I would say that the skill ceiling one can attain is higher, not that they are more skilled perse. Although I would say that nobody is really at Andersons level of skill currently. With televisation and so much cross training there are few unusual looks that someone can exploit to gain an advantage. I would not be surprised if we do not enter a san dao or kung fu era in the next decade.
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Gane and Alex’s kickboxing achievements are UFC hype and overblown. Francis took Gane down because his knee was fucked up. Probably had to take him down.
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Alex Pereira was a two division Glory Kickboxing Champion.
He won the Glory Middleweight title, unified the Light Heavyweight title and was inducted into the Glory Hall of Fame in 2023.
He had 21 KOs out of 33 fights and only lost by KO twice in 7 losses.
I wouldn’t say that his achievements are hype or overblown.
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Gane on the other hand, was the AFMT heavyweight champion and had 14 wins, 9 were KOs. Undefeated record but yes, his achievements pale drastically in comparison to Alex’s.
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For sure.
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A discussion in past threads was Alex’s kickboxing resume vs Cro Cop’s.
The lower weights for sure.
But let’s do the same thing and compare heavyweight, 205, 185 and 170
Depends exactly when we are comparing things to.
10 years ago? zero difference
20? significantly more depth now when talking about the quality of the B/C/D level guys, but no real difference at the top end of divisions for the most part
30? there were elites here and there who would still be pretty good today, but the overall level of the sport was way below what it would become in the 00s and onwards.
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The only one with the foggiest chance of the old division being better is HW. I’m thinking even that is close to 5-5, even with today’s weak division.
The other two are easy 8-2 or 7-3 for today’s division.
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Now LHW has truly gone to hell. I think this is where you get an easy majority of the old division being better.
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Other than Pereria I think there are 4-5 LHWs from back in the day that beat all the other current LHWs
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I think HW takes at least 5 and that includes the top 3 – which should really matter more IMO.
What years are you using?
Average fighters have gotten better but the best fighters have gotten worse.
Prices law. Too many people involved in the sport, it’s pushed out the outliers. Essentially the same thing that happened in bodybuilding, as gay as I think that sport is.
The pinnacle of the sport was the era when Jon, Georges, and Anderson were all champs, very shortly after BJ.
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I think there’s 6/7 who have a good shot at beating Alex.
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Fixed.
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Agree with this.
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The pinnacle of heavyweight, I agree. Not overall skill though. I love Wand. But I can’t believe this anymore.
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Some of the heavy weights have regressed. I think prime Cain beats all the current fighters, maybe Tom Gives him a fight.
I don’t know if BJ beats Topuria.
I think GSP in his prime can be champ
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I’ll add that I think in previous eras MMA attracted a different breed of fighter – generally speaking.
It takes a certain kind of man who would find himself in a Vale Tudo tournament in Brazil or an NHB tournament in Ukraine in the 90s – for relatively little money.
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