The Second Golden Age Is Over

[ComeChooDaddy]

I think we just finished the end of an era, boys. The past 4 years have been filled with countless historic fights. IMO Colby vs Usman 1 is what truly kicked it off but Jorge vs. Askren might’ve been the real initiator.

My favorite moments:
Colby vs. Usman 1
Francis killing Stipe
Poatan stopping Adesanya

What are yours?

1st Golden Age: 2005-2011
2nd Golden Age: 2019-2023

RIP

 

[UWPguy]

Idk, it's hard to say that those are the golden eras as plenty happened before 2005 and plenty happened from 2011 to 2019.

Between 2011 to 2019 you had Jones put the stranglehold on LHW and become GOAT, Conor's rise to double champ status, DC double champ, GSP out of retirement, DJ clowning people, Khabib, Lawler's resurgence, Chael/Silva 2, Henderson's final act, etc.

 

[DarthChen731]

y tho

 

[Blastbeat]

y tho

because UFC is dying

 

[SuperNerd]

If Colby vs Usman is the peak of a golden age in MMA, lets just give up and turn this into pro-wrestling.

 

[DarthChen731]

because UFC is dying

tru

 

[Arm Barbarian]

Recent memory

*Strickland dominating Izzy

*Poatan grabbing LHW strap

*Leon kicking Usmans head clean off

*Poirier sending Conor into the shadow realm

*Gaethje head kicking Poirier into the shadow realm

Some great violence in recent history.

 

[-Sideways-]

There was a second golden age?

 

[kfighter]

because UFC is dying

Bald fuck is dying

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

Not sure those are the eras. More time is needed. I would put the first "golden era" around 2002-2003. Previous to that is the beginning stages, which is also its own golden era in its own way. Not sure about this most recent period.

 

[Typrune Goatley]

First Golden Age: 1997 to 2001
- NHB becomes MMA
- UFC Tournaments and then eventually weight classes
- PRIDE Grand Prix 2000
- Kazushi Sakuraba, Igor Vovchanchyn, Mark Kerr, Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, Vitor Belfort, Dan Henderson, Frank Shamrock, Pedro Rizzo



Second Golden Age: 2001 to 2007
- PRIDE era
- WEC and IFL era
- PRIDE Grand Prix (2006 Open weight, 2004 Heavyweight, 2003 Middleweight, 2005 Middleweight, 2005 Lightweight and 2005 Welterweight)
- Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko Cro Cop, Josh Barnett, Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Wanderlei Silva, Rampage Jackson, Dan Henderson, Chuck Liddell, Shogun Rua, Ricardo Arona, Urijah Faber, Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia, Rich Franklin



Third Golden Age: 2007 to 2011
- UFC acquires PRIDE and WEC
- Anderson Silva, Georges St Pierre, Junior Dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, Alistair Overeem, Shogun Rua, Lyoto Machida, Fedor Emelianenko, Rashad Evans, Dan Henderson, Jose Aldo, Frankie Edgar



Fourth Golden Age: 2011 to 2015
UFC acquires Strikeforce
- Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Alistair Overeem, Jose Aldo, Rafael Dos Anjos, Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson, Robbie Lawler, Johnny Hendricks

 

[Jose Beehive]

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

UFC isn't even in it's prime yet

 

[SPooderMan]

2013 was peak MMA

 

[AstralPanda]

because UFC is dying

Ufc been dyin for 30 years breh

 

[BigSexy444]

First Golden Age: 1997 to 2001
- NHB becomes MMA
- UFC Tournaments and then eventually weight classes
- PRIDE Grand Prix 2000
- Kazushi Sakuraba, Igor Vovchanchyn, Mark Kerr, Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, Vitor Belfort, Dan Henderson, Frank Shamrock, Pedro Rizzo



Second Golden Age: 2001 to 2007
- PRIDE era
- WEC and IFL era
- PRIDE Grand Prix (2006 Open weight, 2004 Heavyweight, 2003 Middleweight, 2005 Middleweight, 2005 Lightweight and 2005 Welterweight)
- Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko Cro Cop, Josh Barnett, Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Wanderlei Silva, Rampage Jackson, Dan Henderson, Chuck Liddell, Shogun Rua, Ricardo Arona, Urijah Faber, Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia, Rich Franklin



Third Golden Age: 2007 to 2011
- UFC acquires PRIDE and WEC
- Anderson Silva, Georges St Pierre, Junior Dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, Alistair Overeem, Shogun Rua, Lyoto Machida, Fedor Emelianenko, Rashad Evans, Dan Henderson, Jose Aldo, Frankie Edgar



Fourth Golden Age: 2011 to 2015
UFC acquires Strikeforce
- Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Alistair Overeem, Jose Aldo, Rafael Dos Anjos, Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson, Robbie Lawler, Johnny Hendricks

All of UFC has been golden.

 

[ComeChooDaddy]

Idk, it's hard to say that those are the golden eras as plenty happened before 2005 and plenty happened from 2011 to 2019.

Between 2011 to 2019 you had Jones put the stranglehold on LHW and become GOAT, Conor's rise to double champ status, DC double champ, GSP out of retirement, DJ clowning people, Khabib, Lawler's resurgence, Chael/Silva 2, Henderson's final act,

If Colby vs Usman is the peak of a golden age in MMA, let’s just give up and turn this into pro-wrestling.

That was one of the greatest fights in UFC history. Stop buying into the drama and start judging based on performances.

 

[SuperNerd]

That was one of the greatest fights in UFC history. Stop buying into the drama and start judging based on performances.

No, it wasn't.

 

[ComeChooDaddy]

No, it wasn't.

 

[HatKick]

I kind of consider 2018-23 an era.

2018/19 marked the end of Conor's prime and the end of Jones' prime (he would still win fights but much less convincingly and he became much less active). It was also the end of Woodley's and DJ's championship reigns and the end of the Cruz/TJ/Garbrandt saga that had dominated BW. Instead new stars and dominant champions emerged like Khabib, Poirier, Adesanya, Masvidal, Usman, Colby, Volkanovski, Oliveira, Yan, Sterling, Nunes, Valentina and Weili while Stipe, DC and Ngannou dominated the HW picture.

2022/23 marked the end of that era as all the above lost their belts, retired, left, or suffered their worst losses. Probably not a golden era but not a bad time.

A new era is dawning. So far Islam, O'Malley, Leon, Pereira and Bryce Mitchell are the major players.