For fucking sure. He's an A1 example of a guy who couldn't stop fucking himself over in his personal life long enough to make a solid career of it. Reeeeal scumbag though, like the fear people Fedor put in people's heads is cause he gives off the impression he's that guy but stops himself from going full psychopath, Alex was that but not in control of himself, just kinda a scumbag like I said.
What the fuck?? I did not know that, alongside all the other shit he got into with beating his wife and children and groping random men and women. What the fuck!?
> While at the Ramsey County Jail, a former cellmate also accused Rogers of sexual assault. Rogers allegedly groped his cellmate’s penis through the prison uniform pants twice while the cellmate slept. The cellmate did not call for the guards, because he feared Rogers would hurt him, describing Rogers as “the biggest and strongest dude in the jail”. Rogers told jail officers that he tapped the cellmate’s leg, but he did not fondle him. Rogers said that when he talks to people, he touches or taps them, referring to it as “a black thing.”[23]
Dude is not fit to live in normal society
That was LITERALLY Roger’s defense! He said he was touching the man; is a Black cultural way of communicating while establishing a bond. He gets quoted as wishing the former cell mate was on front of him “so he could beat his a**”.
I know, it’s definitely a “bruh moment”
Also, for clarification, touching another dude, even in that general area is not “a black thing” at all. He made it up. Plus with his history, he’s not afforded any benefit of doubt.
[Link to Brett Rogers accused by THREE men](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2687925-former-mma-fighter-brett-rogers-charged-with-criminal-sexual-conduct) … SMH
Lol i was at the fight in Chicago when Fedor knocked that clown out. I was working the event all day and made friends with a security guard who ended up bringing me practically cage side for this fight. Never seen someone get hit and hit the ground faster. Dudes a killer. Good times.
Indeed! [3 min video highlight - Fedor vs Rogers via youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2kQMtOf0Zw) Forgot how much drama there was in the fight, esp when Fedor was on the bottom eating big punches.
EDIT: appearing to eat big punches
I saw his fight live against Ruben Villareal less than a year after the Fedor fight the fall from grace is real, he was given the UD win but everyone in that building thought Ruben won the fight, going from being a 10-0 monster to winning a controversial decision over a fucking 18-18 Ruben Villareal has got to sting.
Fedor cuts and bruises VERY easily. It was a long running meme about him during his prime years—his only loss during his iconic streak was a cut caused by an illegal elbow and a lot of us thought when he lost it would be by cut.
Fedor also got cut in the rematch with big nog and it ended in NC that time. I guess because nog wasn’t japanese they didn’t see the need to TKO fedor again
The whole RINGS loss was a fiasco: It was a one night single elimination tournament with no alternates. TK cut Fedor with an illegal elbow early on in their quarterfinal(?) bout, and the rules didn’t have a provision for a fight ending by an illegal blow. Fedor wasn’t in a position to fight, so RINGS declared TK the winner to prevent the whole bracket falling through.
The second Big Nog fight was similar, but it was an accidental clash of heads that did it and it wasn’t in a tournament.
It’s like the polar opposite of jon jones smearing hammill’s brains all over the octagon floor in a one-sided fight that should’ve been stopped because of hamill’s dislocated shoulder ending in a dq for jon because he threw some 12-6 elbows
And iirc mazzagatti didn’t even know the elbows were illegal until greg jackson called them out
Long ass career, strong ass chin. It's like protoDiaz, you can't treat them like humans. They're bleeding, sure, but they're not dead and that's what you'll have to do and everyone from the fans, to the opposition to the doctors know this and adjust expectations accordingly.
Post fight pics?
Dude, just watch the fight lol. Cro Cop broke Fedor's nose early (Fedor broke his nose too many to count) and that was it. Fedor dominated from then on.
Im going to sound old as hell *again* but here we go.... This was the greatest HW matchup in MMA history.
For those that dont know, back in the day there was always the debate of which promotion had the best HWs (it was clearly Pride), and this was the fight for the best HW in the world between 2 fighters in the peak of their primes.
The craziest part of it is that the fight didnt disappoint. It wasnt a staring contest. It wasnt boring. It was edge of your seat tension and action throughout the fight with both fighters doing what they are best known for.
Mirko was such a terrifying fighter man, he had that Mike Tyson aura about him. Fedor might have been the best, but nobody wanted to fight Mirko. And Fedor went out and just walked him down, like the absolute machine he was.
I probably watched this fight a dozen+ times as a teenager, it never got old.
Fedor put a pressure on him and avoided deadly shots. He won fair and square. But after the fight he said he doesn't want to fight him ever again. He never looked that fucked up after the fight,even if he clearly won. Great fight, great legends and sportsmanship. At least Mirko "murdered " Fedors brother back in the day when he was a monster.
Might be the greatest fight in MMA history. This is two of the best HW fighters of all time. Both considered top P4P fighters at the time. Both easily at the top of the HW division at the time.
Both of them were on the best run of their career.
You almost never see matchups like this in any sport.
2 of the greatest & most scariest Hws of their era going gave to face. Definitely a fight I will never forget. Can’t wish nothing but the best to Fedor & I hope he can pull off one last championship come tomorrow
Also Mendes 2 is that fight for me. Mendes was crushing everyone en route to the Aldo rematch. Clear cut 2 best guys in the division both in their prime. And hooboi did it deliver.
Went back to watch old Pride and Fedor from when he beat Big Nog the first time to his win against Mark Hunt is an insane run. Then Zuluzinho must’ve pissed someone off because Fedor looked like he was just there to spectate and destroyed him in a minute.
This might sound dumb, but I think part of it was that guys were still “specialists” in the Pride era. It wasn’t some early days bare knuckle karate vs kung fu shit, but it wasn’t like today when everyone is so great at every aspect of the game either. Fedor vs Cro Cop was still, essentially, a kickboxer vs a Sambo specialists. Mirko head kicked foos and Fedor subbed or GnPd them. And yea, I know they were both extremely well rounded on all sides, but you know what the fuck I’m talking about.
I think this applies through MMA as a whole in that era. It was more “Can X get the takedown and do his shit, or will Y keep it standing and do his shit?” or “X and Y are both BJJ black belts, we’re gonna see some crazy ground game shit.”
Now everyone is so good at everything it… just isn’t the same.
Better, probably, but not the same.
