Who Is The MMA GOAT? This FloChart Helps You Decide
Who Is The MMA GOAT? This FloChart Helps You Decide
Who is the greatest MMA fighter of all time? We've developed a flowchart to help you decide.
It's a question long debated throughout the history of the earth: Who is the greatest mixed martial artist of all time?
Monks have studied for years trying to determine an outcome, but like a TI-84 overloaded with symbols and requests, the result is always the same: "ERROR: INVALID."
It's impossible to separate the various factors possessed by MMA greats. What's better: three straight vicious knockouts or six straight unanimous decision victories?
Do steroids matter? Should they affect a fighter's legacy?
Here at FloCombat, we've finally done it. After approximately 35 minutes of planning and extensive lab research, we've formulated a flowchart -- or FloChart, if you prefer -- that will help you decide your personal MMA GOAT.
There you go. Those monks must've been sipping too many Trappist ales, because that was easy AF, fam.
There are pretty much four reasonable answers to the question. You're either picking Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, or Georges St-Pierre. Sorry, Demetrious Johnson. It's not your fault. You're incredible, but you're in the wrong place at the wrong time and the wrong size to enter this conversation. Mighty Mouse is unquestionably an all-time great, a Hall of Famer, but it's an uphill battle entering him in this particular discussion.
So let's break it down. Here's why you would pick:
FloCombat unanimously agrees Jon Jones is the most talented mixed martial artist to ever step into a cage. He's obliterated former champions and all-time greats. He's submitted Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts as a white belt, and he's unleashed the most savage elbows ever seen inside the Octagon. And he's done it all while possibly operating at less than full potential.
Every time you think, "There's no way this dude can get any better," he does something remarkable (such as head kicking Daniel Cormier into a slippery shuffle toward unconsciousness). As far as pure talent, strength of competition, and overall dominance goes, there simply is no equal to Jon Jones.
...But steroids are a thing. After his latest slipup, his second in the UFC (which is still under review, mind you), one has to question how to properly gauge his legacy. If you think these infractions disqualify him from the conversation, that's the deal breaker. If you're OK with it and you, like the great Nate Diaz, believe everyone is on steroids, you might have a hard time picking anybody else.
In January 2013, the GOAT question was no debate at all. Anderson Silva was the greatest fighter of all time, no questions asked. At the time, the UFC middleweight king rode a 17-fight winning streak, finishing all but two of those opponents in spectacular fashion. And in those two decisions, it really didn't look like he was trying at all.
That was the Silva mystique, or aura, if you will. He was invincible. Fighters were defeated before they stepped into the cage, and his dominance was unparalleled. One flick of the fist, foot, or shin and you were done. Take him to the ground? Prepare to get submitted. There was no defeating Silva, and when he decided play time was over, it was night-night. Every. Damn. Time.
But then Chris Weidman burst onto the scene. The New York native was practically engineered to defeat Silva. Weidman was long and lean. He was expertly coached. His wrestling was the best Silva had ever faced, and his jiu-jitsu was slick as all get-out. Taking on the GOAT at UFC 162 in July 2013, Weidman shocked the world with a second-round knockout, ending Silva's reign and sparking a tumble from grace for "The Spider."
Since that time, Silva has fought five times, going 1-3 with one no-contest. He's also been popped for steroids, testing positive for drostanolone and androsterone after his UFC 183 showdown opposite Nick Diaz.
So there's that. If you draw the line at steroids, you can't choose Silva, either. Even if you don't, you have to ask yourself: Was Silva's 17-fight winning streak and UFC-best 10 consecutive title defenses better than Jones' overall resume?
The answer to that question will determine your GOAT.
"Steroids are bad, mmkay?!"
If you, like Mr. Mackey, feel that drugs cannot be tolerated, your GOAT conversation becomes a little different.
Now, you're debating between heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko and welterweight Georges St-Pierre.
If you choose Emelianenko, you'll likely do so because of his absolute brilliance from April 2001 to November 2009.
In many ways, Emelianenko is like Silva -- he had a mystique, a violent calm about him that was downright terrifying. His legacy, also like Silva's, was built during one long and dominant stretch. For 28 straight fights, Emelianenko went undefeated, finishing 21 of those foes and suffering one no-contest due to an accidental headbutt.
While many will say, "Yeah, but he crushed cans," he also crushed legends. He wiped out Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Hunt, Mark Coleman, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Gary Goodridge, and Andrei Arlovski -- among others -- during that run.
Also like Silva, unfortunately, Emelianenko has since fallen off the map a bit. In his last nine fights, he's 5-4, getting finished in all four losses. He's far past his prime, but he's still fighting. And that may ultimately leave a taste too sour to stomach in the GOAT conversation.
Which leaves us with...
Think Jon Jones without steroids or controversy (and also without USADA *cough*) and with two early-career losses.
Boom. There's St-Pierre. The Canadian welterweight blitzed the scene from 2007 to 2013, winning 12 straight fights (nine via decision) and defending his UFC title nine times.
His grappling-heavy style won him few fans, but the dude just kept winning and winning and winning, working his way into the GOAT conversation whether you wanted it or not. He ended his career on a controversial note, retiring after a split-decision victory over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167.
Then he came back! Recently, it was announced St-Pierre will challenge for Michael Bisping's UFC middleweight title, meaning "Rush" can add another layer to his GOAT resume. "Two-division champion" sure would look nice on such an application. Should he pull that one off, it will be incredibly hard to deny GSP his claim to the illustrious GOAT title.
