Is there anyone that has a realistic chance? i can't think of anybody: brock lesnar would have a strength advantage but would get battered and submitted. frank mir is probably the 2nd best hw right now and has great skills but he is not as tough as fedor. nogueira is a bit past his prime and just lost to mir. so who is the biggest threat for fedor?
ANYBODY... seriously anybody (well almost) in the sport is a legit threat , especially do to the very nature of this sport...(there's countless upsets..not to mention loads of cut stoppages ).. the real problem is HOW to take advantage at the crucial moments of the fight...And that's what makes the difference between a champ and a contender... Take Anderson Silva vs Chonan for a prime example... no one would think of "chonan" to do the job...and yet , he pulled the best submission ever... it's a question of perfect timing & strategy...and it's not always the guy who's ranked # 2 or 5 or even in the top 10 who pulls the major upset.. His next opponent (barnett) has the top wrestling skills + top submission skills + size advantage...Will he be able to pull it off ? who knows..he's curently in the top 3...
The best people are big strong heavyweights with good submission defence. Soooo....I think Barnett has the best chance.
I'd say the same thing also. But Mir looked very impressive in the Nog fight. So im picking Mir for now.
Agreed. I think Barnett has the best chance of pulling out a win against Fedor. He pretty well rounded although his stand up isn't amazing. But he definately has some pop in his punches. could only see him grinding out a decision though. And the chances are slim.
Mir looked good against Nog because Nog is very slow. I think Mir's kicks and punches are way too slow to be effective against Fedor. Andrei's boxing is much better than Mir's and MUCH fasters hands.
Not to discredit Mir's performance, he looked amazing. But Rodrigo also looked like ****. Mir was throwing the same combinations over and over. He didn't really impress me with his striking.
Rampage Jackson would do well against Fedor.... Almost impossible to knock out or submit And excellent striking and GnP