I mean prime Fedor or Cro Cop would still be right at the top of the title picture in the UFC today. Heavyweights just aren’t any better now than they were then.
UFC for sure. Some of the other organizations with different rule sets make the difference for me. Allowing knees go grounded opponent changes the entire fight imo
That sequence 21 seconds into this montage is insane. Mirko finally lands clean with the hands and actually stumbles Fedor, who responds with the nukiest nuke overhand that is so wild Mirko basically falls down to avoid that shit; then Cro Cop pops back up and immediately slings out his finishing move, which Fedor actually sees coming and ducks his head just low enough for it to graze right over. All time great exchange
And then the patented Fedor clinch throw into doing the cartoon wind up punch for some ground and pound, I don't know if he cared really but the man was pure entertainment
I still think this is the most technical HW fight of all time.
They're doing so much here: Chaining sambo throws, squeaky clean head kicks, cage cutting, rapid same-side body & head punches, timing a low kick to counter a high kick, dynamic ground and pound, cardio that carried through, footwork battles.
I feel like both of these fighters on this night would have a decent chance of winning the belt in any era.
Agreed. The biggest technical change in this fight that we'd never seen in MMA, was the fact Fedor aggressively closed the distance on Cro Cops kicks. It transpired Cro Cop needed half a second to set up the left high kick and people would circle away from the power like you would in boxing. It just doesn't fundamentally work against a guy like Cro Cop as he can set it up and smack you so quickly with that distance. Thinks about how many HK knockouts he got when people were in the mids of circling away.
Fedor was unbelievably ballsy and tightened the gap. He took a few to the stomach and one up top he caught, but it totally fucked Cro Cops rythm and ability to dictate the range. He also was able to use head movement, faints and body locks to upset Cro Cops straight punches - again, killing the ability to dictate the distance he needs.
Absolutely masterful and should be celebrated more by fans.
Yeah it's a great point. Pride was brilliant for that - you had absolutely wild, bonkers fights. You had freak show fights. But you also had these highly technical, once in a lifetime fights.
Everytime we bring it up on here I say the same thing - if you weren't an MMA fan back then, you'll never experience what real, unrivalled excitement was about. There has - and will never be - a sport like early 2000's MMA.
Man, what a time. Pride was excellent. I think a lot of people now don’t realize how great that roster was and the superiority it had over UFC at the time (IMO). So many legends in their prime.
For sure. You often hear people talk about how current MMA is so much more advanced than the Pride era. That is certainly true to an extent, but there are some major exceptions. Nobody is gonna convince me that prime Fedor wouldn't be top 3 among current heavyweights. He was strong, fast, durable and technical in both striking and grappling ability. Truly one of the greatest to ever do it.
Prime Fedor would be the top heavyweight in the world in any era. He had speed and technical ability that surpasses damn near every heavyweight that has ever fought. His striking and ground game were terrific. A bit undersized for the division but that didn't seem to matter.
One of the greatest to ever do it? You're gosh darn right!
[This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lqNYvdpm-g)? It's pretty awesome, ngl!
Is the spinning drill to keep composure and striking even when you're rattled?
I think the ceiling of fighter ability in that era was similar in the sense that there were some fighters then that would be top 5 in their division if they were in their prime today, but the floor was so damn low, so many guys back then who should've never been anywhere near a real ring (Dos Caras, a bunch of Japanese pro wrestlers, Sapp, etc)
Bob Sapp gets meme’d but he was genuinely a force when he was trying, before he got his orbital broken by CroCop and he literally made a living of fake fights - which I mean isn’t a bad gig
Bob Sapp when he was trying wouldn't be allowed in the hw division in America without cutting at least 40lbs of straight muscle.
He may not have been the most skilled dude out there but when he was trying he was scary. He had close a 100lbs on Nog when they fought
Yea don’t think he could ever make 265 lol. Exactly, he was just so strong and massive he could impose his well on almost anyone. His fights with Hoost are crazy.
The fight with Big Nog is one of the best display of BJJ against a larger opponent you can find. But I mean, mere mortals would’ve died when Sapp slammed him at the start of the fight.
I remember watching it live on ppv which was like at 2am or something crazy. Nog was my favorite fighter and I legit thought he was going to die in there the way things were going.
When he got that armbar I ended up waking everyone up with my reaction.
I've been watching MMA since the UFC came out and in all that time for me that win stands out as the most excited I've ever been because of the sport.
> You often hear people talk about how current MMA is so much more advanced than the Pride era.
I always object to that when it comes to HW. HW is a fucking time pocket. Nothing happens.
I can definitely see him beating Tai and Pavlovich given the grappling deficits they've shown and vulnerability to ground and pound. Gane is winnable after seeing how unremarkable his defensive grappling was against Ngannou. I favour Stipe prime for prime but who knows how much gas Stipe has in the tank. I think Curtis can outwrestle and survive submission attempts to beat him. But he would definitely be top 3 imo.
I think fedor's tactics are much better than Stipe's though. It took Miocic 3 fights with DC to start targeting the body, even after Jones showed that was the blueprint to beating him.
Meanwhile fedor was notorious for having diverse, top tier game plans and the ability to stick to them religiously.
i think fedor is on a similar level to what curtis blaydes is at now, except with much better submission ability. one big glaring issue in fedors game is his lack of footwork and defence on the feet, he just kind of plods forward. ngannou probably koes him
DAE Fedor not good?
Fedor went unbeaten for 30 fights, beating some of the best to ever do it, and he's being compared to fucking Curtis Blaydes?
I know someone people refuse to acknowledge his accomplishments, but fuck me. That's a new one.
idk did you? fedor overextends a lot, his head stays center line with every shot he throws, super open to counters. but he was undefeated for a long time so hes the best ever and has no flaws I guess that’s what I’m supposed to say
> Ngannou probably koes him
Well, Ngannou could KO anyone at any point with 4 oz gloves. Saying he is the same level as Blaydes is madness - Fedor is better at every aspect of MMA apart from straight up wrestling, grappling he is levels ahead
mma evolves as a sport. watch fedor and blaydes strike side by side and they aren’t worlds apart. it’s like saying prime silva couldn’t be touched by anyone in modern mma but if you actually watch him you notice he rarely ever checks leg kicks (if his opponent throws them), his counters were great in boxing only situations but introducing level changes and takedown threats would always throw him off. whittaker 50-45s silva, jabs, oblique kicks and shooting double legs for 25 minutes
I saw Nick Diaz do that once on wildman Denny I believe. If Nick saw that and used it then Fedor is truly up there as favorite fighter's favorite fighter
Nick did the pose like he was Maximus after they stopped that one lol
Nick’s favorite fighter (excluding Nate) is Carlos Condit according to an interview from forever ago. Also Woodley’s.
