RealGM

It's been roughly a year and a half since this countdown:

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=270&t=1239202

So it's time to see just how much has changed...

1. Jon Jones (7)
2. Georges St. Pierre (2)
3. Anderson Silva (1)
4. Fedor Emelianenko (3)
5. Chuck Liddell (4)
6. Dan Henderson (5)
7. Jose Aldo (15)
8. Wanderlei Silva (6)
9. Matt Hughes (8)
10. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (9)
11. Randy Couture (10)
12. Vitor Belfort (23)
13. BJ Penn (11)
14. Royce Gracie (12)
15. Mauricio Rua (13)
16. Bas Rutten (14)
17. Cain Velasquez (29)
18. Mirko Cro Cop (18)
19. Mark Coleman (16)
20. Frank Shamrock (17)
21. Kazushi Sakuraba (19)
22. Frankie Edgar (42)
23. Quinton Jackson (20)
24. Josh Barnett (21)
25. Chris Weidman (88)
26. Lyoto Machida (22)
27. Rich Franklin (24)
28. Dan Severn (26)
29. Dominick Cruz (28)
30. Sean Sherk (25)
31. Tito Ortiz (27)
32. Demetrious Johnson (58)
33. Junior dos Santos (37)
34. Rashad Evans (34)
35. Johny Hendricks (82)
36. Urijah Faber (30)
37. Frank Mir (31)
38. Takanori Gomi (32)
39. Fabricio Werdum (53)
40. Tim Sylvia (40)
41. Renan Barao (51)
42. Gilbert Melendez (52)
43. Don Frye (36)
44. Anthony Pettis (NR)
45. Benson Henderson (38)
46. Masakatsu Funaki (39)
47. Carlos Condit (43)
48. Forrest Griffin (44)
49. Nate Marquardt (35)
50. Andrei Arlovski (65)
51. Jake Shields (45)
52. Eddie Alvarez (71)
53. Jon Fitch (41)
54. Oleg Taktarov (46)
55. TJ Dillashaw (NR)
56. Gegard Mousasi (50)
57. Daniel Cormier (NR)
58. Chael Sonnen (80)
59. Rickson Gracie (33)
60. Alexander Gustafsson (NR)
61. Pat Miletich (48)
62. Nick Diaz (57)
63. Robbie Lawler (NR)
64. Chad Mendes (NR)
65. Phil Davis (NR)
66. Ken Shamrock (49)
67. Jens Pulver (55)
68. Igor Vovchanchyn (56)
69. Brock Lesnar (63)
70. Yuki Kondo (64)
71. Mark Kerr (60)
72. Cub Swanson (NR)
73. Yushin Okami (59)
74. Kevin Randleman (NR)
75. Hector Lombard (76)
76. Rory MacDonald (NR)
77. Michael Bisping (81)
78. Mark Hunt (NR)
79. Jacare Souza (NR)
80. Evan Tanner (61)
81. Guy Mezger (66)
82. Joseph Benavidez (90)
83. Pedro Rizzo (79)
84. Khabib Nurmagomedov (NR)
85. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (54)
86. Shinya Aoki (67)
87. Mike Thomas Brown (73)
88. Hayato Sakurai (68)
89. Miguel Torres (47)
90. Alistair Overeem (62)
91. Marco Ruas (72)
92. Vitor Ribeiro (75)
93. Josh Koscheck (70)
94. Norifumi Yamamoto (78)
95. Kenny Florian (89)
96. Anthony Johnson (NR)
97. Thiago Alves (86)
98. Donald Cerrone (NR)
99. Joachim Hansen (77)
100. Jeremy Horn (85)

#100 - Jeremy Horn (85)



http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Jeremy-Horn-202

All Jeremy Horn has done in his MMA career is amass a career record of 91-21. Oddly enough, that is only good for second on this list in victories. Horn has fought all over the map, including a run in the UFC that saw him become the only fighter in history to submit Chuck Liddell (Liddell later avenged his loss). Horn also has the dubious distinction of holding three victories over Chael Sonnen. He also holds wins over Forrest Griffin, Gilbert Yvel, and Court McGee.

#99 - Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen (77)



http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Joachim-Hansen-3177

A former Shooto and Dream champion, Joachim Hansen also starred in Pride. He is one of the most accomplished fighters never to set foot in the UFC's octagon. He holds a career record of 23-12, with wins over Shinya Aoki, Yves Edwards, Caol Uno, JZ Cavalcante, and Takanori Gomi. Hansen has been dormant of late, having only fought twice since 2011.

#98 - Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone (NR)



http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Donald-Cerrone-15105

One of the hottest fighters in the world today, Donald Cerrone has really hit his stride in the UFC, amassing an impressive 12-3 UFC record on the heels of a successful WEC run. Cowboy holds wins over such division staples as Eddie Alvarez, Jim Miller, Dennis Siver, Jamie Varner, Jeremy Stephens, Evan Dunham, and Edson Barboza. He is a win or two from run at the title, and possibly a leap up this list.

This facilitated good discussion last time.

Cool.

REDDzone wrote:This facilitated good discussion last time.

Cool.

And it is crazy how much has changed in the last year and a half.

You should probably change the title to 100 MMA Fighters of all time.

