I will make my usual Cruz argument. Lets just look at the facts. All there records are nearly the same and title defenses.
Jones: 16-1 (3 defenses)
Aldo: 22-1 (5 defenses)
Cruz: 20-1 (4 defenses)
Out of the three, Cruz is the only one to avenged his only loss. I know Jones's loss is only on a loss on paper because he was killing Hamil but still. Out of all the loses Cruz's lose is to one of the best fighters of all time in Faber. You can not say that about Aldo or Jones.
Cruz has fought 6 straight fights against Top 5 BWs. Benny (ranked #5), Bowles (Ranked #1), Benny (Ranked #2), Jogersen (Ranked #5), Faber (Ranked #3) and Johnson (Ranked #5). When he fights Barao that will be 7 in a row because Barao will be ranked #2. He is always fighting the best BWs in the world. There are no Cotes, no Lietes, no Hardys, no Hominicks, no Sanchezs. Aldo in his last 6 fights has only fought 3 Top 5 FWs (Brown, Faber and Mendes) and Jones in his last 6 fights has only fought 4 Top 5 LHWs (Shogun, Rampage, Machida and Evans). Right now Cruz is on one of the longest murders row streaks in MMA history. Find another fighter that has fought 6 straight fights against Top 5 fighters. You can't.
So there is my rant for Cruz. The guy does not nearly get the credit he deserves and I can only hope one day people look past the fact he was a Bantamweight and look at what he did.
Solid argument and I dont really have much of a counter argument except that I think Big Nog, BJ and Royce are more deserving. That and I just don't like Cruz.
1. Rickson Gracie
2. Fedor Emelianenko
3. Anderson Silva
4. Wanderlei Silva
5. Georges St. Pierre
6. Randy Couture
7. Frank Shamrock
8. Chuck Liddell
9. Kazushi Sakuraba
10. Dan Henderson
__________________ MY MMA RANKINGS
HW Cain JDS Werdum Cormier Barnett Bigfoot Overeem Mir Browne Nelson
LHW Jones Machida Evans Hendo Goose Teixeira Davis Shogun Mousasi Bader
1. Fedor - undefeated for 10 years and fought the best the HW division had to offer.
2. GSP - Has avenged every loss he has had and has made beating world class Top 10 P4P fighters look insanely easily.
3. Silva - Has been the MW kingpin since 2006 and looked just about unstoppable during that run.
4. Hughes - Most dominate champion in the history of MMA. 7 title defense, 6 stoppages, 3 in the first round.
5. Hendo - Maybe the most accomplished on this list with winning tournys and holding titles in just about every major MMA org that has ever existed.
6. Liddell - Arguably the best LHW of all time. Never went the distance in a title fight and KO'd a who's-who of MMA during his era.
7. Wandy - Right up there with Liddell, would be higher if his record was not filled with cans.
8. Jones - No one can ignore the run he has been on. If he can keep this up he will break into upper level.
9. Aldo - Arguably the best fighter to ever step into MMA under 170 pounds. Has basically looked unstoppable over the past few years.
10. Cruz - Can make an argument he is the best fighter to ever fight under 170 pounds. Has avenged his only loss and if he had more finishes would be higher on the list.
That is what I was expecting to see. I figured people whould start putting Aldo and Jones in there, I dont mind Cruz ethier, I mean this is VERY SUBJECTIVE, and Cruz is a beast
__________________ Dear everyone,
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1-5 are to close to rank any over the others so Hendo, Fedor, GSP, Hughes, Anderson are all #1.
After that it gets tough. If I'm aren't putting a historically signifigant spin on it then I'm leaving Royce off my list.
6. Randy (just missed my #1 tie list)
7. Cro Cop (I could watch his highlights all day)
8. BJ Penn (I don't like him, but the man is talented)
9. Chuck Liddell (see Cro Cop)
10. Bones (he could go 50/50 from here on out & you still would have to consider him for his current run)
Honorable Mentions: Wandy/Franklin/Cruz/Aldo/Fitch/Shogun/Seagal/Edgar/Big Nog
Im confused by all of these lists... There seems to be a lot of nostalgia involved...
Is the list the "best" fighters of all time or are we basing it on their accomplishments and what they did during their time... When you mix the 2 together you get a very hard to understand clusterfuck.
Anderson, Fedor, GSP should all be in everyone's top5 at the least, if not top3.
I know guys like Jones, JDS, and Aldo are just staring out but they are ahead of the game... better than those before them.
Liddell and Couture dont belong in the top10. They both struggled when facing better competition.
It is my genuine belief that Rickson Gracie was the greatest fighter of the early years of MMA by a country mile and was simply born far too soon. That said, I believe he's truly the baddest motherfucker on the planet.
I also think that had Rorian not wanted to emphasize and market/sell the "Gracie Jiu Jitsu" style in the US during the first UFCs where the little guy beat the big guy via their techniques, none of us would know who Royce is, as Rickson was the superior fighter, but would've been too good to truly highlight BJJ as the Gracies wanted to. Rickson would've guzzled fighters in the early era of UFC and while he physically looked superior than the somewhat frail looking Royce(which in turn, such perception made his victories all the more impressive), it wouldn't have made the same impact on the sport. Despite his lack of UFC exposure, his victories within the early years of MMA are still incredibly impressive.
The Yoji Anjo and Hugo Duarte stories are amazing(just to add to his badass-dom), the Choke documentary is cool as hell, his legendary fights against Zulu and Vale Tudo wars are incredible, he's a Redbelt in BJJ and his wins over Takada gave birth to PRIDE. Pound for Pound, I really don't think there is anyone more skilled and genuinely dangerous than Rickson. I believe he's the greatest Gracie and while there is alot of "myth" surrounding their legacy that one has to take with a grain of salt, I buy into Rickson more than I do any other Gracie.
I'm a huge Rickson mark, but I don't think anybody could beat him in his prime.
__________________ MY MMA RANKINGS
HW Cain JDS Werdum Cormier Barnett Bigfoot Overeem Mir Browne Nelson
LHW Jones Machida Evans Hendo Goose Teixeira Davis Shogun Mousasi Bader
It is my genuine belief that Rickson Gracie was the greatest fighter of the early years of MMA by a country mile and was simply born far too soon. That said, I believe he's truly the baddest motherfucker on the planet.
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