I guess I like the old school breed of fighters the most. To me MMA was all about true fighters going into the cage to hurt and finish people. Now it's athletes with a chess like gameplan who try to out point each other. That's a different discussion though.
BJ Penn - Loved him from the start. His flexiblity and smooth BJJ skills were fun to watch. Kills me to get hyped up for his fights these days because he's much more passive now. I'll be there to watch him fight Rory but won't let myself get too hyped.
^ Yea, I think Rory is a bad match for BJ and his fighting style now.
Chuck Liddell - Absolutely loved his style. Not only will he knock you the fuck out, if you do take him down he will simply stand right back up. It's crazy how easy he made it look.
^ Pioneer for the modern fan for sure, and def. great takedown defense. It's funny cus he is an all-star wrestler, but never utilized his skills because in the early UFC days, people didn't understand the ground game and would "booo" when it got to the ground. So Chuck's ultimatum was to keep it standing or get cut; basically turned into his style of fighting.
Roy Nelson - Been a fan since his IFL days. Just a true fighter who will take a serious beating and keep coming at you trying to knock you out.
^ I know a lot of cats hate the guy because of his demeanor, his "look" but you can't deny this dude has mad power behind his punches, and he always delivers when he fights; christ I've never seen anyone get an "overly" upper hand against him (including Junior Cigano) even when he's lost. Dude is like the Butterbean of MMA; he looks fat and ridiculous, but taste one of his punches and you're taking a fucking dirt nap.
Rampage - It's too bad his UFC stint didn't go as I had hoped. Loved him in Pride. His humour, his stand up, his slams, his chain, his howl. Just a great fighter to watch.
^ Rampage disappointed me too. PRIDE days he was awesome to watch, and yea his UFC career has been mediocre with the exception of the Liddell and Wandi rematches where he clarly KOed them the fuck out. Even in his title defense against Hendo I wasn't impressed, and wtf happened in the Griffin fight? I'll miss him when he leaves, but he's a one dimensional fighter now and only boxes which is retarded when he clearly has Muay Thai and wrestling ability......
Shogun - All I really need to say about him is Pride + soccer kicks. Fuck do I miss Pride.
^ yup, all Chute Boxe academy guys were on point back in the day
Kazushi Sakuraba - Another great fighter back in the day. Loved it when he would try to jump onto his opponents face.
^ Liked how he handed all the arrogant Gracie's a whooping just because of their last name. Though I wish he'd retire finally, he's tarnishing his legacy with the mediocre fights he's been having.
Henderson - Great all around fighter.
^ Word......and not only that, but he's still WINNING and against TOP TIER talent. I hate how he's overshadowed by Couture even though they came from the same camp along with Matt Lindland. Couture's record is a joke compared to Hendo, and Hendo has faced the same quality fighters and during heir prime as well. I hope Hendo owns Bones Jones with his big left in SEPT. >
Hendo is to Couture as what Rodney Mullen is to Tony Hawk.
Fedor - Undersized heavyweight who will put you to sleep.
^ self-explanatory with the last Emperor, sad to see him leave after the fight with Rizzo next week, but it's expected and necessary I believe.
I could keep going and it would mostly be older fighters. There aren't many new guys that I can really get into. Korean Zombie could be on his way to being one of my new favorites.
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