he's fought bs and hand picked opponents to protect his aura ever since he left PRIDE. he is a good fighter no question, but he isn't as "great" as people claim
When one's entire experience of Fyodor has been couched within the zenith of Zuffa's reign, that position is, I think, a more prevalent one. That said, it ought to be a quick task demonstrating that even Fyodor's post-2005 opponents were august.
Whether you care to take note of it or not, both Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski were not only consensus top five heavyweights when Fyodor faced them, but more directly to your point, were the best available options given promotional constraints. Similarly, and again whether you choose to accord it, Brett Rogers was a consensus top ten opponent at the time of their bout.
Now, based on your tone of thought here, my inclination is that your response is to revise history based on the various permutations each fighter's history has taken since then. Hindsight, as they say, is always 20/20.
I choose instead to judge fighter based on the quality of their opponents as their opponents were considered at the time - I task that becomes exceedingly difficult when you believe things like, "Fyodor left PRIDE." (Fyodor was under contract to PRIDE FC when it collapsed.)
Judging the trajectory of Fyodor's career under that rubric, it becomes apparent that his quantum of opponents, even recently, is no more or less shameful than many of the other top HWs. Are Cain Velasquez's last five opponents, at the time he faced them, equal to or greater in comparative relevance to Silva, Werdum, Rogers, Arlovski and Sylvia? Well, to put a complex issue simply, no.
Simply put, Fyodor is a phenomenal fighter whose legacy speaks for itself to anybody not listening with a bias-tinged ear. He has clearly followed the well-trodden path of a quick descent from grace that has beset fighters throughout the entire history of combat sports - a fact, however, that ought not broad stroke the storied ascension which came before it.
