The greatest of all-time… it is a subjective accolade, but poll any group of MMA fans from any era and the vast majority will offer up either Georges St Pierre or Anderson Silva as MMA’s theoretical”man to conquer.” In late 2016, news of the French-Canadian’s return fueled whispers of UFC president Dana White’s”one that got away” — St Pierre vs Silva — the very best versus the brightest. Sadly, the odds of it happening now are as slim as they ever were. “Hurry” vs.”The Spider” is a myth; one of several super fights we’ll probably never see.
Regrettably, it’s not the only one. Here are some additional MMA superfights we never got to see…
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar
Partly as a result of UFC’s monopolistic advertising power and partially due to his best years being a decade past, Fedor Emelianenko doesn’t always get the respect he deserves from modern-day MMA fans. For those who witnessed his epic rampage through PRIDE’s heavyweight division though, he was the best heavyweight of his era… perhaps the greatest ever.
While Fedor might have been the best fighter in his day, Brock Lesnar was easily the largest box office draw. An immediate superstar, he polarized an audience that did not understand what they wanted more; therefore watch him humbled in defeat, or glorified in victory.
Physically, Lesnar was an animal. Walking round north of this 265-pound heavyweight limit, the NCAA standout transferred with all the speed and elegance of a man half his size. Whether it was right down to popularity or notoriety he was a magnet for the paying public, headlining what was then the UFC’s largest card over the likes of GSP, in what was his third tilt with the promotion.
After years of deriding the Russian while he plied his trade for the competition, White declared that registering Stary Oskol’s favorite son was his”obsession.” Accounts of what happened next differ based on who you hear them from. Fedor was tied up with M-1; based on White, a bargain offering $2,000,000 per struggle, Pay-Per-View points and an immediate title shot against Brock Lesnar was spurned; M-1 wanted to co-promote Fedor’s struggles, also allegedly wanted Zuffa to fund the building of a stadium in Russia. M-1 refuted these claims, and talks broke down.
Fedor’s inventory would drop considerably following three consecutive losses and Lesnar, while still a licence to print money, was exposed by better fighters and left the sport. It might have become the biggest-grossing MMA fight of all-time, but as is so frequently true, politics finally ruined it.
Ken Shamrock vs. Tank Abbott
Throwbacks to another age, arguably another game, Ken Shamrock and Tank Abbott were the poster children of the UFC’s formative years. Even though the event was thought to be a subversive info-mercial for Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, you need to feel that the money men were quietly yanking a Shamrock victory at UFC 1. He was 220 pounds of chiselled muscle, and the only fighter in the bracket with recorded”free-fight” experience, Shamrock had the look of an action hero and the capacity to back this up.
A few years later, David”Tank” Abbott hit the spectacle. Watch MMA reside or at a pub even now, and you’ll find no shortage of out-of-shape, beer-swilling loudmouths eager to share their view of how they would mop the floor with all the men on TV. Abbott was that guy, just he can mop the floor with a few of the guys on TV. Fat, cocky and wearing roughly the same amount of teeth as he’d had karate lessons, Abbott was the manifestation of all that a martial artist was not supposed to be.
There is a little MMA folklore that states Tank was introduced in to shed, thus proving the concept that the British artist would always succeed over the thug. His (admittedly limited) wrestling background was played down and he had been branded a’Pit Fighter’ in promotional stuff. When Tank began cracking heads in a number of the very abusive UFC struggles of the age, a star was born, to the point that the company set him on a monthly salary; something not repeated since.
There was even legitimate bad blood between the two parties, together with Shamrock and also his”Lion’s Den” once hunting down Abbott backstage after he had caused trouble. Ken never caught him up either at the parking lot or even the cage, together with both finally leaving the business for professions in pro-wrestling. Their surprise early-00’s returns once again sparked hope of a superfight from another creation, but for reasons unknown it was not supposed to be.
Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones
Before the controversy that shelved him for what would probably have been his fighting prime, few would argue that Jon Jones was not at the absolute pinnacle of mixed martial arts. A world-class athlete, not only skillful, but an expert in all facets of the match, Jones looked insurmountable. In 2011, he finished that which was arguably the greatest year’s work of any battle sports athlete, beating Ryan Bader,”Shogun” Rua,”Rampage” Jackson and Lyoto Machida in the area of just 10 months.
Even though Jones was painting a picture of violence in the light-heavyweight branch, Anderson Silva had been making a masterpiece in middleweight. Nobody had cleared such a talent-rich branch and seemed really untouchable in doing so. So complete was Silva’s dominance, he had twice moved up a weight class and demolished his opposition. His claim to the title of’best ever’ could be contested by a scant few.
White once cited his capacity to generate a Jones vs. Silva superfight happen as a tool that would define his own heritage as a promoter. Fate, as it is want to do, conspired against him. Silva’s standing plummeted after having a series of reductions and a failed drug test. Jones’ image was tarnished even farther; while he did not falter from the cage, a run of self-inflicted’personal difficulties’ stripped”Bones” of his dignity, credibility and — most importantly — his ability to compete.
Silva is beyond his prime and threatening retirement. Jones is concentrated firmly on regaining the light heavyweight title he never lost in the cage. Issues beyond the cage have almost certainly deprived us of one of the greatest battles inside.
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