There's only one...
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Monks have studied for years trying to determine an outcome, but like a TI-84 overloaded with symbols and requests, the result is always the same: "ERROR: INVALID."
It's impossible to separate the various factors possessed by MMA greats. What's better: three straight vicious knockouts or six straight unanimous decision victories?
Do steroids matter? Should they affect a fighter's legacy?
Here at FloCombat, we've finally done it. After approximately 35 minutes of planning and extensive lab research, we've formulated a flowchart -- or FloChart, if you prefer -- that will help you decide your personal MMA GOAT.
There you go. Those monks must've been sipping too many Trappist ales, because that was easy AF, fam.
There are pretty much four reasonable answers to the question. You're either picking Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, or Georges St-Pierre. Sorry, Demetrious Johnson. It's not your fault. You're incredible, but you're in the wrong place at the wrong time and the wrong size to enter this conversation. Mighty Mouse is unquestionably an all-time great, a Hall of Famer, but it's an uphill battle entering him in this particular discussion.
So let's break it down. Here's why you would pick:
Jon Jones
FloCombat unanimously agrees Jon Jones is the most talented mixed martial artist to ever step into a cage. He's obliterated former champions and all-time greats. He's submitted Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts as a white belt, and he's unleashed the most savage elbows ever seen inside the Octagon. And he's done it all while possibly operating at less than full potential.
Every time you think, "There's no way this dude can get any better," he does something remarkable (such as head kicking Daniel Cormier into a slippery shuffle toward unconsciousness). As far as pure talent, strength of competition, and overall dominance goes, there simply is no equal to Jon Jones.
...But steroids are a thing. After his latest slipup, his second in the UFC (which is still under review, mind you), one has to question how to properly gauge his legacy. If you think these infractions disqualify him from the conversation, that's the deal breaker. If you're OK with it and you, like the great Nate Diaz, believe everyone is on steroids, you might have a hard time picking anybody else.
Anderson Silva
In January 2013, the GOAT question was no debate at all. Anderson Silva was the greatest fighter of all time, no questions asked. At the time, the UFC middleweight king rode a 17-fight winning streak, finishing all but two of those opponents in spectacular fashion. And in those two decisions, it really didn't look like he was trying at all.
That was the Silva mystique, or aura, if you will. He was invincible. Fighters were defeated before they stepped into the cage, and his dominance was unparalleled. One flick of the fist, foot, or shin and you were done. Take him to the ground? Prepare to get submitted. There was no defeating Silva, and when he decided play time was over, it was night-night. Every. Damn. Time.
But then Chris Weidman burst onto the scene. The New York native was practically engineered to defeat Silva. Weidman was long and lean. He was expertly coached. His wrestling was the best Silva had ever faced, and his jiu-jitsu was slick as all get-out. Taking on the GOAT at UFC 162 in July 2013, Weidman shocked the world with a second-round knockout, ending Silva's reign and sparking a tumble from grace for "The Spider."
Since that time, Silva has fought five times, going 1-3 with one no-contest. He's also been popped for steroids, testing positive for drostanolone and androsterone after his UFC 183 showdown opposite Nick Diaz.
So there's that. If you draw the line at steroids, you can't choose Silva, either. Even if you don't, you have to ask yourself: Was Silva's 17-fight winning streak and UFC-best 10 consecutive title defenses better than Jones' overall resume?
The answer to that question will determine your GOAT.
Fedor Emelianenko
"Steroids are bad, mmkay?!"
If you, like Mr. Mackey, feel that drugs cannot be tolerated, your GOAT conversation becomes a little different.
Now, you're debating between heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko and welterweight Georges St-Pierre.
If you choose Emelianenko, you'll likely do so because of his absolute brilliance from April 2001 to November 2009.
In many ways, Emelianenko is like Silva -- he had a mystique, a violent calm about him that was downright terrifying. His legacy, also like Silva's, was built during one long and dominant stretch. For 28 straight fights, Emelianenko went undefeated, finishing 21 of those foes and suffering one no-contest due to an accidental headbutt.
While many will say, "Yeah, but he crushed cans," he also crushed legends. He wiped out Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Hunt, Mark Coleman, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Gary Goodridge, and Andrei Arlovski -- among others -- during that run.
Also like Silva, unfortunately, Emelianenko has since fallen off the map a bit. In his last nine fights, he's 5-4, getting finished in all four losses. He's far past his prime, but he's still fighting. And that may ultimately leave a taste too sour to stomach in the GOAT conversation.
Which leaves us with...
Georges St-Pierre
Think Jon Jones without steroids or controversy (and also without USADA *cough*) and with two early-career losses.
Boom. There's St-Pierre. The Canadian welterweight blitzed the scene from 2007 to 2013, winning 12 straight fights (nine via decision) and defending his UFC title nine times.
His grappling-heavy style won him few fans, but the dude just kept winning and winning and winning, working his way into the GOAT conversation whether you wanted it or not. He ended his career on a controversial note, retiring after a split-decision victory over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167.
Then he came back! Recently, it was announced St-Pierre will challenge for Michael Bisping's UFC middleweight title, meaning "Rush" can add another layer to his GOAT resume. "Two-division champion" sure would look nice on such an application. Should he pull that one off, it will be incredibly hard to deny GSP his claim to the illustrious GOAT title.
Conor McGregor
There's only one...
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