Particularly now that we have had it confirmed what a sick man O'Reilly is. I'm amazed Rich didn't respond with "first thing Bill, my name is Rich not boy."
Rich- a man with honor who is an incredibly positive example of his faith Bill-a hypocrite who wields religion and “morality” like a cudgel to attack his enemies while himself being immoral and having bad character all the while.
I cannot overstate how much I appreciate that you all honorably mentioned other influential fighters in certain weight classes where applicable. I've only made it to men's FlyW so far, and I felt compelled to convey this. MMAOnPoint, y'all NEVER disappoint! Thee most thorough! 👊🏼👏🏼
Now do a top 10 clash of cultures fights in MMA. My favorite was very recently, when the true king of Africa Mike Perry, fought the bravest Samurai, Luke Rockhold on American soil. It cured all racism and deserves praise!
Thanks for giving Stipe his due. He's been full of surprises and although he isn't much of a personality on the mic, he's a real dude and an impressive fighter. He doesn't try to be loud or over the top because that aint how he is in real life.
Bro, Stipe is one of the real ones. Casual fans talk about trashtalkers, real mma fans talk about legends and Stipe is one of them. A bad mf that fucks up other bad mfs while doing his dangerous job on top of it all.
@@kylealittleton The reason Volk is so big is because he beat on the longest reigning 145ers of all time in Max twice. I'm ok with the Aldo choice, but Max held it down between Aldo, McGregor bouncing around and Volk now. It's a weird omission.
I never watched UFC when I was younger, but I knew about it, and every time I thought "UFC" my mind immediately went to Chuck Liddell. Surely the most iconic figure of the sport in the 2000s.
I think its safe to say that chuck liddell is probably the most important champion and fighter in ufc history. I was a kid during the tough boom in 2005 and liddell was easily the #1 reason i fell in love with the sport, subsequently introducing me to guys like couture, franklin, hughes etc. Nothing but fond memories of 2000s mma
Yeah, even today - while names like Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz are kind of fading from the spotlight, I can still bring up Chuck Liddell in a casual conversation and have people recognize the name. It's crazy how big he was for the time. For a few years, he WAS the UFC. It was Tapout, the Octagon, and Chuck Liddell.
In fact Alexander Volkanovski who is arguably the best fighter in the UFC today, said the reason he became an MMA fighter was watching Chuck Liddell fights.
Dan Severn should have got a mention for heavyweight. He was one of the first UFC stars, won 2 tournaments and the super fight belt and he fought Coleman for the first heavyweight title.
They intentionally left out considering those first few years. This is about the fighters who elevated the sport PAST the years where they had to change venues because certain states didn't want them, TV wouldn't carry them, boxing laughed at them, etc.
💯💯. Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlai Silva was the first MMA/UFC fight I ever saw back in 09' on a episode of UFC Unleashed and I've been a fan ever since. Still one of my favorite fights..
Yeah, I think the only thing I would change would be Lesnar above Stipe. Stipe is arguably the GOAT, but Brock did so much for the sport in terms of popularity. He bridged the gap between Chuck Liddell and Ronda Rousey as *THE* star of the sport, and was the biggest PPV seller pre-Conor.
Cruz is the full package, a talker, good fight IQ, witty, has good leadership skills, and he just enjoys the sport so much that he’ll cover everything there needs to be covered in the UFC, his passion is just different, his style is different too, and the cocky demeanor solidifies him too.
Anderson Silva got me into the sport, one of my long time friends from high school started getting into the sport because of Izzy, they're so important to the sport.
Joyce Gracie is what brought not only eyes, but brains to the sport. He displayed a massive reality - skill can level the playing field and a smaller man with skills can consistently beat a big, muscular brawler... that was huge at the time when nobody knew if Karate, Kung Fu or Boxing had a stronger skill set.
I have to agree with all, but heavyweight, Randy coming back to save the division by whooping Tim Sylvia’s butt, beating James Tony in a freak match, being an icon of the Sport, going between two divisions. Captain Freaking America definitely has done more for the sport and the heavyweight division than Stipe ever did.
That's an important distinction to make. Sometimes the best champion is also the most important one; but not always. Sometimes the most popular fighter who sold the most tickets wasn't the very best fighter ever in the division; and didn't necessarily put the division on the map the way the best fighter may have.
The best champions in certain divisions have often been the most important though. Its really only a few divisions where the most important are not its divisional GOAT like Chuck for 205 or Ronda for W135.
@@madgavin7568Ronda is a divisional GOAT too since she made her 6 Title defenses in one reign. Nunes did it in two and was a Double Champ which makes her the overall female GOAT but in terms of divisional Status Amandas success doesnt take anything away from Ronda
@@madgavin7568 Like I said Amanda is the Undisputed overall GOAT of Female MMA. But Ronda also had a good run. Of course the Sport and the athletes are always evolving but for her Time Ronda was a benchmark
Especially since you could have easily given it to Brock and few would have complained. After The Iceman era, Brock became the face of the UFC and elevated both the sport and the promotion to new heights.
@@madgavin7568 I mean kind of. Brock fought like 4 or 5 times in the UFC and definitely brought more eyes to the sport than ever before that time, but Stipe’s accomplishments outweigh the 750,000 buy ppvs Brock did.
