Quote: (08-25-2012 06:20 PM)joehoya Wrote:
I completely understand the decision. Guys are talking about how if he was a real fighter he would fight everybody. Hell, I used to feel the same way about Fedor refusing to come over to the UFC to fight the best, instead choosing to stay with smaller organizations where he was destroying everyone.
I know it is besides the point, but this only really happened according to Dana White.
Since the fall of Pride, Fedor fought Arlovski and Silvia who were UFC champions, he also almost fought Barnett (and Belfort) and tried to get a fight with Couture. Considering at the time, around 2006-2008, those were the top of the pack in the UFC, I don't think there was anyone else to fight that would have had the combined rankings of the people above; especially when you consider that Nog and Cro-Cop were two of the other top contenders of the time.
In strikeforce, he fought Rogers (Who was ranked) Werdum, Silva and Henderson - who are all in the mix. If the GP had have gone differently, he could have fought Barnett, Overeem, Kharitonov etc.
When Dana White was saying 'Fedor should fight the best,' the UFC had Lesnar vs. Carwin, which is one of the worst excuses for a fight I've ever seen. One guy who couldn't stand up for more than five minutes versus a guy who was scared of being punched.
Mir is the only contender that is contemporary of Fedor that he didn't fight or almost fight, and he made his name from beating Silvia and Nog.
(To get more on point, Fedor fought at a weight class above Jones with a much shorter height, reach and weight. Jones is massive for a LHW, which is why it is bizarre that he didn't want Chael, a MW, after a full camp of preparing for Henderson who is better in every single way than Sonnen.)