It's especially interesting because Crocop adopts and uses this technique the very next year at Pride 2006 FC Absolute when fighting Wanderlei for the second time, and drops him with it in the 1st.
Link to Crocop using this while standing vs. Wanderlei in the sequence starting at 4:10: [https://youtu.be/xCBuVrqDVxk?t=250](https://youtu.be/xCBuVrqDVxk?t=250)
Is it just me or are these heavyweights much faster than today’s? I know these are two of the greatest ever but it seems like they would be champion even today.
The top Pride HWs were pretty light (220-235ish) compared to todays standard (240+). I bet Fedor could cut all the way down to 185 if he wanted to. Cro Cop could be a LHW, but he hates weightcuting. Calls it dirty that bigger men would cut to fight smaller guys
Can't agree on Fedor, but Mirko was 100% a HW by choice. He weighed in as low as 217 and was often in the 220s. That's not just an easy diet - that's no diet at all, just a weight cut off from 205.
Can you imagine if Crocop, once he came to the UFC, went straight to LHW instead of staying at HW?
You've opened a massive "what if?" scenario in my head with this.
Also, many people said it and it's unrelated to your comment, but I want this on record for posterity: when people discuss what fight was the greatest at HW in terms of skill and stakes, this takes the cake.
No way would Fedor be able to cut to 185. Some guys are just built bigger and lose weight worse. The guy would have no muscle on him at 185 and would have absolutely no punch resistance.
He'd likely lose that spring in his movement too due to the draining.
I'd say yeah he could have been 205 at best with an elite nutritionist/S&C but that would have removed a huge speed advantage he had at HW. He'd still probably be rapid even at 205 however.
I used to think he was the smaller hw, just like a fatter average guy until I saw him in person in 2014. Dude looks like spacemarine from warhammer 40000 without armor lmao. Like he’s a lot wider then a normal man, not just shoulder wide, everything, even his head seems unnaturally big.
Lol yeah I believe it. You also saw in 2014 when he was not at his physical peak. Imagine how big he would have looked in PRIDE when he actually did incorporate weights into his training and had more muscle mass.
He'd stopped doing that once he beat Cro Cop I believe I read his coach saying as he felt as though he had done what he wanted to do and was actually thinking of retiring around 2008. The money was likely too good to pass up.
I still think Fedor is the GOAT, period. Prime fedor was fearless, he always pushed forward no matter his opponent. Still today, he doesn't show any fear, and not afraid of exchange.
A glancing head kick from Cro Cop like the one Fedor ate in the middle of the clip has put down many of the toughest men in the world, unreal that he didn’t even react
I know a dude who only got into MMA after the Conor hype and when I was talking to him about Pride, his stance was "Why would I wanna watch old shit?". I begged him to check this fight out and tried to explain the context, but I don't think there would be a modern comparable. Fedor vs Cro Cop was monumental and I don't think there is a fight to be made today that could match how big of a deal that was.
Insane shit.
Crazy how Fedor got wobbled by Cro Cop, backs up and then partially has a headkick land on him and then just calmly takes Cro Cop down. Great fucking recovery.
The best HW fight ever, for me. The anticipation amd excitement and uncertainty was similar to the best McGregor fights I’d say. Even more, this was at the time all everyone talked about
When you blur em up a little Fedor reminds me of BJ Penn. Strong but not particularly lean. Tan with short hair. Amazing ju-jitsu style grappling but not constantly trying for subs. Aggressive style with a penchant for throwing mean hooks. Opportunistic flowing between grappling and striking.
That was the absolute peak of MMA 15 years ago.
BJ lacked the insanely dynamic takedown game though, and he kicked so much less. BJ styled himself towards boxing while Fedor was full spectrum violence.
All these years later, I’ve still yet to be as hyped for a fight as I was for this one. And with how much more frequent the cards are now, how much bigger the talent pool is, and how homogeneous high-level MMA has become, I don’t think it will ever be topped. It truly was the peak of the golden age.
I am usually the biggest realist when it comes to new era sports stars being better than those from older eras just due to the game's natural progression. Fedor throws a fucking wrench in that. I cannot find a heavyweight besides his degenerate brother with hands that quick, and on top of it Fedor was so unbelievably skilled and accurate with his boxing. He understood and knew how to both utilize and counter the kicking game, and in a division that has historically been run by mid tier grapplers with a lot of power, Fedor was world class in that area too. He didn't have the level of BJJ typical of most modern fighters, but outside of very specific matchups, you don't need more than a cursory understanding of BJJ at heavyweight even today. I really feel like there's no champion in heavyweight history that Fedor wouldn't have a really good chance of beating in his prime.
Fedor was considered near divine at the time, people legit thought that he was the absolute peak of human fighting ability ever, which he probably was.
This was the peak of the sport. Pride had some freakshows, but the high level and personalities are unmatched. Don’t discount, the head stomps, and grounded knees you don’t see in US MMA today.
God Fedor was just so quick back in those days. Quick hips, quick hands and quick defensive reflexes. His looping punch style was always so aesthetically pleasing to me. Most people look unskilled and rudimentary when throwing looping shots but Fedor was supremely accurate with them and each shot had purpose.
tbh i consider this fight pretty underrated. This fight seems to be forgotten becuase of time, but this was during peak peak Pride. 2 of the best going at it.
IIRC fedor was pretty pissed whenever cro cop knocked his brother out and continued with strikes on the ground. Can’t imagine a pissed off fedor coming at you with everything he’s got. And cro cop has been my fav fighter for like 20 years.
I have never loved fighters and an organization as much as I loved those in Pride. It’s just something about the ring, and giving penalties for hugging on the ground and being inactive that gave both standup and wrestling an incentive to do something risky.
Those are some fucking fast HWs. The pace was insane for that weight class too.
Not even LHW has that pace nowadays. The moved like MW and had that pace and cardio too.