Cyborg has Championship reigns in Strikeforce, Invicta, UFC and Bellator, holding the Record for most overall and consecutive Title defenses in all of them. 2 in UFC, 2 in Strikeforce (3 if she hadnt failed the test in that one Fight), 3 in Invicta and 4 in Bellator
I remember when i was a kid playing with my cousins, and our wwe figures, he had a chuck Liddell toy as well, i didnt really know who he was or what he did but i just remember him looking cool and having weird gloves, so i see the chuck Liddell choice
I didn’t know who chuck lidell was until a few years ago. I just saw him show up in commercials a lot when I was a kid and wondered what he did to become famous for the longest time
Frank Mir belongs at the top at heavyweight. He cemented the HW division to where it really belonged. If it wasn't for his motorcycle accident, there would be absolutely no question. Mir IS the GOAT at HW in the UFC.
I agree with most of this list however I see how you put Chuck over Jones but if we used the same logic I feel like Brock Lesnar was the most logical choice for heavyweight as he brought in a lot of viewers and skyrocketed mma popularity
Well, TBF, Jon Jones did a lot to hurt his legacy and the UFC. Committing crimes, hurting people, getting arrested, and having a mugshot WHILE (keyword here) wearing the UFC brand around his waist didn't do the MMA community any favors.
I mean BJ was the reason why fans tuned into 155. Until BJ most fans cared only about HW, 205 and 170 (185 wasn't considered interesting until later in Silva's title reign).
I think Cain is a good pick for HW, dude changed the game at that weight class with his insane cardio. No UFC heavyweight has ever had a motor and gas tank like Cardio Cain. He really showed what's possible for the big boys and since then you've seen a lot more guys be able to go 3 or 5 rounds without much of an issue.
I feel like Randy or Brock are more important than Stipe. Most defenses is an important accomplishment but he only defended 1 more time than Randy and had way less impact
Hard agree on all of those... until the last one. Cain revolutionized the way we think of Heavyweights. He showed us that it takes athleticism and cardio to get the job done consistently.
I watched gsp cards as a kid cus im from a french canadian area and that man is a hero to every french Canadian kid lol. But the champ who got me to watch MMA as an adult was Izzy. The way he aproached MMA on his come up of was so fun. A hungry isreal adesanya was a a scary ass dude.
So you pick Ronda over Nunes because of the attention she brought but snub Conor twice. I’m not saying you’re wrong but pick a lane Conor did just as much for the sport if not more than Ronda did.
In all fairness, she was a main/major in there even being a women’s division. So that’s about as significant you can get. Connor brought more eyes to the sport, but he didn’t really do much to progress the sport/division. Jose really pushed the lighter weight classes back in WEC and became a significant ambassador for the sport.
IMO, Connor definitely brought more fans. But those are mainly HIS fans. He leaves, they’ll most likely leave as well. Everything he’s done was to his sole benefit with the exception of Khabib and Nate. The other champions listed have left a lasting mark that’ll still be felt for years to come. Connor hasn’t really done that.
@mageofsymphonia. Idk man imo Conor will be remembered for years after almost everyone else on this list is forgotten. A hundred years from now causal fans will remember the “best” Jon Jones and the most popular Conor. I’m sure some more serious fans will know GSP, Khabib and Anderson Silva but that’s about it. I could be wrong though so we will see (or not cause I’ll probably be dead lol)
All I saw was “Apex Champs” and for a split second I thought the UFC was going to follow boxing and add belts for random apex cards main event fighters
I think there’s an argument for Forrest griffin for light heavyweight. He might not have been as popular as chuck, but he essentially saved the business
Strawweight: Joana 5 Defenses W. Flyweight: Valentina 7 Defenses W. Bantamweight: Ronda and Amanda 6 Defenses (Ronda in one reign and Amanda in two) W. Featherweight: Cyborg and Amanda 2 Defenses Flyweight: DJ 11 Defenses Bantamweight: Dominik 3 Defenses (plus his WEC Reign) Featherweight: Jose 7 defenses (plus 2 from WEC) Lightweight: BJ 3 Defenses (plus Welterweight Champion) Welterweight: GSP 9 Defenses (plus Middleweight Champion) Middleweight: Anderson 10 Defenses (11 if the Fight agains his overweight opponent has counted as a Title Fight) Light Heavyweight: Chuck 4 defenses (Honorable Mention Jon 11 Defenses [8 consecutive] plus Heavyweight Champion) Heavyweight: Stipe 4 Defenses (3 consecutive) The most important Champion is in 99% also the best one
I gotta disagree, Henry Cejudo is the reason flyweight even still exists. Sure Mighty Mouse was great and all but hes literally the reason that division almost got eliminated.
Faber was one of the few champions who avoided a bloated ego. There are a few others, Demetrious being another one; but I've had several friends meet Uriah, both during and after his prime competition years, and they uniformly say he was the most down to earth and friendly guy you could ever meet.
I thought jones would be chosen for LHW, BUT was hoping chuck would get his dues for making the division what it turned out to be, so I was grinning like an idiot when you chose him!
Men’s GOAT of the division Flyweight-👑Demetrius Johnson Bantamweight👑Dominic Cruz Featherweight👑Jose Aldo Lightweight👑??? Welterweight👑GSP Middleweight 👑Anderson Silva Light heavyweight 👑Jon Jones Heavyweight 👑 Stipe Mioic (Am confident with all but Lightweight there hasn’t been one champion do have a Long dominance past 3 defenses-khabib,benson Henderson,Bj penn Frankie edger,RDA,Charles,MAYBE he still hasn’t arrived)
My only disagreement would be heavyweight, Cain Velazquez set the standard for the heavyweight division in the UFC a long time ago, any good heavyweight that appears since him we ask " how would he do vs Cain". I think stipe has had an incredible career but I think if you replace him with anyone else it's the same thing, I dont think you can replace the standard that Cain set for everyone.
