Tito Ortiz: Fedor Emelianenko did great in Pride, but he's not one of the greatest ever
Posted on August 3, 2011, 05:54 PM by Joey Santosus"He's not one of the greatest ever; he did great in Pride but he chose not to come to the UFC and he never fought in the UFC. You can't be considered one of the best -- much less the greatest ever -- if you didn't fight in the UFC. Pride isn't the UFC and the places he's been since Pride aren't the UFC. Everyone who came from Pride to the UFC got stomped. - For more from Tito Ortiz, visit ESPN.com (via MMAMania.com)
To be the best, you've got to beat the best... And according to "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" that's something that can only be accomplished by competing inside the octagon.
Though Fedor Emelianenko ran roughshod through every opponent placed in front of him for more than a decade, "The Last Emperor" never donned a pair of UFC branded 4-ounce gloves. Instead, the Russian opted to compete for promotions such as Rings, PRIDE FC, and eventually Strikeforce, racking up an impressive 31 victories along the way before suffering what was considered to be his first "legitimate" defeat in 2010. While many may feel the dominant run was enough to cement Emelianenko's place in the history books, Tito Ortiz isn't one of them. So what do you think of Tito's stance LowKick'ers? Is it sound logic or irrational reasoning?
Further Reading: Tito Ortiz says he "let Rashad Evans off the hook" in their first fight
Photo: Tito Ortiz at UFC 132 PF Press Conference. Credit: Scott Hirano.
Comments
Hahaha come on Tito
Whoever voted "Cool" on this is a f*cking idiot, just like Tito. Tito is the guy who hadn't won a fight in since Shamrock in 2008. Now all of a sudden he pulls off 1 win and he's passing judgement on a guy that has held the best HW record in history. He may not be what he was in Pride, but he is damn sure one of the best MMA fighters in history.
sorry Tito but when he fought Pride was when Price had all the good fighters like Chuck and Randy when Pride was the Big Dog and UfC
was just getting started these last five years yeah nobody but then
best of the best
Shamrock 2006*
I bet 100% of the Fedor's fans who were rooting for Tito prior to this interview are getting ready on their "Tito sucks"chant right about now.
For once i agree with tito
given my name, there's no doubt im a fedor fan, but some of what he says is true, as much as i dont like tito, he's right.... who successfully came to ufc from pride? some wrestlers like rampage n henderson, and anderson silva... look at almost everyone else... nogueiras, shogun, wand, almost any japanese fighter that has ever come here... not sure why that is, but it is.
I am sorry man, but you should change your name then. Guys who came to the ufc from Pride were warriors and went thru some of the toughest wars mma has ever provided. Back and forth bloody combats, not the cuddly easy fights that Tito had ground and pounding unknown guys.
When Rampage and Henderson, Wand, Nog made the transition, the guys were almost "tired" of fighting in a way, injured etc They had to remotivate themselves. Its not all about the level but the motivation and damage you carry with you.
Now even Shogun sucks because he got beat by Jones? Come on ! Its ridiculous.
Tito is just being Tito and markets himself, trying to appear better than he actually is and licking Dana's balls on the way. He would get smashed by Rampage, shogun and even Wand if he fought smart again.
@Lowkickdodger- You are right about the fight formats being different. Of course that being said, one of the things Fedorwas most known for was his incredible heart and ability to come back from a beating to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Being completely fair, in the more "cuddly" arena of the UFC, how many of those fights would Fedor have lost to TKO?
Anderson Silva lost in Pride, and never lost in the UFC. Chuck Liddell lost in Pride when he was killing everyone in the UFC,,hmmmmm
shoguns held a ufc belt? so has nogueira? wanderlei still can sell out arenas....his brawl with chuck was voted 2nd best fight of ufc history in the 100 greatest fights poll? id go to a pride event over a UFC event anyday. the 'pride guys' shaped MMA for what it is today.
dodger and murphy talking sense. it's absolute propaganda. why the need for this?
And he came back and won 7 in a row
Tito is a fool and a douche that's why i will never like him win or lose
All Pride fighters were more successful than the original UFC fighters
None of the UFC fighters who were Champions or top contenders during the Pride era are still contenders or even fighting anymore
by the time Fedor was the Champion
Sylvia and Arlovski were the top guys and then Couture
While in Pride it was Fedor , Barnett and Big Nog
none of the 3 Heavyweights are in the UFC anymore
while Barnett and Big Nog are still fighting and consider Top 10
Fedor beat Sylvia and Arlovski, Nog beat Sylvia, and Barnett may win the Grand Prix
LightHeavyweights : Henderson was the Champion Wanderlei was already on the downfall , and Shogun was the best he never was champ because Wanderlei was and they are friends, and then Rampage who was always a top contender
UFC : Chuck , Tito , Belfort and Couture were the 205 division!