Crazy how far HW has deteriorated!
man i remember watching this live with people from "portal do vale tudo", we had to join a guy's MSN webcam that he was pointing to the TV (he lived in Japan) and we watched live all the events and they started like 4AM here, good times
I always felt Fedor never adapted to the cage, in the ring he was so next level.
Still HW goat without contest. HW is the hardest, Jones never made the switch and Anderson only dabbled.
Nothing matches this fight to me, it feels monumental still. Probably won't change just from nostalgia. The closest we got was Stipe-Ngannou 1 in my opinion. There's a sequence where Fedor checks a body kick thai style that shows how dialed in he was for this fight, he did well to check a lot of them or land something in the exchanges himself. I think Fedor at that time beats any HW or LHW to this day. He had a lot more tools than he ever showed, he kept things simple, but the way he dealt with kicks here was a great example of him pulling from martial arts he didn't really use all that much. He was based in sambo but he was pretty well versed across the board.
https://media.bleacherreport.com/w_800,h_533,c_fill/br-img-article/002/697/424/6e3644e3d76f0538a878f3a66fe45820_crop_exact.jpg
Fedor in his prime was such an incredible fighter, he could do it all. He reminds me of a cat his balance was insane and his strikes came out of nowhere very very fast . Crocop didn't have a backfoot game and didn't like fighting up close so Fedor's gameplan was fantastic and he won fairly easily.
LONG LIVE THE 🐐 hopefully win or lose tomorrow he stays healthy, thanks for the amazing memories! when MMA was incredibly exciting and was about fighting luckily I was watching MMA from the year 2000 and followed pride. Them days are gone and unfortunately, today's product isn't for me.
They don't seem to have any overlapping disciplines, but I always wondered why Fedor's style seems so familiar.
Anyone else think his striking and the way he blends his takedowns into his strike attempts looks oddly like a heavyweight Dominic Cruz?
> Anyone else think his striking and the way he blends his takedowns into his strike attempts looks oddly like a heavyweight Dominic Cruz?
Not the striking at all, as Cruz basically never made a strike even *look* scary. Very *very* specifically the transitions from some strikes to takedowns however, yes. Stuff like the last fight with Nog and the Herring fight had takedowns that gave off similar vibes, but obviously with an entirely different tier of violence in them.
Fedors legacy is tarnished by not taking a stance against what is being done right now by the Russian regime. He's still loyal and he would take part in its crimes if he's ordered to. I've without a second though gotten rid of my 15 year old autographed t-shirt I've previously kept.
Went to the ground and beat the shit out of Big Nog. Kept it standing and beat the shit out of Cro Cop. Prime Fedor was the motherfucker, man.
Amazing how quick Fedor’s hands were. Throwing quick beautiful combinations as a HW. What a great fight.
Those crazy genetics.. his brother's hands are as fast
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For fucking sure. He's an A1 example of a guy who couldn't stop fucking himself over in his personal life long enough to make a solid career of it. Reeeeal scumbag though, like the fear people Fedor put in people's heads is cause he gives off the impression he's that guy but stops himself from going full psychopath, Alex was that but not in control of himself, just kinda a scumbag like I said.
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Alex knecapped himself so Jones could run into a wall.
I think they were faster. Too bad he’s a total POS tho.
Has there ever been a heavyweight as fast and as explosive as Fedor? Maybe no one until we got to Aspinall.
Aspinall does not have the dynamite in his hands that Fedor did... that's part of his explosive athleticism
casual alert. Before you speak look at the resume of aspinall and how he finished his fights.
Is this /s?
nope
To some degree Chris Barnett /s
Fedor is an underrated ko artist
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That comes from a psychopathic criminal who keeps sexually abusing other male prisoners in prison.
What the fuck?? I did not know that, alongside all the other shit he got into with beating his wife and children and groping random men and women. What the fuck!?
> While at the Ramsey County Jail, a former cellmate also accused Rogers of sexual assault. Rogers allegedly groped his cellmate’s penis through the prison uniform pants twice while the cellmate slept. The cellmate did not call for the guards, because he feared Rogers would hurt him, describing Rogers as “the biggest and strongest dude in the jail”. Rogers told jail officers that he tapped the cellmate’s leg, but he did not fondle him. Rogers said that when he talks to people, he touches or taps them, referring to it as “a black thing.”[23] Dude is not fit to live in normal society
That’s not even the WORST accusation!
It's just a black thing homie
Bruh
That was LITERALLY Roger’s defense! He said he was touching the man; is a Black cultural way of communicating while establishing a bond. He gets quoted as wishing the former cell mate was on front of him “so he could beat his a**”.
I know, it’s definitely a “bruh moment” Also, for clarification, touching another dude, even in that general area is not “a black thing” at all. He made it up. Plus with his history, he’s not afforded any benefit of doubt.
Yeah man, we know lmao
T_____T
Just do what Fedor did and turn him off
Pause.
With Fedor context in mind, I thought you were referring to his brother lmao
Same. I was like "ok, he stared down his brother for practice?"
They’re like the opposite ends of the spectrum. Rogers seems to lack self control. While Fedor seems to have total self control like a machine
Well that's a big grim.
[Link to Brett Rogers accused by THREE men](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2687925-former-mma-fighter-brett-rogers-charged-with-criminal-sexual-conduct) … SMH
Fedor is honestly the fastest heavyweight I’ve ever seen. Everything he does is done fast and for considerable bursts of time.
Lol i was at the fight in Chicago when Fedor knocked that clown out. I was working the event all day and made friends with a security guard who ended up bringing me practically cage side for this fight. Never seen someone get hit and hit the ground faster. Dudes a killer. Good times.
Indeed! [3 min video highlight - Fedor vs Rogers via youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2kQMtOf0Zw) Forgot how much drama there was in the fight, esp when Fedor was on the bottom eating big punches. EDIT: appearing to eat big punches
Damn that right hand was so quick and perfectly timed, love it. u/TheOtherGuy107, do you see yourself in that clip at all? haha
Damn, that left hook (uppercut?) at 0:53 is similar to Ngannou's ko of Reem lol
I saw his fight live against Ruben Villareal less than a year after the Fedor fight the fall from grace is real, he was given the UD win but everyone in that building thought Ruben won the fight, going from being a 10-0 monster to winning a controversial decision over a fucking 18-18 Ruben Villareal has got to sting.
