He took an unusually long road to the title. Most HW men with an elite skillset got a title shot almost immediately back then.
Vitor Belfort should retire, what a great fighter, atg, but just damaging his rep and health by continuing on.
He could catch anyone on the first, he's neglected his BJJ for far too long though to be competitive in anything other than a stand up exchange
This content is protected Look at this animal. He most certainly would be top 10 maybe top 5 with a good team behind him today.
Finished the grand Prix. What a fight between Gracie and Sakuraba. Fitting that the rule changes led to his defeat, such a great display by both men. That last round was hard to watch. Coleman looked like a new man against Igor. So strong in the grapple and this time he had cardio to match his ability. With a full gas tank he'd almost certainly still be UFC champ now and this suggests he's finally for his fitness up to scratch. Smith and Williams caught him when gassed. Rizzo could have easily gone his way. The man that won here tonight is gonna only be beaten by someone special 1 Kazushi Sakuraba 2 Royce Gacie 3 Dan Henderson 4 Frank Shamrock 5 Ken Shamrock 6 Tito Ortiz 7 Mark Coleman 8 Igor Vovanchyn 9 Vitor Belfort 10 Kiyoshi Tamura 11 Renato Sobrel 12 Mark Kerr 13 Bas Rutten 14 Randy Couture 15 Kevin Randlemann 16 Dan Severn 17 Don Frye 18 Pat Miletich 19 Pedro Rizzo 20 Evan Tanner 21 Murilo Bustamante 22 Wanderlei Silva 23 Renzo Gracie 24 Carlos Newton 25 Chuck Lidell 26 Dave Menne 27 Jens Pulver
UFC 26. Pride saw a wining return for Belfort, Newton and Vovanchyn. Newton really impressed for me. Aside from Sakuraba he might just be the best WW currently fighting. Not good enough to beat the MW men he's faced like Hendo and Menne but him vs Miletich has to happen soon. UFC 26 saw Matt Hughes introduced again and the WW division across MMA is suddenly stacked. Sakuraba, Newton, Miletich, Gracie, Gracie and Hughes. Just a shame Pride has no belts yet and this division is split between two promotions. Jen's Pulver has a cracking performance which shows just how ineffective BJJ can be against a striker with good TDD. Pat Miletich dominates again and despite his losses outside of UFC against bigger men, he's still a force to be reckoned with at this weight class. Randlemann wins a very boring fight against Rizzo. Takes him down and controls round 1, round 2 he beats Rizzo stood up and the fights continues in that fashion till the end. Rizzo never forces the issue and Randlemann stays one step ahead with his atheltic ability. Randlemann probably proved himself as the best striker out of the wrestlers who've come through so far, well aside from Couture obviously. But I'd say he's above the level of Kerr now and it's a huge shame we'll never see him face Coleman as there's a decent argument these are the two top active HW men out there. Certainly top 3 alongside Igor anyways. Nog is lurking in the background as well As far as June 2000 i have the list like this 1 Kazushi Sakuraba 2 Royce Gacie 3 Dan Henderson 4 Frank Shamrock 5 Ken Shamrock 6 Tito Ortiz 7 Mark Coleman 8 Igor Vovanchyn 9 Vitor Belfort 10 Renato Sobrel 11 Kevin Randlemann 12 Mark Kerr 13 Bas Rutten 14 Randy Couture 15 Kiyoshi Tamura 16 Dan Severn 17 Don Frye 18 Pat Miletich 19 Pedro Rizzo 20 Evan Tanner 21 Murilo Bustamante 22 Wanderlei Silva 23 Carlos Newton 24 Renzo Gracie 25 Chuck Lidell 26 Dave Menne 27 Jens Pulver 28 Matt Hughes
I feel tremors in the ground. Hark! What is that? A pudgy, nondescript Russian approaches. But why is he stepping so heavily?
It's so good watching from the beginning, i feel like I'm back in time. I mean right now this second Randlemann looks close to unbeatable but he's trained by the man who's just beaten Vovanchyn. Coleman with stamina seems even more unbeatable. Then the WW scene is huge with all these top talents who aren't quite facing each other (Sakuraba has beaten Newton and Gracie though). Hard to believe someone is gonna be able to stop a fully fit Coleman.
@lufcrazy Check out next month for the prediction league. You'll see a familiar old school name or two lol.
The old days were great Nobody even remembers Carlos Newton anymore but he was dynamite as a grappler. There's not even the name Ricardo Arona on your list, and he was a powerhouse back then too. Takanori Gomi, Aleksander Emelianenko, Kharitonov, Shogun Rua ... the Last Emperor himself ... lots of good stuff coming
Arono hasn't cracked my radar yet but who knows in the coming months. I'm June 2000 ATM so 7 years into MMA since UFC1.
