What fighter is retired now that you didn't appreciate as much but now you wish they were back?

[ThePimblettEra]

Andy Wang fershure B.

 

[prikoke]

Gerard Gordeau. Took out Tuli's teeth, a piece of Royce's ear, and Yuki Nakai's eye. Put him up against Joe Son and hope for the appropriate results.

Only of you put the winner against Jon Jones and tell Jon they stole his stash.

 

[Strijfy]

Tito

 

[Elvis.]

I admittedly didn’t appreciate how great Matt Hughes was for about the first half of his career

 

[blackheart]

GSP
A. Silva
Michael Bisping

 

[blackheart]

Matt Hughes - Literally hated him his entire run up until the Sera fight. I just found him smug and a bit douchey and it clouded my judgement as to how good he actually was. Now when I go back and rewatch his fights I do so as a fan.

how could you be a fan of this massive pos knowing the things he talked about in his book? his character is far, far worse than the smug hick he came off as during his career

 

[Aluminati]

Ricardo Arona.

Dude would have made waves in the UFC. But instead is riding them...

When you see how his life has turned out since then, it seems like he's fine with it.

 

[KungFuCow]

GSP.. I think the dude could still win a lot of fights.

Dana wants to put on a fight that moves the needle, convince GSP to come back and fight McNugget at WW. Easy paycheck for GSP and would do insane numbers.

 

[Reb]

Khebab

 

[r-harper-1]

Definitely Keith Jardine. Such an unorthodox style but it certainly gave him wins despite having a chin being made of glass. I wonder how a style like that would do in today's 205 division?

His chin decent once he got warmed up lol

 

[Gang Sign Luke]

GSP no doubt. I never once rooted for him to win.

EDIT: except against Dan Hardy

 

[old school 2]

I think Josh Koschek was a great heel,and didn't have to make a character he wad a natural. I would root hard for him today.

Koschek and Leben where both great to watch but to me the guy I hated the most but love now is Brock. His interviews , his intensity and his victories when he had them spoiled us all and I apologize for all of the negative shit I said about him and hope he someday gives us a little more of some of the funniest times MMA has ever known .

 

[Ether13]

This thread is just what old fighter do you like

 

[old school 2]

I don’t have any. I appreciated my favourite fighters in real time.

I miss seeing them fight. But they don’t ever need to come back. Retired with their brains intact. And except for one, they are millionaires.

GSP, Stipe (assuming he’s retired), Felicia Spencer, and Amanda Nunes.

The rest of the fighters on my All-Time fav list are still active.

Well said, a lot of millionaires made in the UFC and every day someone posting about how fighters are not paid enough. If you win and are entertaining you will be set for life by the time you are 32 in the UFC. L

 

[VinceArch]

His chin decent once he got warmed up lol

True. It was supposed to be an easy KO win for both Chuck and Rampage and they couldn't put him away.

 

[Bobby Boulders]

Hector Lombard or Johnny Hendricks

Would have bet money you'd have said Jon Fitch

 

[bambammccoy]

Renan Barao. He was so damn fun to watch and such an opportunistic finisher similar to Charles Oliviera.

Bonus answer I can't believe how lucky we were in hindsight to have such a solid all Heavyweight Main Card at UFC 146 featuring probably the 3 best heavyweights in UFC history in Cain, Stipe, JDS as well as spectacles like prime Roy Nelson, prime Bigfoot silva, and Struve who was a borderline freakshow fight with his height.

 

[phillystyleswag]

I thought GSP was boring back in the day. He seems to be a pretty popular pick in this thread though. I would say that Mendes/Gus were two others because they just got stuck in divisions with monsters and could never quite grab the belt.

 

[Sick85]

Would have bet money you'd have said Jon Fitch

I wanted to but I didn’t want to give people a smoke break

 

[Joss]

Kenny Florian perhaps…retired too early