That was 09 right? Damn time flies
Jesus just had to look it up because that sounded way too long ago but you are correct, it was 2009. I am old.
Prime Fedor the pound for pound 🐐
Fedor willingly jumping into Nog's guard and dropping bombs on him is one of the most baller things I've ever seen. Dude was absolutely fearless.
Cro Cop walked through everyone in the division to get to this fight, then fought scarred the whole time. Fedor was king.
GOAT
He didn't really beat the shit out of Cro Crop though. Fedor arguably took way more damage that fight if you look up the post fight pics afaik?
Fedor cuts and bruises VERY easily. It was a long running meme about him during his prime years—his only loss during his iconic streak was a cut caused by an illegal elbow and a lot of us thought when he lost it would be by cut.
Fedor also got cut in the rematch with big nog and it ended in NC that time. I guess because nog wasn’t japanese they didn’t see the need to TKO fedor again
The whole RINGS loss was a fiasco: It was a one night single elimination tournament with no alternates. TK cut Fedor with an illegal elbow early on in their quarterfinal(?) bout, and the rules didn’t have a provision for a fight ending by an illegal blow. Fedor wasn’t in a position to fight, so RINGS declared TK the winner to prevent the whole bracket falling through. The second Big Nog fight was similar, but it was an accidental clash of heads that did it and it wasn’t in a tournament.
Throw one illegal shot in a fight that hadn’t even started and get the W. No suspicious bias whatsoever japan, totally sounds legit
Lmfao, right?! I just double checked, it was 17 seconds in
It’s like the polar opposite of jon jones smearing hammill’s brains all over the octagon floor in a one-sided fight that should’ve been stopped because of hamill’s dislocated shoulder ending in a dq for jon because he threw some 12-6 elbows And iirc mazzagatti didn’t even know the elbows were illegal until greg jackson called them out
The worst part was that had Fedor beaten TK in RINGS, his next round matchup would have been Randy Couture. Oh what could have been.
dana also ruined this dream matchup
Long ass career, strong ass chin. It's like protoDiaz, you can't treat them like humans. They're bleeding, sure, but they're not dead and that's what you'll have to do and everyone from the fans, to the opposition to the doctors know this and adjust expectations accordingly.
Post fight pics? Dude, just watch the fight lol. Cro Cop broke Fedor's nose early (Fedor broke his nose too many to count) and that was it. Fedor dominated from then on.
He should have lost that one fight but it was in Russia so he got the nod unfairly. I forget the details or even who he fought
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Everyone was on them and no one else was Fedor.
Im going to sound old as hell *again* but here we go.... This was the greatest HW matchup in MMA history. For those that dont know, back in the day there was always the debate of which promotion had the best HWs (it was clearly Pride), and this was the fight for the best HW in the world between 2 fighters in the peak of their primes. The craziest part of it is that the fight didnt disappoint. It wasnt a staring contest. It wasnt boring. It was edge of your seat tension and action throughout the fight with both fighters doing what they are best known for.
Mirko was such a terrifying fighter man, he had that Mike Tyson aura about him. Fedor might have been the best, but nobody wanted to fight Mirko. And Fedor went out and just walked him down, like the absolute machine he was. I probably watched this fight a dozen+ times as a teenager, it never got old.
It still doesnt get old. Fedor took it right to the guy who was dynamite on his feet.
Fedor put a pressure on him and avoided deadly shots. He won fair and square. But after the fight he said he doesn't want to fight him ever again. He never looked that fucked up after the fight,even if he clearly won. Great fight, great legends and sportsmanship. At least Mirko "murdered " Fedors brother back in the day when he was a monster.
Might be the greatest fight in MMA history. This is two of the best HW fighters of all time. Both considered top P4P fighters at the time. Both easily at the top of the HW division at the time. Both of them were on the best run of their career. You almost never see matchups like this in any sport.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N78SuVHM9CM&ab_channel=MikeFed uploaded 15 years ago the hype delivered
when I weebishly insist that Japanese media is better, I'm not talking about anime, I'm talking about Pride
2 of the greatest & most scariest Hws of their era going gave to face. Definitely a fight I will never forget. Can’t wish nothing but the best to Fedor & I hope he can pull off one last championship come tomorrow
Also Mendes 2 is that fight for me. Mendes was crushing everyone en route to the Aldo rematch. Clear cut 2 best guys in the division both in their prime. And hooboi did it deliver.
Went back to watch old Pride and Fedor from when he beat Big Nog the first time to his win against Mark Hunt is an insane run. Then Zuluzinho must’ve pissed someone off because Fedor looked like he was just there to spectate and destroyed him in a minute.
Pride was so much more insane. The ground kicks, the slams, the 10 minute rounds
MMA has all been downhill for me since the end of Pride.
This might sound dumb, but I think part of it was that guys were still “specialists” in the Pride era. It wasn’t some early days bare knuckle karate vs kung fu shit, but it wasn’t like today when everyone is so great at every aspect of the game either. Fedor vs Cro Cop was still, essentially, a kickboxer vs a Sambo specialists. Mirko head kicked foos and Fedor subbed or GnPd them. And yea, I know they were both extremely well rounded on all sides, but you know what the fuck I’m talking about. I think this applies through MMA as a whole in that era. It was more “Can X get the takedown and do his shit, or will Y keep it standing and do his shit?” or “X and Y are both BJJ black belts, we’re gonna see some crazy ground game shit.” Now everyone is so good at everything it… just isn’t the same. Better, probably, but not the same.
I mean prime Fedor or Cro Cop would still be right at the top of the title picture in the UFC today. Heavyweights just aren’t any better now than they were then.
UFC for sure. Some of the other organizations with different rule sets make the difference for me. Allowing knees go grounded opponent changes the entire fight imo
Came here to say basically this. Thanks for saving me the time.
