Who's the greatest ever?

I've been asked by a magazine to write an article featuring the top 40 or 50 fighters off all time. That's a rewarding task, but a tough one? What criteria do you use to put one fighter over another? How do you definite greatness in MMA? For myself being a champion in a big organization like the UFC and defending your belt shows a large amount of greatness. Being able to take out top competitors on a regular basis, having a long winning streak, showing dominance or prowess within the era that you competed in. In a sports world that is dominated by the present moment and people wonder what have you done for me lately? It's sometimes hard to come up with a list like this. The fighter you have in their might have just got knocked out the weekend before or has lost 6 of his last 7 fights. But you have to take a more long term approach to it and view it from a bird's eye perspective so to speak?

Who's the greatest? It's a tough one but I'd probably go with Fedor. He's 30 and 1, basically never lost a fight, his only defeat was a controversial and fluky loss via cut, that emanated accidentally from an illegal maneuver. Which by no means is meant to be offensive to Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, but even the Japanese warrior would have not wanted to with via a doctor stoppage due to a cut 17 seconds into the fight, which was caused by a missed looping punch where Kohsaka's elbow struck Fedor's head. Elbow strikes were illegal under Rings rules unless the fighter is wearing elbow pads, which Kohsaka was not.

So aside from that unusual defeat, Fedor has been perfect. Even when he has faced adversity in the cage (rocked by Fujita, dropped on his head by Randleman), he always comes up victorious by submission. One can argue he has never lost a round in his career, which has spanned about a decade. A long-time defending champ in Pride, a fighter who has shown dominance and consistently come out on top time and again. Good in every area of the game, and dangerous wherever the fight goes. Fedor might just be the greatest.

The question is with his new deal which has left the UFC out of his career horizons, will he be able to put that status on the line and fight the greatest?

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Who's the greatest ever?

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