I enjoyed reading this list last time, I'm sure I'll enjoy reading it this time around. I expect there to be a fervent debate on how to rank guys who were using illegal substances.

NZB2323 wrote:You should probably change the title to 100 MMA Fighters of all time.

Good catch.

something i've been meaning to ask to fellow followers of MMA.

Is BJ Penn's legacy overrated?

Does BJ get too much credit for his stint as "the guy" and not enough flak for some of the Ls he's taken over the years?

Marcus wrote:something i've been meaning to ask to fellow followers of MMA.

Is BJ Penn's legacy overrated?

Does BJ get too much credit for his stint as "the guy" and not enough flak for some of the Ls he's taken over the years?

While BJ was wildly inconsistent, you can't take those titles away from him. 2 titles in 2 weight class is a big deal.

Marcus wrote:something i've been meaning to ask to fellow followers of MMA.

Is BJ Penn's legacy overrated?

Does BJ get too much credit for his stint as "the guy" and not enough flak for some of the Ls he's taken over the years?

The problem with BJ is that the thing that kills his legacy is also the reason he is so beloved. The guy would fight anyone anytime and did it throughout his entire career. Facing guys like GSP and Machida put a lot of Ls on his record, but how would he be remembered if he wasn't the guy who did stuff like that? Maybe he would have reigned longer at LW and that would have given him a better legacy at the end of the day but would he still have had the fanbase that he has now that led to him being THE draw of the lower weight classes during ufc's peak?

fair enough points you guys make here. Just wanted to get a few opinions on BJ's legacy in the game because I've heard it mentioned by some that BJ has conditioning issues and never quite lived up to his potential but is still considered one of the best to ever do it. Just wondering where BJ and his legacy stood in the minds of seemingly knowledgable MMA fans. Thank you sirs for your time.

anybody else like to chime in?

Marcus wrote:fair enough points you guys make here. Just wanted to get a few opinions on BJ's legacy in the game because I've heard it mentioned by some that BJ has conditioning issues and never quite lived up to his potential but is still considered one of the best to ever do it. Just wondering where BJ and his legacy stood in the minds of seemingly knowledgable MMA fans. Thank you sirs for your time.

anybody else like to chime in?

BJ is definitely top 10, maybe top 5.

He had 2 titles in 2 different weight classes and was an absolute killer at LW. He fought Machida and even though he lost he put up a good fight. I mentioned in the Aldo thread that it's hard to compare him to the continued success that Aldo has had.

BJ is like the Shaq of MMA. He was dominate during his prime, but he wasn't as dedicated to the sport as others, and was not very productive when he passed his prime.

NZB2323 wrote:BJ is definitely top 10, maybe top 5.

who else you got in that top ten with BJ?

Marcus wrote:

NZB2323 wrote:BJ is definitely top 10, maybe top 5.

who else you got in that top ten with BJ?

Well, a lot of these guys are more knowledgeable about the sport than me, and I've only been following the sport since 2011. Cammo does a great job with this list and I'm sure we'll have plenty of discussion on the top 10 when we get there.

But I'd say the top 3 have to be GSP, Silva, and Fedor in some order.

Dan Henderson kinda has the same story as BJ. Both were champions in 2 weight classes, fought against the best in several different weight classes, had some awesome wins and some embarrassing losses. I'm sure that people who would say BJ is overrated would say Hendo is overrated and people who would say BJ is underrated would say Hendo is underrated.

Jon Jones and Aldo should be in the top 10.

I don't know if we're including WMMA here, but if so I guess you have to include Ronda? Or maybe Women's MMA is underdeveloped so she should be ranked about the same as Gracie.

After that...idk.

Glad to see a write up explaining why each guy is ranked where he is (kinda). Maybe you did it last time as well. Would like to see something similar for the current lists. It would be a lot of work, but at the same time, making lists isn't something you have to do.

Anyway, looking forward to this list. Would have no chance of making something like this myself, but I'll enjoy picking it apart .

I swear if Hendricks is ranked #82 again I'm going to FLIP THE **** OUT!!!

And #88 beat #1 twice since the last list. I'm sure there are some other nifty notes, but that's the obvious one.

With BJ, you go into the "did he apply himself and live up to his potential" argument, which is BS, because that's something attributed to BJ by outsiders. I've said it before... it would be hard to stay motivated when on your worst day, you're better than everyone else... but at the same time, how f'n dare people for insinuating BJ "didn't live up to expectations". What? He's supposed to punch people and they'll turn into dust?

SDM wrote:With BJ, you go into the "did he apply himself and live up to his potential" argument, which is BS, because that's something attributed to BJ by outsiders. I've said it before... it would be hard to stay motivated when on your worst day, you're better than everyone else... but at the same time, how f'n dare people for insinuating BJ "didn't live up to expectations". What? He's supposed to punch people and they'll turn into dust?

Well think of it this way, what if BJ didn't spurn the ufc for awhile to go fight guys like Machida? What if he didn't keep moving up to WW to fight guys like Hughes and GSP? The BJ who decimated prime Diego and prime Florian may have been the best fighter in the world at the time, seriously. How long would he have held that belt for if he would have just stuck to that weight class and focused on that instead of looking like he stuck a helium tank in his mouth to move up to fight GSP?