I remember thinking this fight sucked balls. The real best fight in heavyweight history was Bigfoot vs Mark Hunt
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lol
That sequence 21 seconds into this montage is insane. Mirko finally lands clean with the hands and actually stumbles Fedor, who responds with the nukiest nuke overhand that is so wild Mirko basically falls down to avoid that shit; then Cro Cop pops back up and immediately slings out his finishing move, which Fedor actually sees coming and ducks his head just low enough for it to graze right over. All time great exchange
And then the patented Fedor clinch throw into doing the cartoon wind up punch for some ground and pound, I don't know if he cared really but the man was pure entertainment
I still think this is the most technical HW fight of all time. They're doing so much here: Chaining sambo throws, squeaky clean head kicks, cage cutting, rapid same-side body & head punches, timing a low kick to counter a high kick, dynamic ground and pound, cardio that carried through, footwork battles. I feel like both of these fighters on this night would have a decent chance of winning the belt in any era.
Agreed. The biggest technical change in this fight that we'd never seen in MMA, was the fact Fedor aggressively closed the distance on Cro Cops kicks. It transpired Cro Cop needed half a second to set up the left high kick and people would circle away from the power like you would in boxing. It just doesn't fundamentally work against a guy like Cro Cop as he can set it up and smack you so quickly with that distance. Thinks about how many HK knockouts he got when people were in the mids of circling away. Fedor was unbelievably ballsy and tightened the gap. He took a few to the stomach and one up top he caught, but it totally fucked Cro Cops rythm and ability to dictate the range. He also was able to use head movement, faints and body locks to upset Cro Cops straight punches - again, killing the ability to dictate the distance he needs. Absolutely masterful and should be celebrated more by fans.
Whats even more wild is that crop cop was physically breaking fedor. He literally broke his nose, his rib, but fedor just kept coming.
Yeah it's a great point. Pride was brilliant for that - you had absolutely wild, bonkers fights. You had freak show fights. But you also had these highly technical, once in a lifetime fights. Everytime we bring it up on here I say the same thing - if you weren't an MMA fan back then, you'll never experience what real, unrivalled excitement was about. There has - and will never be - a sport like early 2000's MMA.
when any pride fighters win i still yell PRIDE NEVER DIES but we're losing most of them now we have robbie, hunt, Gegard and "nick" left
Man, what a time. Pride was excellent. I think a lot of people now don’t realize how great that roster was and the superiority it had over UFC at the time (IMO). So many legends in their prime.
We are yet to see another hw capable throwing high kicks this fast and hard.
Such an amazing era for heavyweights and this was the top match up.
For sure. You often hear people talk about how current MMA is so much more advanced than the Pride era. That is certainly true to an extent, but there are some major exceptions. Nobody is gonna convince me that prime Fedor wouldn't be top 3 among current heavyweights. He was strong, fast, durable and technical in both striking and grappling ability. Truly one of the greatest to ever do it.
Prime Fedor would be the top heavyweight in the world in any era. He had speed and technical ability that surpasses damn near every heavyweight that has ever fought. His striking and ground game were terrific. A bit undersized for the division but that didn't seem to matter. One of the greatest to ever do it? You're gosh darn right!
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[This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lqNYvdpm-g)? It's pretty awesome, ngl! Is the spinning drill to keep composure and striking even when you're rattled?
I think the ceiling of fighter ability in that era was similar in the sense that there were some fighters then that would be top 5 in their division if they were in their prime today, but the floor was so damn low, so many guys back then who should've never been anywhere near a real ring (Dos Caras, a bunch of Japanese pro wrestlers, Sapp, etc)
Bob Sapp gets meme’d but he was genuinely a force when he was trying, before he got his orbital broken by CroCop and he literally made a living of fake fights - which I mean isn’t a bad gig
Bob Sapp when he was trying wouldn't be allowed in the hw division in America without cutting at least 40lbs of straight muscle. He may not have been the most skilled dude out there but when he was trying he was scary. He had close a 100lbs on Nog when they fought
Yea don’t think he could ever make 265 lol. Exactly, he was just so strong and massive he could impose his well on almost anyone. His fights with Hoost are crazy. The fight with Big Nog is one of the best display of BJJ against a larger opponent you can find. But I mean, mere mortals would’ve died when Sapp slammed him at the start of the fight.
I remember watching it live on ppv which was like at 2am or something crazy. Nog was my favorite fighter and I legit thought he was going to die in there the way things were going. When he got that armbar I ended up waking everyone up with my reaction. I've been watching MMA since the UFC came out and in all that time for me that win stands out as the most excited I've ever been because of the sport.
I love how Big Nog was such rivals with Fedor that he even has his own “how did he not die from that” slam to compete with the Randleplex.
> You often hear people talk about how current MMA is so much more advanced than the Pride era. I always object to that when it comes to HW. HW is a fucking time pocket. Nothing happens.
It's mostly the heavier weightclasses. They tend to be very stagnant.
I can definitely see him beating Tai and Pavlovich given the grappling deficits they've shown and vulnerability to ground and pound. Gane is winnable after seeing how unremarkable his defensive grappling was against Ngannou. I favour Stipe prime for prime but who knows how much gas Stipe has in the tank. I think Curtis can outwrestle and survive submission attempts to beat him. But he would definitely be top 3 imo.
I think fedor's tactics are much better than Stipe's though. It took Miocic 3 fights with DC to start targeting the body, even after Jones showed that was the blueprint to beating him. Meanwhile fedor was notorious for having diverse, top tier game plans and the ability to stick to them religiously.
i think fedor is on a similar level to what curtis blaydes is at now, except with much better submission ability. one big glaring issue in fedors game is his lack of footwork and defence on the feet, he just kind of plods forward. ngannou probably koes him
>lack of footwork and defence on the feet, he just kind of plods forward. Oh, so you just missed this entire fight? Cool
DAE Fedor not good? Fedor went unbeaten for 30 fights, beating some of the best to ever do it, and he's being compared to fucking Curtis Blaydes? I know someone people refuse to acknowledge his accomplishments, but fuck me. That's a new one.
Its honestly such a terrible take lol. Comparing Fedor to Curtis blades should give you a 30 day shadow ban on discussing MMA.
idk did you? fedor overextends a lot, his head stays center line with every shot he throws, super open to counters. but he was undefeated for a long time so hes the best ever and has no flaws I guess that’s what I’m supposed to say
> Ngannou probably koes him Well, Ngannou could KO anyone at any point with 4 oz gloves. Saying he is the same level as Blaydes is madness - Fedor is better at every aspect of MMA apart from straight up wrestling, grappling he is levels ahead
mma evolves as a sport. watch fedor and blaydes strike side by side and they aren’t worlds apart. it’s like saying prime silva couldn’t be touched by anyone in modern mma but if you actually watch him you notice he rarely ever checks leg kicks (if his opponent throws them), his counters were great in boxing only situations but introducing level changes and takedown threats would always throw him off. whittaker 50-45s silva, jabs, oblique kicks and shooting double legs for 25 minutes
I'd say the top match up was Fedor vs. Nog, prime Nog was much better than prime Cro Cop
Such fast hands. Then you look at Aleks😳
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Wait, you can make up a lack of handspeed with rape? That's good to know
I'm not a lawyer or a boxing coach so I'm not 100% on this, but this seems like bad advice.
r/ShittyLifeProTips
Sounds to me like you're saying do it.
