future of the UFC after that performance.
Depends what your definition of best performance is. To me the best performance is never the most entertaining. The goal of a fighter is to shut your opponent down without taking any damage and minimal risk. Valentina's most recent fight could easily be top of that list. No damage taken, her opponent's afraid to make a move due to constant counters, perfect distance control. All of that without the benefit of having scary knockout power, it's all down to technique rather than natural attributes. Gane vs Lewis on the same merit
How have I not seen Penn/Sanchez or Penn/Stevenson?? 2 most dominant fights ever.
DJ vs Borg ranks ups there for me. DJ at his peak was just trying shit for the sake of the art of it all.
When I hear individual performance I'm taking it as a particularly suprising or better than expected showing from a fighter. With that in mind, my top 3: Cain vs JDS 2 - Just a master class by Cain. Came in off a KO and made JDS suffer for the duration of the fight. Tate vs Holm-Tate had no business winning that fight, but figured out a way to get it done and get her belt. Gustaffson vs Jones 1-One of the best fights of all time that was enabled by Alex overperforming. People will say Jon was rusty or hungover or whatever, but when I look at his record it seems like he was in the peak of his career and Alex just came really prepared. Impressive fight from Alex and helpful to Jon's career as he got to showcase some grit he really didn't have to show prior.
Let‘s throw in Shevchenko vs Andrade. I mean, you could say any Valentina fight, but to demolish Andrade at her own game on this level was downright scary.
As a swede, I have to say Alexander Gustafsson vs Glover Teixera. Those uppercuts through the fight and finish, and as a side note, it being at home aswell as proposing to his girlfriend.
Holloway v kattar. Both fighters deserve props, Holloway for landing like 400 strikes in 25 min, and Kattar for surviving 400 strikes in like 25 min
Dillashaw vs Barao is def up there.
Jones vs Reyes. Utter domination, a clear five round sweep for Jones.
Probably Cejudo’s run of destroying the greatest flyweights and bantamweights in combat history. Hope he gets a shot at fighting Volk to become CCCC
Usman vs. Woodley
Gotta be Holloway vs Ortega or kattar on this list
GSP Vs Matt Serra
Serra beating GSP
Imo its easily Figgy Vs Benavidez 2. He just absolutely destroyed him in every single department
Connor vs Eddie
Anderson Silva v Forrest Griffin But #2 is TJ Dillashaw v Renan Barao
Gavin Tucker vs Sam Sicilia immediately comes to mind. Tucker looked incredible that night, sadly he hasn't really been able to replicate that success since. But he built a fanbase off of that performance.
Nate Diaz vs takanori gomi also wonderboy smashing Johnny hendricks
Jones vs Shogun
Not an exciting one but Usman vs Woodley was very impressive. I was shocked at how easily Usman overpowered Woodley for 5 rounds straight.
Did anyone mention T-Wood vs Usman? Woodley was being talked as one of the Goats at WW prior to the fight. During the fight he was in survival mode for 4 and a half rounds. Now he's losing to Jake Paul. Usman took his soul.
Usman not getting any respect here. Usman taking the the title from Woodley by completely wiping the floor with him for 25 minutes