Fedor retires

Probably the greatest MMA fighter ever. In the land of giants he more than held his own. But 3 defeats in a row and one against a Mid/LHW. How will that affect his legacy? Is he still the greatest ever?

The losses although not great shouldn't affect his overall legacy.

He was a pretty small HW who should have really been a LHW but was unstoppable in his prime.

People compare him in his current form against others but that's not fair.

He had an extremely good ground game and punched like a mule!

I think he ranks among the very top HW's of all time but not sure about all MMA fighters as I would rank A. Silva higher.

New fans should watch his fights against Big Nog to see him at his best. Big Nog was a beast at the time and also deemed unbeatable by many and had a tremendous guard. Defor should total disregard to his guard and beat Big Nog. Also, Big Nog should why his chin was so highly regraded back then, the shots he took would have stopped most!

to be honest I'm not overly familiar with Fedor's career just his reputation, maybe sometime I'll check out his fights with Big Nog and educate myself.

Prime for prime how do you guys feel he would fare against Bones Jones? Bones weighs in at 230 or above come fight time so Fedor wouldn't have a weight advantage.

Jones is tough for anyone but prime for prime at similar weight as you say I would fancy Fedor by TKO.

Fedor was just very solid both on his feet and very comfortable on the ground and very quick with submissions. I wouldn't be surprised at a Jones UD win though but would favour Fedor.

Having said that, Jones is still very young and hasn't reached his prime IMO. By the end of Jones' career i'm sure i'll say he's the better fighter and would win prime for prime.

He fought a load of sh*t fighters in Japan before he took on the US so I can't judge him above Anderson or GSP. For those ranking Jon Jones up there with Fedor, atleast wait 5 or 6 more fights

Josiah Maiestas wrote:He fought a load of sh*t fighters in Japan before he took on the US so I can't judge him above Anderson or GSP. For those ranking Jon Jones up there with Fedor, atleast wait 5 or 6 more fights

When he was in Japan Pride had the better fighters and especially better HW than all other organisations put together. To say he fought crap fighters is very wrong.

Some of the fighters he fought were cans, but at the time the UFC, especially at HW, was pretty weak in talent depth. He fought and beat the best in an open weight competition where drug use was commonplace.
At his peak he was as dominant as the likes of Siva are now.
For his era he was the undisputed king, but things have moved on as hes slipped back.
Its a real shame the UFC didnt pick its socks up until a couple of years late for him, and that he was effectively owned by the russian mob making it practically impossible to get a deal for him there.
Dana Whites relief when he finaly got beat summed it up, HW was the only division that the UFC couldnt claim to have legit world champion in (although some people mistakenly though Jake Sheilds was the best WW he didnt carry quite the mystique of Fedor).

Fedor deserves a hall of fame place for his achievements. The sport has moved on since his peak, that doesnt make his legacy any less legitimate.
The likes of GSP, Silva and JJ may well surpass (or already have surpassed) his achievements, and there may be a number of HWs we can say would kick his ass now, that doesnt mean he wasnt the best in his day and a pioneer.

Probably my all time favourite fighter. Deserves a hall of fame place.