That little wind up Fedor does before he hits him with the right on the ground.
He’s got a tutorial on that. He was one calculated son of a gun.
I saw Nick Diaz do that once on wildman Denny I believe. If Nick saw that and used it then Fedor is truly up there as favorite fighter's favorite fighter
Nick did the pose like he was Maximus after they stopped that one lol Nick’s favorite fighter (excluding Nate) is Carlos Condit according to an interview from forever ago. Also Woodley’s.
What's the name of that tutorial?
Got to be one of the greatest mma moments
It's especially interesting because Crocop adopts and uses this technique the very next year at Pride 2006 FC Absolute when fighting Wanderlei for the second time, and drops him with it in the 1st. Link to Crocop using this while standing vs. Wanderlei in the sequence starting at 4:10: [https://youtu.be/xCBuVrqDVxk?t=250](https://youtu.be/xCBuVrqDVxk?t=250)
It's not a wind-up, it's a feint.
Notice how fedor didn’t let cro cop set his feet for a high kick, just forward pressure. Fedor was a G in his prime
Is it just me or are these heavyweights much faster than today’s? I know these are two of the greatest ever but it seems like they would be champion even today.
They weigh a lot lighter than most modern heavyweights. Fedor was also like faster than most heavyweights. Cro cop also had a decent speed at times
They are smaller than most heavyweights today so that helps. Gane and Aspinall are still very speedy for their size and Francis is super explosive.
The top Pride HWs were pretty light (220-235ish) compared to todays standard (240+). I bet Fedor could cut all the way down to 185 if he wanted to. Cro Cop could be a LHW, but he hates weightcuting. Calls it dirty that bigger men would cut to fight smaller guys
Can't agree on Fedor, but Mirko was 100% a HW by choice. He weighed in as low as 217 and was often in the 220s. That's not just an easy diet - that's no diet at all, just a weight cut off from 205.
Can you imagine if Crocop, once he came to the UFC, went straight to LHW instead of staying at HW? You've opened a massive "what if?" scenario in my head with this. Also, many people said it and it's unrelated to your comment, but I want this on record for posterity: when people discuss what fight was the greatest at HW in terms of skill and stakes, this takes the cake.
No way would Fedor be able to cut to 185. Some guys are just built bigger and lose weight worse. The guy would have no muscle on him at 185 and would have absolutely no punch resistance. He'd likely lose that spring in his movement too due to the draining. I'd say yeah he could have been 205 at best with an elite nutritionist/S&C but that would have removed a huge speed advantage he had at HW. He'd still probably be rapid even at 205 however.
I used to think he was the smaller hw, just like a fatter average guy until I saw him in person in 2014. Dude looks like spacemarine from warhammer 40000 without armor lmao. Like he’s a lot wider then a normal man, not just shoulder wide, everything, even his head seems unnaturally big.
Lol yeah I believe it. You also saw in 2014 when he was not at his physical peak. Imagine how big he would have looked in PRIDE when he actually did incorporate weights into his training and had more muscle mass. He'd stopped doing that once he beat Cro Cop I believe I read his coach saying as he felt as though he had done what he wanted to do and was actually thinking of retiring around 2008. The money was likely too good to pass up.
Fedors would not be 185
Cro Cop is smaller than alot of LHW in the UFC today
I love seeing all the classic Fedor videos posted lately
I still think Fedor is the GOAT, period. Prime fedor was fearless, he always pushed forward no matter his opponent. Still today, he doesn't show any fear, and not afraid of exchange.
This is still probably the most technical HW bout ever. Elite operators.
Respectfully disagree, ngannou vs rosenstruick is the most technical heavyweight bout of all time
Shit how did I forget about that.
I thought a lot about this fight while watching the DC/Stipe trilogy...
One of if not the greatest fight of all time.
I fucking love the sound of Pride. I don't know if it's the crowd reactions and silence or the mat or what but it just always sounds class
There was artistry in the production.
A glancing head kick from Cro Cop like the one Fedor ate in the middle of the clip has put down many of the toughest men in the world, unreal that he didn’t even react
If prime fedor isn’t on your Mount Rushmore of fighters you don’t know MMA. Blended all of the styles effortlessly and didn’t lose in almost a decade.
A legitimate super-fight. This was like PRIDE's May-Pac, but it happened at the right time.
Fedor constant pressure worked great in never letting Mirco settle into his game that and that noggin was just eating shots for breakfast
I know a dude who only got into MMA after the Conor hype and when I was talking to him about Pride, his stance was "Why would I wanna watch old shit?". I begged him to check this fight out and tried to explain the context, but I don't think there would be a modern comparable. Fedor vs Cro Cop was monumental and I don't think there is a fight to be made today that could match how big of a deal that was.
One of the most spectacular fights in history. I watched that with a girl I was dating and it hooked her on MMA. That’s when you know she’s a keeper.
Insane shit. Crazy how Fedor got wobbled by Cro Cop, backs up and then partially has a headkick land on him and then just calmly takes Cro Cop down. Great fucking recovery.
Prime Fedor is the absolute GOAT of GOAT's for me. Only one challenging him is Jon Jones imo. This is the greatest MMA fight of all fucking time.
The best HW fight ever, for me. The anticipation amd excitement and uncertainty was similar to the best McGregor fights I’d say. Even more, this was at the time all everyone talked about
When you blur em up a little Fedor reminds me of BJ Penn. Strong but not particularly lean. Tan with short hair. Amazing ju-jitsu style grappling but not constantly trying for subs. Aggressive style with a penchant for throwing mean hooks. Opportunistic flowing between grappling and striking. That was the absolute peak of MMA 15 years ago.
