Jacob Cooper

Originally Posted by cooperjacob

This is of course subject to opinion. Below is my list of who I believe are the top-10 greatest heavyweights of all time. I've decided not to include Brock Lesnar as I don't believe he's experienced enough or has achieved enough, Bas Rutten as the majority of his wins were in Pancrase and Josh Barnett as he's an arsehole.

10 - Igor "Ice Cold" Vovchanchyn: Usually forgotten in such lists as this, but with a record of 54-10-1 he is a very decent fighter. It's a shame that injuries forced him to retire, as he was always a top contender in the division.

9 - Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski: Similar to Fedor, Arlovski has suffered a few defeats recently and fans have forgot just how good he was in his prime. The dude was a great striker, winning the UFC heavyweight title and beating notable fighters such as Tim Sylvia, Fabricio Werdum and Cabbage Correira along the way.

8 - Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia: In his prime, a great fighter. I just wish he stayed in the shape and stuck with the UFC instead of seeking competition elsewhere. Notable wins: Andrei Arlovski, Ricco Rodriguez and Jeff Monson.

7 - Frank Mir: The ultimate comeback story. This dude needs a film made after him! He was the first fighter to beat Tim Sylvia, the first to knock Minotauro Nogueira out and became the UFC heavyweight champion on two occasions. Also, he's still just 32 and has put together two wins over respectable opponents. Could there be another twist in the Mir story?

6 - Dan "The Beast" Severn: True legend of the sport. With 99 wins in MMA, including fighters such as Forrest Griffin, Tank Abbott and Ken Shamrock; Severn is truly a pioneer of MMA.

5 - Mark "The Hammer" Coleman: The first UFC heavyweight champion, 2x UFC tournament winner and 2000 Pride Openweight GP winner. Needn't I say more?

4 - Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic: "Right leg, hospital; left leg, cemetery"; say no more. This man has the most frightening kicks in MMA of all time, and is arguably the best ever fighter to never hold a major belt. He did however win the 2006 Pride Openweight GP and held notable wins over Josh Barnett, Mark Coleman and Wanderlei Silva.

3 - Randy "The Natural" Couture: His record of 19-11 doesn't seem too incredible, but any avid MMA fan will realise just how important Couture was to the sport. He came back from retirement to beat Tim Sylvia in a fight everyone ruled Couture out in, capturing the heavyweight title and then went on to defend the belt against Gabriel Gonzaga before losing to a far younger and stronger Brock Lesnar. This was his fourth UFC heavyweight title win, and Couture also won the UFC 14 heavyweight tournament. A truly remarkable fighter.

2 - Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira: It was close between Nogueira and Couture, but due to Antonio's win against Couture and his story, he gets second place. Minotauro was run over by a truck at the age of 9, falling into a coma for 25 days and was unlikely to ever be able to walk again. He defied all odds, and went on to become the first ever Pride heavyweight champion and the interim UFC heavyweight champion. Truly amazing stuff.

1 - Fedor Emelianenko: People may contradict due to his recent form, but Fedor is by far the greatest ever in the division. Before his three fight losing streak, he beat every top echelon guy that stood across the cage from him - including Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mirko Cro Cop.

This is just my opinion, and I had spare time on my hands. If anyone fancies doing a list or making comments about mine, please do. Fire away...

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