THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY: MMA SUPERFIGHTS WE NEVER SAW

The greatest of all-time… It’s a subjective accolade, but poll some of MMA fans from any age and the huge majority will offer up either Georges St Pierre or Anderson Silva as MMA’s theoretical”man to beat.” In late 2016, news of the French-Canadian’s return fueled whispers of UFC president Dana White’s”one who got away” — St Pierre vs Silva — the best versus the cleverest. Regrettably, the chances of it occurring now are as slender as they ever were. “Rush” vs.”The Spider” is a fantasy; one of several super fights we’ll probably never see.
Regrettably, it is not the only one. Below are a few other MMA superfights we got to see…
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar
Partly as a result of UFC’s monopolistic marketing power and partially because of his very best years being a decade ago, Fedor Emelianenko doesn’t always receive the respect he deserves from modern-day MMA fans. For people who witnessed his epic poem rampage through PRIDE’s heavyweight division however , he was the best heavyweight of his era… perhaps the greatest ever.
While Fedor might have become the best fighter in his day, Brock Lesnar was easily the biggest box office draw. An instant superstar, he polarized an audience who did not understand what they wanted more; therefore watch him humbled in defeat, or glorified in victory.
Physically, Lesnar was a creature. Walking round north of this 265-pound heavyweight limit, the NCAA standout moved with the speed and elegance of a guy half his size. Whether it was right down to fame or notoriety he had been a magnet for the paying public, headlining what was then the UFC’s largest card above the likes of GSP, in what was just his third tilt together with the promotion.
Following years of deriding that the Russian while he plied his trade for the competition, White announced that registering Stary Oskol’s favorite son was his”obsession.” Accounts of what happened next differ depending on who you hear them from. Fedor was tied up with M-1; according to White, a bargain offering $2,000,000 per struggle, Pay-Per-View points and a direct title shot against Brock Lesnar was spurned; M-1 wished to co-promote Fedor’s fights, also allegedly wanted Zuffa to finance the construction of a stadium in Russia. M-1 refuted these claims, and talks broke down.
Fedor’s inventory would fall considerably following three straight losses and Lesnar, while a licence to print money, was exposed by better fighters and abandoned the sport. It might have been the biggest-grossing MMA struggle of all-time, but as is so often the case, politics ultimately ruined it.
Ken Shamrock vs. Tank Abbott
Throwbacks into another age, arguably a different sport, Ken Shamrock and Tank Abbott were the poster children of this UFC’s formative years. Even though the event was intended as a subversive info-mercial to get Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, you have to feel that the money men were quietly pulling for a Shamrock success at UFC 1. He was 220 pounds of chiselled muscle, and the only fighter in the mount using recorded”free-fight” experience, Shamrock had the look of an action hero and the ability to back this up.
A few years after, David”Tank” Abbott hit the spectacle. Watch MMA live or in a bar even now, and you will find no shortage of out-of-shape, beer-swilling loudmouths eager to talk about their view of how they would mop the floor with all the guys on TV. Abbott was the man, only he could mop the floor with a few of the guys on TV. Fat, cocky and sporting roughly the same number of teeth since he had had karate course, Abbott was the manifestation of everything a British artist was not assumed to be.
There is a bit of MMA folklore that states Tank was brought into lose, thus proving the concept that the British artist would always succeed over the thug. His (admittedly limited) wrestling background was played down and he was branded a’Pit Fighter’ in promotional material. When Tank started breaking heads in a number of the most visually violent UFC fights of the age, a star was born, to the point that the company set him on a monthly salary; something not repeated since.
There was legitimate bad blood between both parties, together with Shamrock and his”Lion’s Den” once hunting down Abbott backstage after he had caused difficulty. Ken never caught him up either in the parking lot or the cage, together with both finally leaving the business for careers in pro-wrestling. Their surprise early-00’s returns once again sparked hope of a superfight from the other generation, but for reasons unknown it was never meant to be.
Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones
Before the controversy that shelved him for what would probably happen to be his fighting prime, few could argue that Jon Jones was not at the absolute pinnacle of mixed martial arts. A world-class athlete, not just adept, but an expert in all facets of the match, Jones looked insurmountable. In 2011he finished what was arguably the best season’s work of any combat sports athlete, beating Ryan Bader,”Shogun” Rua,”Rampage” Jackson and Lyoto Machida in the space of just 10 weeks.
Even though Jones was painting an image of violence at the light-heavyweight division, Anderson Silva was creating a masterpiece in middleweight. Nobody had previously cleared out such a talent-rich division and looked really untouchable in doing so. So complete was Silva’s dominance, he had twice moved up a weight class and demolished his resistance. His claim to the title of’best ever’ might be challenged by a scant few.
White once cited his capacity to generate a Jones vs. Silva superfight happen as something that could define his own heritage as a promoter. Fate, as it is want to do, conspired against him. Silva’s standing plummeted following a set of losses and a failed drug test. Jones’ picture was tarnished even farther; while he did not falter from the cage, a run of self-inflicted’personal issues’ stripped”Bones” of his dignity, credibility and — most importantly — his own ability to compete.
Silva is beyond his prime and threatening retirement. Jones is focused firmly on regaining the light heavyweight title he never dropped in the cage. Issues beyond the cage have almost certainly deprived us of one of the best battles inside.
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