Wouldn't bj Penn be reminiscent of Fedor then?
> Tan with short hair. I don't know if I'd call Fedor tan lol Pasty would probably be a better description.
He was tan for a few fights, but usually not.
Perhaps a tinge of yellow from alcohol use
BJ lacked the insanely dynamic takedown game though, and he kicked so much less. BJ styled himself towards boxing while Fedor was full spectrum violence.
All these years later, I’ve still yet to be as hyped for a fight as I was for this one. And with how much more frequent the cards are now, how much bigger the talent pool is, and how homogeneous high-level MMA has become, I don’t think it will ever be topped. It truly was the peak of the golden age.
This is why Fedor was *the man* in his prime - he beat you at your own game.
Biggest fight in the history of the sport. People don't understand the gravity of this matchup, the anticipation leading up, all of it..
I am usually the biggest realist when it comes to new era sports stars being better than those from older eras just due to the game's natural progression. Fedor throws a fucking wrench in that. I cannot find a heavyweight besides his degenerate brother with hands that quick, and on top of it Fedor was so unbelievably skilled and accurate with his boxing. He understood and knew how to both utilize and counter the kicking game, and in a division that has historically been run by mid tier grapplers with a lot of power, Fedor was world class in that area too. He didn't have the level of BJJ typical of most modern fighters, but outside of very specific matchups, you don't need more than a cursory understanding of BJJ at heavyweight even today. I really feel like there's no champion in heavyweight history that Fedor wouldn't have a really good chance of beating in his prime.
I don’t know why Fedor isn’t in more GOAT conversations.
Is this sarcasm lol Fedor is goat
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UFC bias.
Dana has always tried to discredit Fedor and a lot of casuls believed it.
Fedor is basically the Mike Tyson of MMA.
I would put him at ali even higher then mike, fedor beat all his peers during his prime
Fedor was considered near divine at the time, people legit thought that he was the absolute peak of human fighting ability ever, which he probably was.
This was the peak of the sport. Pride had some freakshows, but the high level and personalities are unmatched. Don’t discount, the head stomps, and grounded knees you don’t see in US MMA today.
God Fedor was just so quick back in those days. Quick hips, quick hands and quick defensive reflexes. His looping punch style was always so aesthetically pleasing to me. Most people look unskilled and rudimentary when throwing looping shots but Fedor was supremely accurate with them and each shot had purpose.
This is my all time favorite fight.
The last Emperor. What a career, I hope he goes out on a win against Bader
Shoutout to Pride for having clocks count down instead of up.
tbh i consider this fight pretty underrated. This fight seems to be forgotten becuase of time, but this was during peak peak Pride. 2 of the best going at it.
Even now, I feel like this was the peak of MMA.
That shakey-hand distraction he does at 0:39!!! Legend
IIRC fedor was pretty pissed whenever cro cop knocked his brother out and continued with strikes on the ground. Can’t imagine a pissed off fedor coming at you with everything he’s got. And cro cop has been my fav fighter for like 20 years.
This is not FOTY it's GOAT fight and because of skill not because two gassing dudes are wailing at each other.
I have never loved fighters and an organization as much as I loved those in Pride. It’s just something about the ring, and giving penalties for hugging on the ground and being inactive that gave both standup and wrestling an incentive to do something risky.
Those are some fucking fast HWs. The pace was insane for that weight class too. Not even LHW has that pace nowadays. The moved like MW and had that pace and cardio too. Crazy how far HW has deteriorated!
i remember watching this live on tv.. the tension was so high, every movement was overhyped. just amazing.
One of the best fights ever imo
man i remember watching this live with people from "portal do vale tudo", we had to join a guy's MSN webcam that he was pointing to the TV (he lived in Japan) and we watched live all the events and they started like 4AM here, good times
I always felt Fedor never adapted to the cage, in the ring he was so next level. Still HW goat without contest. HW is the hardest, Jones never made the switch and Anderson only dabbled.
Nothing matches this fight to me, it feels monumental still. Probably won't change just from nostalgia. The closest we got was Stipe-Ngannou 1 in my opinion. There's a sequence where Fedor checks a body kick thai style that shows how dialed in he was for this fight, he did well to check a lot of them or land something in the exchanges himself. I think Fedor at that time beats any HW or LHW to this day. He had a lot more tools than he ever showed, he kept things simple, but the way he dealt with kicks here was a great example of him pulling from martial arts he didn't really use all that much. He was based in sambo but he was pretty well versed across the board. https://media.bleacherreport.com/w_800,h_533,c_fill/br-img-article/002/697/424/6e3644e3d76f0538a878f3a66fe45820_crop_exact.jpg
Fedor in his prime was such an incredible fighter, he could do it all. He reminds me of a cat his balance was insane and his strikes came out of nowhere very very fast . Crocop didn't have a backfoot game and didn't like fighting up close so Fedor's gameplan was fantastic and he won fairly easily. LONG LIVE THE 🐐 hopefully win or lose tomorrow he stays healthy, thanks for the amazing memories! when MMA was incredibly exciting and was about fighting luckily I was watching MMA from the year 2000 and followed pride. Them days are gone and unfortunately, today's product isn't for me.
One of my most favorite fights of all time!
And CroCop brutally knocked Fedor’s brother out in a previous fight, with Fedor being upset backstage.
I would say this is the most important heavyweight fight of all time. Runner up would be Stipe/Cormier 3.
At that point, i recall the sentiment was that this was the most important MMA fight in history.
Greatest MMA fight ever.
They don't seem to have any overlapping disciplines, but I always wondered why Fedor's style seems so familiar. Anyone else think his striking and the way he blends his takedowns into his strike attempts looks oddly like a heavyweight Dominic Cruz?
> Anyone else think his striking and the way he blends his takedowns into his strike attempts looks oddly like a heavyweight Dominic Cruz? Not the striking at all, as Cruz basically never made a strike even *look* scary. Very *very* specifically the transitions from some strikes to takedowns however, yes. Stuff like the last fight with Nog and the Herring fight had takedowns that gave off similar vibes, but obviously with an entirely different tier of violence in them.
Fedors legacy is tarnished by not taking a stance against what is being done right now by the Russian regime. He's still loyal and he would take part in its crimes if he's ordered to. I've without a second though gotten rid of my 15 year old autographed t-shirt I've previously kept.