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It's difficult to rank this fighter. On one side , the guy has wins against:
Fedor (he also subbed Aleksander Emelianenko)
Nogueira
Cain.
Those three wins alone , are enough to catapult this guy in the TOP 5 ATG HW Fighter in the sport's history.
But at the same time....(if i'm trying to be as neutral as possible , looking at the pros-cons of his career). Styles make fights & we also have to put a few things into context.
He's 1-1 against Nogueira. Lost against prime Nogueira in Pride fc back in 2006. (then again , Nogueira was already fading at the time). He already was different before fighting Josh Barnett. But hey , it's Nogueira....It's the name that counts.
Kinda like Kovalev totally outclassing Hopkins. (sad to say that even a 50yr old Hopkins is way more endurant and dominant in his sport than a 39yr old Nogueira is in mma...Nogueira is punch drunk , and basically done , took way too many punishment early in his career and it ruined his longevity).
He also has the most memorable submission in mma history against Emelianenko. Against a past prime Fedor...But who was still more mobile , active & in better physical condition than Nogueira....Back then , Fedor was still considered to be #1....
But right after his loss against Werdum , he had 2 other losses back to back , against Antonion Silva & Henderson. Also when you look at Werdum's fight , he was actually getting destroyed during the stand up moments of his fights... Then baited Fedor to the ground. and the rest was history....
Was it just luck ?
Personally ? i don't think so. It was just a matter of perfect timing , patience + solid but risky strategy. Fedor should've known better. Especially after what happened to his brother against the very same opponent. Werdum was already considered as "the" very best BJJ HW artist in mma at the time. His ADCC record speaks for itself.
Fedor never was the same after that....And retired 2 years later.
Then there's his latest very dominant fight against Cain Velasquez. Unlike the Fedor fight , he was also dominating Cain during the stand up. Cain was actually more active , but Werdum was more accurate and picking his shots...Cain was already bleeding in the first round but his reputable workrate/endurance were gone....
Again , we have to look things into context.... The altitude argument. (excuse). It's a legit one. But then , it's not Werdum's fault if Cain wasn't as determined and as dedicated as Werdum was. Werdum spent 2 months over there , while Cain only arrived 2 weeks in advance.
Then there's the big "lay off" argument. But here again , he can only blame himself for not changing his training and not being 100% prepared (or underestimating ?) for Werdum... Maybe he thought he was going to crush the guy via MMATH logic ?
Afterall , he defeated Jr Dos Santos twice , in brutal fashion... The same Dos Santos who finished Werdum in the first round via KO.
Ironically , Cain ended up making the same mistake as Fedor , only Werdum already had the guillotine locked before both hit the canvas...
What would happen in a Werdum Vs Dos Santos rematch ? Was Dos Santos "lucky" ? was it nothing more than a flash KO ? Something that wouldn't happen in a rematch ? Who knows....
What would happen in a rematch against Overeem ? He already subbed the guy in Pride fc , but then lost against him in 2011 via decision. (personally , i thought Werdum should've won that one).
Is there a blueprint to beat this guy ?
Yes , and a very boring one at that...
Sergei Kharitonov handled the situation very well.
Arlovski kind of copied Kharitonov's approach a few years later...
And what do these two have in common ? Both were better strikers than Werdum. Both have Sambo grappling background , but never made Fedor's mistake.
It's going to be very interesting to see how things will change in today's HW division. a rematch vs Arlovski and Dos Santos would be fantastic for the Division imo.
Anyway , based on the context...I'm not ranking the guy as #1 best hw ever... But he's certainly one of the greats. Either in the top 5 or top 3 imo.
Fedor (he also subbed Aleksander Emelianenko)
Nogueira
Cain.
Those three wins alone , are enough to catapult this guy in the TOP 5 ATG HW Fighter in the sport's history.
But at the same time....(if i'm trying to be as neutral as possible , looking at the pros-cons of his career). Styles make fights & we also have to put a few things into context.
He's 1-1 against Nogueira. Lost against prime Nogueira in Pride fc back in 2006. (then again , Nogueira was already fading at the time). He already was different before fighting Josh Barnett. But hey , it's Nogueira....It's the name that counts.
Kinda like Kovalev totally outclassing Hopkins. (sad to say that even a 50yr old Hopkins is way more endurant and dominant in his sport than a 39yr old Nogueira is in mma...Nogueira is punch drunk , and basically done , took way too many punishment early in his career and it ruined his longevity).
He also has the most memorable submission in mma history against Emelianenko. Against a past prime Fedor...But who was still more mobile , active & in better physical condition than Nogueira....Back then , Fedor was still considered to be #1....
But right after his loss against Werdum , he had 2 other losses back to back , against Antonion Silva & Henderson. Also when you look at Werdum's fight , he was actually getting destroyed during the stand up moments of his fights... Then baited Fedor to the ground. and the rest was history....
Was it just luck ?
Personally ? i don't think so. It was just a matter of perfect timing , patience + solid but risky strategy. Fedor should've known better. Especially after what happened to his brother against the very same opponent. Werdum was already considered as "the" very best BJJ HW artist in mma at the time. His ADCC record speaks for itself.
Fedor never was the same after that....And retired 2 years later.
Then there's his latest very dominant fight against Cain Velasquez. Unlike the Fedor fight , he was also dominating Cain during the stand up. Cain was actually more active , but Werdum was more accurate and picking his shots...Cain was already bleeding in the first round but his reputable workrate/endurance were gone....
Again , we have to look things into context.... The altitude argument. (excuse). It's a legit one. But then , it's not Werdum's fault if Cain wasn't as determined and as dedicated as Werdum was. Werdum spent 2 months over there , while Cain only arrived 2 weeks in advance.
Then there's the big "lay off" argument. But here again , he can only blame himself for not changing his training and not being 100% prepared (or underestimating ?) for Werdum... Maybe he thought he was going to crush the guy via MMATH logic ?
Afterall , he defeated Jr Dos Santos twice , in brutal fashion... The same Dos Santos who finished Werdum in the first round via KO.
Ironically , Cain ended up making the same mistake as Fedor , only Werdum already had the guillotine locked before both hit the canvas...
What would happen in a Werdum Vs Dos Santos rematch ? Was Dos Santos "lucky" ? was it nothing more than a flash KO ? Something that wouldn't happen in a rematch ? Who knows....
What would happen in a rematch against Overeem ? He already subbed the guy in Pride fc , but then lost against him in 2011 via decision. (personally , i thought Werdum should've won that one).
Is there a blueprint to beat this guy ?
Yes , and a very boring one at that...
Sergei Kharitonov handled the situation very well.
Arlovski kind of copied Kharitonov's approach a few years later...
And what do these two have in common ? Both were better strikers than Werdum. Both have Sambo grappling background , but never made Fedor's mistake.
It's going to be very interesting to see how things will change in today's HW division. a rematch vs Arlovski and Dos Santos would be fantastic for the Division imo.
Anyway , based on the context...I'm not ranking the guy as #1 best hw ever... But he's certainly one of the greats. Either in the top 5 or top 3 imo.
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