Rampage KO Chuck , and hes no longer fighting, Tito got his first win in 5 years at least Wanderlei got some ups and downs , Belfort is the only one who still fights but he was in Pride also, and Couture is retire, Shogun was UFC champion and KO Chuck as well , and he is still the #2 in the world.
So Tito is an ignorant fool , anyone who know says the Pride fighters are getting beat by the UFC are wrong, they may be losing some to the new generation of fighters who had been coming since 2007
guys like JDS , Cain , Jones , Machida etc those guys could have been Pride fighters if it would still exist , they are the new generation who are beating the original UFC fighters as well.
Well said. That's true. Not to mention that none of the UFC top fighters (not talking about the original UFC fighters like Shemrock and Roice Gracy) during the Pride era fought in any GrandPrix. Only Chuck, but was nailed. All those Pride fighters had so many fights during the Pride days, way more than in the UFC.
5...4...3...2...1 - Here we go.
I'm a Fedor fan too, and I think he is still young (34), explosive and was in a good shape last fight. What happening is that Pride level of competition full ourselfs about the skill of the fighters like Fedor, Wand, Crocop.... they just are NOT as good as we thought.... I hope Fedor keep fighting becouse his fights are always exciting and he still can beat a lot o heavw on the road.
When Chuck came to Pride, he was NOT as good as we thought.
Here's the main problem with what he's saying in my eyes....
Pride was a fighting org. that even went as far as to penalize fighters for slow action. UFC was and still mostly is dominated by neutralizing wrestlers who win on a somewhat bogus scoring systems used in the org. If the wrestlers today were fighting in Pride, they would have lost most rounds on point deductions vs the UFC rewarding such behavior
Every fighters different pretty sure Ansdersons doing good...On the other hand the only people Fedor beat from UFC are Glass jaw Arlowski and Tim the slow mo Silvia.Titos right and ive said it all along have him fight a top ten fighter.The truth hes been ducking good competition for years and now we all see the result when he fights top tren fighters.
jenna was the greatest in her prime until all those plastic surgery.....
Well you can't be considered the best LHW ever unless you fought in Pride
Obviously my statement loses value with time. Pride had the best HW's and LHW's for the better part of a decade. I agree with what you said below, this all time shit is a stupid debate, but 95% of MMA fans have this what-have-you-done-for-me-lately attitude where they completely forget what fighters have done. Of course it should be that that way with current rankings, but like you, I Believe Fedor is the best HW so far and Shogun is the best LHW so far (based on the fact theyhave beaten more top 10 oppenents than anyone else in their weight class historically) but that COULD change soon.
Good question. I'd personally take BJ over any LW when he's at his best, but on paper strong cases can be made for Aoki and Gomi. Speaking of Aoki he's only 28 and I'd love to see him come to the UFC and test himself. A few big wins and he'd easily be the best LW of all time (or atleast hold that distinction for a couple years lol).
First off.. why are people talking about different fighters like Rampage, Wanderlei and Chuck? This news is strictly about Fedor and Tito so compare them two. .-.
Personally I think Fedor is a overrated fighter. He's not the best heavyweight in the world, he hasn't done what any other fighter hasn't. He hasn't accomplished what Anderson Silva has (I know their in a different weight class). All Fedor had was his winning streak and all he mainly fought was stand up guys whilst he is a wrestler.
In my opinion the best heavyweight ever was Bas Rutten, and he even disagrees with Fedor being the best. But I don't want to talk about Bas.
Anyway, Tito has defended a title more times than Fedor and if you look at their Championships and accomplishments Tito has way more than him. Does that mean Tito can beat Fedor everytime? No. Any fighter can beat any fighter..
anyway I think what Tito means is that Fedor is past his time to still be called the best in the world.
The things is pride was was not as multidimensional then as ufc is now.
Its preety simple. kinda like putting Mohamed ali against the fighters of today or Michael Jordan against the Kobe's and Lebron's of today, they would simply suck.
Everything arround us evolves on what the past generation gives them.
Pride fighters came to the ufc and faced the problem of elite wrestling and in time learned to deal with it and acclimated.Some failed some didnt. Ufc is much more strategically oriented, and Fedor never needed a strategy untill now.
Back in pride he was probably the only well rounded fighter of his time.
But obviously thats not enough anymore, he should either retire or start giving mma the respect it deserves.
Skillwise he is probably still top 5 but he needs to put a drawing board in his training to keep up with the fighters of today.
and as far as Tito goes...i hope he beats Rashad up but honestly i dont think he stands a chance. Allthough he destroyed Bader that punch looked like he missjudged his distance and was kinda lucky if you can say that, and on the ground he looked like he wasnt sure what to do.