FanPost

There is no GOAT

Like any hardcore MMA fan, I’m a sucker for the GOAT debate. Every other sport seems to have a clear cut ‘best ever’ – Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Babe Ruth, Wayne Gretsky, etc. However, in MMA, the situation always seems to be extremely fluid. One month we seem to know what we’re talking about, then ‘BAM’, things change. In July 2017, Jon Jones headkicks Daniel Cormier and brutally finishes him against the fence, and we’re sold: GOAT – no question. Jones then goes through his usual PED struggles, and months later in October, Demetrius Johnson hits Ray Borg with a suplex/armbar combo that looked like something out of a videogame and breaks Anderson Silva’s title defense record. Once again, we’re sold, Johnson is the best ever. One month later, a heavily muscled Georges St. Pierre puts Michael Bisping to sleep and…here we go again.

Constantly anointing a new king is both addicting and exhausting, and frankly it’s pointless. I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no singular GOAT, but rather one for each weight class, where it becomes far clearer. Starting at flyweight, nobody will disagree that Johnson is the best to ever do it. He is the current record holder for title defenses, and has cleaned out the entire division, so let’s move on. At bantamweight, Dominick Cruz went nearly a decade without a loss, and beat the likes of the aforementioned Demetrius Johnson, Urijah Faber (2x), and current champ TJ Dillishaw. I often feel like Cruz gets no love when it comes to naming the most dominant champions ever, but I firmly believe he is the best bantamweight of all time, though skill-wise TJ Dillishaw might be on his tail.

At featherweight, Conor McGregor may have disturbed things upon his arrival, but prior to that Jose Aldo was a straight killer for 10 years, possessing some of the cleantest standup technique possible and arguably the best leg kicks in the history of MMA. The young gun Max Holloway may have beaten him twice, and I’m a huge fan, but Weidman beat Silva twice as well, and let’s face it – nobody would ever rank Weidman above Silva. Aldo is the best featherweight to ever walk the planet. Things get tricky when examining lightweight, but I have one acronym for you: RDA. Rafael Dos Anjos beat Nate Diaz, Benson Henderson, Anthony Pettis, and Donald Cerrone in a row. That is one of the most impressive runs in the books, and the loss to Eddie Alvarez may have been due in large part to a very tough weight cut, where he claimed to have lost consciousness prior to the fight. RDA is currently making a title run at welterweight, and is one of the best all-around fighters on the roster. Don’t forget that he was week or so away from fighting and possibly beating McGregor if not for a broken foot, and the entire landscape of MMA could have been very different. At welterweight, George St. Pierre is 22-2 and avenged both of his losses in brutal fashion. He is one of the most complete fighters ever, though he lacks knockout power, his ability to take fighters down and neutralize them is second-to-none.

It is extremely difficult for me not to claim that Anderson Silva is the GOAT. His run at 185 pounds was unlike anything I’ve seen in my lifetime of watching MMA. He finished people with every weapon imaginable, all while looking like he was dancing at the club. Uppercut elbows, front kicks to the face, flying knees, triangles, you name it, Silva finished people with it. Say what you will about the lead-up to the fight, his finish of Forrest Griffin is the pinnacle of a performance in MMA, and I doubt it will ever be topped. Anderson Silva was simply magic, and though I still love to watch him fight, I wish he had retired years ago. Light-heavyweight used to be the premiere division in the UFC, but about the time that Chuck, Tito and Randy left, things went downhill; then Jon Jones showed up. Though the division has been weak for the last decade, we can’t take anything away from Jones. He has never really lost (sorry Hammil), and though he does have some gaping holes in his game (poor boxing defense, horrid footwork), he is able to compensate by using his tremendous reach and great wrestling. Jones has had countless struggles that need not mentioning here, but he is undoubtedly the greatest light-heavyweight of all time.

Last, but not least, we have the heavyweight division. As impressive as Stipe Micoc’s run has been, there is one man that in his prime, I believe would torch Stipe and his name is Fedor. Fedor Emelianenko was undefeated for nearly a decade, and beat some of the greatest heavyweights ever in Pride including Big Nog, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Andre Arlovski, and Cro Cop. Fedor had the smoothest transitions from striking to grappling and vice versa that I’ve ever seen. He had slick submissions, quick takedowns and trips, and a right hand that would’ve made Zeus himself tremble. I personally heard it crack Brett Rogers in the face in Chicago years ago, and the entire arena froze as time stood still. It was the hardest strike I’ve ever heard. So there you have it, rather than arguing about who is the GOAT, let’s just embrace this murder’s row of MMA legends and be thankful for all of the beautiful violence they blessed us with over the years.


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