CagePotato Public Forum — Wars to End All Wars
(Emmanuel Yarborough probably won’t make the list.)
Attention, Potato Nation: We’re looking to put together a massive, ambitious feature on the greatest MMA fights of all time, and we need your help with the nominations. Now, what makes for a truly great fight? Well, if it’s…
…a non-stop war where two evenly matched fighters leave their hearts on the mat (see: Frye vs. Takayama, Griffin vs. Bonnar 1).
…a match where one fighter is getting his ass handed to him but comes back to steal a victory (see Minotauro Nogueira vs. Sapp, or Nogueira vs. a lot of people, for that matter).
…a fight that settles a genuine grudge or rivalry (see: Royce Gracie vs. Sakuraba 2, Liddell vs. Ortiz 1).
…the arrival of a new hero — or a new villain (see: Severn vs. Macias, Abbott vs. Matua).
…a fight that represented a changing of the guard (see: Hughes vs. Gracie, Ortiz vs. Shamrock III).
…a match that ends in Aleksander Emelianenko knocking out James Thompson (see: A. Emelianenko vs. Thompson).
If you think your all-time favorite fight should be included in the feature, tell us what it is and what made it so wicked awesome. Thanks, as always.
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February 19th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Silva vs Jackson 1 was a great fight IMO
February 19th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Guida/Huerta for sure
February 19th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
War Machine vs Jared Rollins from TUF 6 is one that sticks in my mind. I loved watching that fight. Hearts left on the mat big style!
February 19th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
How bout Keith Hackney vs big Sumo dude. Hackney is around 210 and big Sumo is around 500 pounds. Goos fight, Hackney breaks his arm beating the piss out of him. That’s the one I always remember. I think they call him the giant killer after that one. Thanks
February 19th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Just for variety: add a female rubber match between Satoko Shinashi and Hisae Watanabe. The last fight ended in a brutal KO upset, so the third should be awesome.
February 19th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Before Dana White Era-Royce Gracie vs. Dan Severn
Dana White Era-Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn II
Honorable Mention-Oleg “The Russian Bear” Taktarov vs. Dan Severn
February 19th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Scott Smith vs. Pete Sell was one of the craziest finishes ever… can I nominate that???
February 19th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
definitley war machine vs. j-roc and huerta vs. guida were definitley the best fights of last year and up to now. im not sure where they fall in the history of mma. youve already covered the obvious ones ( i.e. chuck. tito griffin. bonnar)
February 19th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
definitley war machine vs. j-roc and huerta vs. guida were definitley the best fights of last year and up to now. im not sure where they fall in the history of mma. youve already covered the obvious ones ( i.e. chuck. tito griffin. bonnar)
February 19th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
My two favorite fights ever:
Paul Varelans vs. Marco Ruas
Bas Rutten vs. Kevin Randleman
February 19th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
I don’t know if my choice meets all of the suggested criteria, but the Silva vs Lutter match from UFC 67 is one of my favorites.
1.) Really good ground game by both opponents.
2.) Lutter challenges Silva to stay on the mat. Silva responds with an ax kick to Lutters torso!
3.) Silva triangles Lutter’s body and starts squeezin’ the life outta him. Not many people have the strength and flexibility to pull that off.
4.) In the first round, Lutter is just owning Silva! He’s bashing the Spider with some solid hits.
5.) Just when you think Lutter is gonna win it, Silva comes back and shows why he’s one of, if not the, best.
Not a lot people are into that match because most of it takes place on the ground. I love the ground game matches, so I think it’s a really exciting fight.
….that’s my 2 cents….
February 19th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Gomi vs Diaz
February 19th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Here are my pics:
Mark Coleman vs Pete Williams
Frank Shamrock vs Tito Ortiz
Kevin Randleman vs Bas Rutten
Mark Coleman vs Maurice Smith
February 19th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Don Frye vs James Thompson
Mark Kerr vs Moti Horenstein (Kerr’s UFC debut)
February 19th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
any fedor fight
February 19th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Most exciting (back and forth)
Diego Sanchez Vs Karo Paysian
Ed Hermann Vs Kendal Grove
Clay Guida Vs. Tyson Griffin
Fedor Vs. Randy Couture (sorry)
Tyson Griffin Vs. Thiago Tavares
Randy Vs. Sylvia (only for the age/comeback aspect)
Koschek Vs. Fickett (unlikely comeback only)
February 19th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I agree with pookysdabomb the Gomi vs Nick Diaz fight is the one of the best
February 19th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Comeback: Josh Neer vs. Melvin Guillard………..Neer taking a beating and cut horribly but is able to finish Guillard with a triangle choke before it stopped by Tko
February 19th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
forrest griffin vs stephan bonnar
February 19th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I cant believe no one has said Pulver vs. Penn 1
Truly an amazing fight! Penn nearly submits Pulver and then Pulver comes back to beat the man everyone said would beat him! A testament to Pulver’s greatest talent his heart!
