At UFC 252, Stipe Miocic cemented his legacy as the greatest heavyweight in the promotion’s history. I think the last part of that sentence is truly important. The promotion’s history.
However, is Stipe the greatest heavyweight of all time? If everyone faced each other in their prime, would Stipe Miocic come out on top? I started thinking about the other man who’s widely considered one of that GOAT’s, Fedor Emelianenko.
I’m not referring to the Fedor that has fought in the US over the last ten years. I’m talking about the Fedor that put together a 30-1, 1 NC record in Japan fighting the best heavyweights of the time. Guys like Big Nog, Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Coleman, etc.
I started thinking about what would happen if the UFC‘s current heavyweight champion, Miocic, fought the greatest heavyweight in the history of Pride, Fedor, when they both were in their prime. Who would walk out with their hand raised?
UFC vs Pride
This is a fun debate, but the one thing you cannot deny is that these two men are the greatest heavyweights in Pride and UFC history. Fedor stands alone in Pride while Stipe stands alone in the UFC.
In breaking down a potential fight between the two, you have to look at the totality of their careers and skill sets. I’m going to be frank, if you didn’t witness Fedor in his prime, I truly feel sorry for you. You need to go watch old fights to educate yourself on just how good he was.
Fedor was incredibly innovative for his time. Dynamic on the feet, incredibly explosive, and arguably had the quickest hips on the ground out of any heavyweight I’ve ever seen. On top of that, he could take a punch and just keep coming.
The one big down side for Fedor was his size. If he would have been on a UFC PI nutritional plan, he could have easily been a light heavyweight or even a middleweight. At the same time, that’s what makes his accomplishments even more impressive.
Stipe Miocic has blown me away in his career. The man never struck me as the fastest guy or the most powerful guy, but he just knew how to get it done. Has a very good chin, but was finished twice including once by Stefan Struve.
However, Miocic just has this toughness to him. The guy has incredibly clean boxing technique with solid grappling. The two time UFC heavyweight champion has successfully defended the title four times which is a UFC record.
Miocic holds wins over all the top UFC heavyweights of this era minus Cain Velasquez. His hit list includes Daniel Cormier (Twice), Francis Ngannou, Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, and Fabricio Werdum.
As the sport has evolved, the competition has arguably gotten much steeper in the heavyweight division, and Stipe has stood alone. A few losses, but when it counts, he’s at his best.
So who wins?
This is such a tough call for me. If you told me that Pride’s Fedor fought the UFC‘s Stipe ten times, I might say that it would be 5-5. On the feet, technique wise, Stipe has the advantage. However, Fedor was drastically faster with his hand speed.
Factoring all grappling aspects into the game from wrestling to jiu jitsu, I would give the slight advantage to Fedor. Although, Stipe’s size advantage could play a big role in the grappling exchanges particularly against the fence.
In the end, if I had a gun to my head, I would lean towards Fedor Emelianenko in his prime. That is not to disrespect the accomplishments that Stipe Miocic has or to discredit the UFC champ, but I truly believe there was something special about a prime Fedor.
If one of the two men were to secure a finish, I believe that Fedor would be able to catch Stipe. Stipe has shown that he doesn’t have the cleanest defense in the world, and I think that Fedor’s speed and power would give him issues.
So if you ask me, I’m going with Fedor. It’s a fun debate, but I still believe the Pride Fedor is the greatest heavyweight I’ve ever seen.