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[POINDEXTER]

Forrest for doing the impossible.

[KnowledgeKnown]

I had a hard time between Fedor and Griffin. I voted Fedor because of his sheer dominance over what most consider a top 10 HW. Forest did what most thought was unlikely, but I guess I just thought Fedor was more impressive. But Honorable mention to Griffin for sure.

[Ubermensch]

I had to vote for Fedor because of the question of him fighting any top tier guy for over a year easy and tearing the longest holder of the UFC belt in 30 seconds.

[Diegonightmare]

Originally Posted by POINDEXTER

Forrest for doing the impossible.

This is as good a time as any to throw in something I was thinking about recently.

There are 5 LHW's that most rankings (fans and websites alike) have had in/right near their top 5 over the long term:

Rampage
Liddell
Shogun
Wandy
Hendo

If you compare the performances of LHW's currently in the top 10 against these 5 guys, here are the results:

Rampage: Beat Chuck twice, beat Hendo once, lost to Wandy twice, lost to Shogun (3-3 against longterm top 5)
Liddell: Beat Wandy, lost to Rampage twice (1-2 against longterm top 5)
Shogun: Beat Rampage (1-0 against longterm top 5)
Hendo: Split 2 fights with Wandy, lost to Rampage (1-2 against longterm top 5)
Wandy: Beat Rampage twice, split 2 fights with Hendo, lost to Chuck (3-2 against longterm top 5)

----------------------------

Griffin: Beat Shogun and Rampage (2-0 against longterm top 5)
Jardine: Beat Chuck, lost to Wandy (1-1 against longterm top 5)
Little Nog: Beat Hendo, lost to Shogun (1-1 against longterm top 5)

None of the other top 10 LHW's have fought the "longterm top 5".

If I've made a mistake please correct me.

Interesting to me that of the current top 10 as well as longterm top 5, only 2 of them actually have a positive record against the longterm top 5 - Shogun and Griffin.

Also there are only three in the current top 10 - Griffin, Rampage and Wandy - that have beaten two longterm top 5 guys (nobody has beaten 3).

Griffin has clearly the most impressive showing, going 2-0 (with a stoppage) against the longterm top 5, and beating two different guys.

All of this is relevant to this thread, because the win over Rampage was the deciding factor in making him the clearcut "winner" of this analysis.

[bega]

Originally Posted by Ifightforaliving

I voted Forrest. Everyone said he was a fluke and he now has wins over the 2 number 1 LHW's in the world back to back.

I voted Forrest as well. Fedor was favorite going into that fight and he did win it in impressive fashion but Forrest was underdog against Rampage ( as well as against Shogun ) so I consider his performance more impressive.

[neonatural45]

Originally Posted by Diegonightmare

No but came pretty close. Rampage hasn't been finished in over three years.


Yes, he stood with Rampage and outfought him, in a fight he was given very long odds to win.

All the other fighters listed, of course, had good months.

#2 would certainly have been Fedor for re-establishing himself without any question as the #1 HW in the world with a crushing performance over another top-5 HW.

But unlike Forrest, Fedor was widely expected to win the Sylvia fight. Stylistically Sylvia offered nothing Fedor hadn't seen more than once, and stylistically he was probably not in the top 5 most well-rounded guys Fedor has fought.

Some things I disagree with:


You say Rampage hasn't been finished in three years, well no shit he hadn't lost in three years lol. Rampage has gotten finished in every one of his losses that I can remember


Also, Forrest's best work in the fight came on the ground. Fedor on the other hand took a guy that was purely a striker and dropped him in 15 seconds. Then went on to submit the guy. It's not like Fedor was fighting a James Irvin either. His opponent wasn't as good as Rampage, but he was a top 5 heavyweight and he beat him in 30 seconds.



Forrest performed 2nd best this month, you really have to take Rampage's mental state into question when you respond to this thread.

[strife]

In my opinion, it's a blatant tie between Fedor and Forrest.

You have one guy that newbs were doubting as still a credible heavyweight that just shut up every dumbass skeptist of him.

Then you have another guy that created a huge upset and won a title from it, so you have to give him credit as well.

Originally Posted by neonatural45

you really have to take Rampage's mental state into question when you respond to this thread.

I didn't think of that at all before writing my response.

Fedor is the fighter of the month.

[lilp86]

Its gotta be Forrest no on gave him a chance and he shocked everyone. Yea Fedor had a 36 sec KO but I think everyone thought something like that would happen nobody though Forrest would be Rampage let alone last 5 rounds with him and win

[ninjastix]

Originally Posted by POINDEXTER

Forrest for doing the impossible.

You mean "improbable". In MMA damn near anything is possible.

Nod should go to Forrest... he beat someone who may have been more dangerous, more powerful, and more talented than he is through hard work and dedication combined with effective strategy...

He outsmarted and outworked Rampage in the fight...

[Diegonightmare]

Originally Posted by neonatural

Forrest's best work in the fight came on the ground.

I disagree, his best work came early on the fight when he pushed the pace, bringing the fight to Rampage, and literally took out his legs. It was like a shark that takes a chunk out of someone and then patiently circles them waiting for them to bleed to death, and it worked to perfection.

Originally Posted by neonatural

His opponent wasn't as good as Rampage, but he was a top 5 heavyweight and he beat him in 30 seconds.

Agreed, the stoppage itself was extremely impressive. But to further explore the "wasn't as good as Rampage" comment:

- Sylvia is a top-5 HW who had lost 2 of his last 3 (including a stoppage) with the 3rd fight being an unimpressive decision against a not-what-he-used-to-be Brandon Vera. He had lost his title to Randy and then basically lost another title fight to Nog en route to a 1-2 showing.

- Rampage was the consensus #1 LHW in the world, the champ of the most stacked LHW division in the world, having made a title defense and had himself finished Chuck Liddell in less than two minutes followed by beating Dan Henderson contributing to a 6-fight winning streak.

Originally Posted by neonatural

Forrest performed 2nd best this month, you really have to take Rampage's mental state into question when you respond to this thread.

There was absolutely no indication at any point of Rampage's mental situation prior to the Forrest fight, either that came out then or that has come out since then. As far as we know there simply was no mental state issue going into the Forrest fight. If you know otherwise, then I stand corrected and it's news to me.