Now we are looking back on the "Glory Days" of the UFC and we talk about those fighters: "Remember the time when Stephen Bonner and Forrest Griffin fought?""What about that fight between Matt Hughes and Carlos Newton?" We idolize these fighters because they did things we had never seen before. We remember when BJ Penn knocked out Sean Sherk with a flying knee.
I bring up a few of these fights because we try to justify why a fighter still needs to be fighting. We are currently watching the downfall of three of our favorite fighters and for some of us, it is tough to watch.
Anderson Silva, Frank Mir, and Dan Henderson are all coming to the end of their careers. I guess I still laugh about it and think about what Sean Connery said in the The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, "Old tigers, sensing the end, they're at their most fierce. And they go down fighting." Now every person can go out of their way and say they can make their last run at the title and show everyone they still have it, but do they?
Frank Mir, I still say is the bench mark when it comes to becoming an "elite" fighter in the UFC. If you can beat him then you are on your way there, lose to him and you have to go back to the drawing board and try again. People are going to remember they dominance he once had, defeating Brock Lesnar (who at the time had two MMA fights, the second being against Mir), Roy Nelson, breaking Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria's arm in a kimura lock.
Frank was known as a man who could take punishment and deliver it as well. Recently though Frank has had it tough in his last 8 fights he has lost 6 (3 KO/TKO; 3 Decision). Do we really still consider that to be an elite fighter? Sure you can make the argument that every puncher still has a shot at winning, but he has only won 2 fights and those two fighters were to Todd Duffee and Antonio "Big Foot" Silva. Now Silva is considered to be a top fighter in the UFC and Duffee is the man with the 7 second knockout (for those who don't remember here is a clip)
But these two wins do not tell anyone that Frank Mir is still in top form. I hate to say it for people but I think it is time for Mir to hang up his gloves and move on to the next phase of life. I think that the Cuban might have one fight left in him, but I would rather see him retire on his own and become a coach.
Dan Henderson is one that most people will argue can go either way. The MAN is 45 years old and is still keeping up with the "youngsters" in the UFC. But we have to be honest, aside from his two victories over Shogun Rua and another one over Boetsch, he has lost his last 6 out of 9 fights. Now two of the loses were by Split Decision (Lyoto Machida and Rashard Evans) and most will argue that they could have been his fight but the other four loses came from (3 TKOs and 1 submission). I love watching the "H-Bomb" thrown connect and put a man out, in fact it is one of the reasons I watch Henderson fight, remember this:
Crazy to think that this fight was in 2009, but even if you fast forward to 2014 versus Rua:
He has become the victim of looking for that one punch knockout which has resulted in him being knocked out and submitted. Now I would say that for Henderson, he probably has two or three fights left in him and then the man will ride off into the sunset and I will probably shed a tear. To me it is hard not to like this man, he made his own dreams happen and I think he is one of the best to ever step in the octagon. He will be a UFC Hall of Famer no doubt, but I do not think I am ready to watch him retire.
Then comes the man who beat Henderson to unify titles, Anderson Silva. Sure this might be an early call, and you can even argue that he should be fighting for the belt at UFC 199 had he beaten Bigsping (which i do believe he did) at UFC Fight Night. Sure you could argue that if his leg kick had not been checked, he may have beaten Chris Weidman (I would still say that was not the case). The Spider was known for putting fear into people before they ever stepped in the ring, people would fight Anderson and would already be losing the fight before it started. Now though after watching the Bigsping fight, I am not sure that is the case anymore. People will fight Anderson because it is the Spider but years ago people never thought about getting in the ring with him. Has time caught up with the Spider, who knows? There is no doubt that he is still an amazing striker:
But even in this GIF of Silva, you can see that he does not move his head and takes punishment for it. Part of it could be that he wants the other fighter to come in much like Roy Jones Jr. back in the day
But it is tough to argue that for Silva when he was clipped by Weidman and he lost his title to him. Silva is fighter to be respected by all who face him. He still has a deadly submission game and his striking is still second to none, but it is tough for me to say that he is still the best fighter as so many have come up now. Silva recently has lost 3 fights and 1 was overturned to a No Contest when he tested positive for steroids and Nick Diaz for marijuana.
These are legends who are now heading to the end of their careers but, they are all men who will be honored in the UFC Hall of Fame in the near future. I am one who is hoping that they are not damaged too badly when they are inducted. If you are wondering if there is any one else that I think should retire and/or stay retired, yes there are a few of them. But I wanted to discuss the three in my mind that need to really consider hanging up the gloves for good. What do you guys think?
Photos are courtesy of UFC and Roy Jones Jr
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