February 19th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Yea either scott smith vs pete sell……..or j roc vs war machine……those are two great fights.
February 19th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
or Rampage and Henderson.
February 19th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Keith Hackney vs. Joe Son from UFC 4. Groin punches……many of them.
February 19th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Some of my favorite fights-
Watchin Randy Couture vs Tim Sylvia- In the first minute Sylvia is dropped and we’re on the edge of our seat and we never sit down through the rest of the bout. Regardless of how randy was doing we all thought that Sylvia would find a lazy jab or lucky punch to pull it off. It was historic to watch.
Clay Guida vs Roger Huerta- If you’ve seen it you know that this was truly an andreline rush of a fight to watch live, just furious action bell to bell.
Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg 2- I HATE MATT HUGHES! But i gotta respect a performance like the one he pulled off against Trigg in the rematch. That was truly gutting it out.
War Machine vs J-Roc- Speaking of heart, that was literally blood, sweat and tears left in that bout.
Forrest Griffin vs Stephan Bonnar- You can’t deny that THIS is the REason for the UFC being as big as it is today. Great display of heart, and just balls to the walls in every round.
Frank Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz- The pivotal match showing the importance of cardio. Training for MMA was never the same after this.
February 19th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Pat Smith vs Scott Morris
“My name is Scott Morris and i came to win”
February 19th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Gomi vs Diaz
Saku vs Newton
fedor vs Nog (both)
fedor vs herring (for the perfect dismanteling)
Hendo vs silva (1&2)
February 19th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
fuck
February 19th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Igor Vovchanchyn vs Francisco Bueno
Gotta love watching Igor fight a guy absolutely no stand up skills.
February 19th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
guillard vs. neer
all ufc nate quarry fights
irvin vs. martin
gg vs. cc
guida vs. griffin
huerta vs. garcia
February 20th, 2008 at 1:25 am
Fedor Cro cop
February 20th, 2008 at 6:38 am
Ok, a few thoughts here:
Huerta/Guida - Completely irrelevant to this topic…I’d rather watch that Tito/Rashad mess again…
I agree with “Bill C.” - …so hilariously awesome. That is something that you can look at today and appreciate how the sport has evolved and gained integrity!
…on that note, don’t look at Nick Diaz after his fight with K.J. Noons.
…or Sobral, in general, I guess…
Has anyone seen a better submission than Anderson Silva vs. Ryo Chonan?? http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/anderson%2Bryo/video/x3ukui_ryo-chonan-vs-anderson-silva-flying_sport
Anyway…Forrest/Bonnar, Chuck/Tito…even Gonzaga/Cro Cop and Sell/Smith…do you really think these guys are going to overlook any of these fights???
Let’s see some creativity here!!
And does anyone honestly think J-Roc and War Machine are going to be a top contenders? Ever?
C’mon now, I’d be more likely to believe that Anderson Silva has been hiding Earth magnets in the knuckles of his fighting gloves
heh…..Wait a minute….
February 20th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Fedor Emelianenko vs Mirko Filipović. The first ten minute round of that fight are amazing. It was a great fight with a great clash of the titans build up to it. Cro Cop destroys one of Fedor’s stablemates and then calls out Fedor himself in the post match interview, Fedor walks down the ramp and the two square off. Absolutely amazing.
I had Fedor down again. This time for the “Comeback Fight” title. His fight against Kevin Randleman in Pride Critical Count Down 2004. Randleman suplexed Fedor on to his head but Fedor managed to stay calm and came back to beat Randleman.
Another come back fight contender would be Igor Zinoviev versus Mario Sperry in Extreme Fighting 1. Sperry has the fight all his way up until he makes a mistake which ‘Houdini’ is able to capitalise on.
One last come back fight, Ryo Chonan versus Anderson Silva. Silva was in control with a take down and body triangle in the first round. Chonan was able to counter Silva’s knees from the clinch, with knees, and takedowns. Despite being the underdog, Chonan ended the fight in the third round with a flying scissor heel hook, forcing Silva to submit. A flying leg scissors! The move comes out of nowhere and Anderson is submitting by the time he hits the floor. Awesome.
Changing of the Guard would have to be Royce Gracie vs Kazushi Sakuraba in the Pride 2000 Grand Prix. The fight lasted 90 minutes! When Gracie first entered the Octagon and came on to the world’s stage he was the man when it came to ground fighting. It didn’t matter how long you had him on his back or how much you crushed him or pounded him he’d find a way to make a fighter submit. During this epic fight Sakuraba is so relaxed that he can smile at the cameras and even play silly games with Gracie, pulling his gi up and down. He went the distance and further with the man who was reknown for his marathon fights.
Wanderlai Silva versus Artur Mariano in IVC 2: A Question of Pride. Both fighters have already fought twice that evening but when they stepped in to the ring and the bell rang it was all go. It was a fight that kept on going with both fighters going at each other like mad men. Absolutely amazing with Wanderlai really exploding on to the MMA scene.
Finally, if you want a James Thompson-esque fight we have UFC 8 for you with Garry Goodridge versus Paul Herrera. One word: OWWWWWWWWWW!!!
February 20th, 2008 at 11:23 am
I know it’s somewhat of a popular pick, but War Machine vs. J-Roc had everything you could possibly ask for in a fight.
- The fighters were very evenly matched, both in skill and experience.
- The pace was great, exciting without being frantic.
- Both fighters overcame the nerves and pressure of their first fight in the UFC,
which often makes for an uneventful, tedious fight.
- All aspects of the game were incorporated well by both fighters: striking,
ground and pound, submission atempts, guard work, etc.
- A true back-and-forth battle. There were no less than six momentum changes
in the fight.
- Heart: both fighters took a ton of punishment, were badly bloodied, and never
stopped coming. Koppenhaver toughed out a couple of very solid sub atempts
from Rollins. Both fighters were obviously gassed and yet took zero “time off”
during the fight. These bastards wouldn’t have stopped fighting if the Octagon
were on fire.
- Spectacular finish: deep into the third round, the fight is on the ground.
Rollins is controlling Koppenhaver from the top and was throwing absolute
bombs at him. Koppenhaver trys to defend for a while, then suddenly drops his
arms to the side. Rollins lands two or three solid shots to the face and you just
know the fight is over. Out of nowhere, Koppenhaver throws his hips under
Rollins and bucks him to the side. Koppenhaver lands in full mount and destroys
Rollins’ face until the ref stops the fight. During the replay, you realize two
things about the finish: 1) Rollins was so shocked by getting bucked straight to
a full mount, he pretty much just forgot to defend himself. 2) Koppenhaver
was literally willing to get blasted in the face in order to take a couple of seconds
to gather his strength for one last explosive move.
- The post fight: Koppenhaver breaks down crying because, in his words, as
much as he wanted to win, he didn’t want his friend to have to lose. The
crowd goes apeshit. Hearing that, I felt emotions that are usually reserved for
the last ten minutes of Braveheart. Hardened criminals across America were
calling their mothers, sobbing, to tell them how much they love them.
It was said by a previous poster that neither fighter will ever be a top contender, and I feel that is probably an accurate statement. But god dammit, I don’t care if it was two plumbers in the back room of an Ace Hardware, a fight like that deserves as much credit as it can get.
February 20th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
How about one of Harold Howard’s fights from the early days of UFC?
“We have a saying back home that if you’re coming on—COME ON!”
Classic!
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Wow! How about Hughes - GSP 2 or 3? Those were the most satisfying battles (read:beatdowns) I’ve seen in a while.
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:24 pm
A got a couple for now…..
Randy vs Sylvia - simply that no one gave Couture a chance. He was gettnig KO’d at LH. No one would of ever thought that being another year older(43) that he would be able to beat a good striker with a 50 lb weight advantage and 6 inch height advantage. i mean everyone was on their feet at the end of a 5 round fight in which the OLDER, SMALLER, fighter dominated in EVERY aspect of the fight
Hughes vs Trigg II - Who would of thunk it??? Trigg, low blow or not, had Hughes hurt badly and in great position to end the fight. He had Hughes in the identical position as Hughes beat him in the first fight between the 2. Trigg has the rear naked in and just when you thought it was pay back time from Trigg and its going to be over, Hughes reverses the position, takes Trigg across the Octagon and slams him and AGAIN puts on the fight ending rear naked choke. That was a sick ending that we th likes of which we probably wont see again!!!!! Especially how Hughes won the first fight(RNC) and Trigg was seconds away from returning the favor…..Only to have Hughes find a burst of adrenaline and take it to Trigg and RNC Trigg AGAIN!!!
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Both of my favorites ended up with the wrong winner (in my opinion)
Tito vs. Forrest
Hamill vs. Bisping
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:35 am
Got to agree with Bill C. : Keith Hackney vs. Joe Son is one of the best fights ever!
8 punches in the balls, and then a one hand choke! But the funniest part in that story is that Joe Son, prior to the fight, said that the breathing techniques he had developped through Joe Son Do made in invulnerable to choke holds! LOL!
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I think the Pat Smith vs Scott Morris was an awesome fight….
Also Forrest Griffin/Stephen Bonnar 1 was an awesome fight……
February 24th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Tyson Griffin vs Frank Edgar is one of the greatest fights ever.
A sleeper that was pretty awesome:
Shogun vs Babalu.