Article Rundown

• I’m shifting PowerRackStrength more toward clinical work, back pain consulting, rehab, and rebuilding.
• I’m discontinuing the PRS CBD line so we can focus on products and services that better fit that direction.
• I think Conor McGregor had an incredible peak, but that does not make him the greatest fighter of all time.
• For me, Jon Jones is the MMA GOAT because of his versatility, dominance, strategy, and complete skill set.

PowerRackStrength Updates and UFC Talk

There are a few changes happening with PowerRackStrength, and I wanted to sit down and talk through them while also getting into something I have followed for most of my life: the UFC. This may turn into the first of many of these solo-style videos where I talk training, business, rehabilitation, sports, and whatever else is on my mind. Or maybe it is episode one of one. We will see.

A Shift in Focus at PowerRackStrength

The biggest change is that we are discontinuing the PowerRackStrength CBD line. I have personally used our CBD products consistently for six or seven years, so this is not because I suddenly stopped believing in the products. The reality is that the regulations, licensing requirements, food-related laws, and everything else surrounding CBD products have continued to become more complicated.

At some point in business, you have to look at where your time, energy, and resources are going and ask whether that is still where they should be focused. For us, the answer became clear. Our focus needs to be on the clinical side of what we do: working with back pain clients, helping people build resilience, applying the McGill Method, producing educational content, and developing tools that directly support rehabilitation and rebuilding. That is where I can provide the most value.

We still have some CBD inventory available, but once it is gone, it is gone. I appreciate everyone who supported that side of the business over the last five-plus years.

What Comes Next

PowerRackStrength is not going anywhere. If anything, I am going to be putting more energy into seeing clients, working with our team here in Jacksonville, and putting out more useful content across YouTube, Instagram, X, TikTok, and everywhere else we can reach people.

We also have suspension training straps, mini bands, long bands, and other products in development that are much more closely aligned with the clinical, rehabilitation, and rebuilding side of what we do. I also want to start doing more of these relaxed solo conversations where I can talk about training, fitness, sports, and things I am genuinely interested in.

One of those things is the UFC.

I Have Been Watching the UFC for a Long Time

I first saw the UFC on VHS sometime around 1994 or 1995. Seeing grown men actually fighting like that was pretty eye-opening. It was barbaric, but it was also fascinating. From there, I followed the sport through the late 1990s and then really got invested in the early 2000s.

That era had guys like Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, and later Demetrious Johnson. I watched the sport evolve, and I watched fighters come along who completely changed the way people looked at mixed martial arts.

Then came Conor McGregor.

Conor McGregor Was Special, But He Is Not the GOAT

Conor was absolutely magical for a period of time. The version of Conor who fought Eddie Alvarez was incredible. He was loose, bouncy, in and out, controlling distance, putting his hands behind his back, and landing that straight left seemingly whenever he wanted. He became a double champion, and what he accomplished was impressive.

But this is where all the “greatest of all time” talk drives me crazy. Winning two belts does not automatically make somebody the greatest fighter who has ever lived, especially when neither title was defended. Conor had an incredible peak. That is different from having the greatest career.

After the Floyd Mayweather fight, I do not think we ever really saw that same MMA fighter again. He came back much more boxing-heavy and front-leg dominant instead of the loose, karate-based style that helped make him so dangerous in the first place.

Then he ran into Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Khabib Took Something From Conor

One of my favorite fights to watch was Khabib against Conor, mainly because of everything that happened before it. Conor talked for years. He built himself into this almost untouchable character, and then Khabib went into the cage and systematically took the fight away from him.

Conor landed some of his best shots, and Khabib kept coming. Khabib even dropped him with a huge overhand right after faking the takedown, then dominated him on the ground and eventually submitted him in the fourth round. To me, that was worse than somebody simply getting caught with one punch. It looked like Conor had his will taken from him.

He was never the same fighter afterward. Dustin Poirier later exposed some of the same issues. Conor was heavier on that front leg, Dustin destroyed it with kicks, boxed well, and beat him twice. That does not erase what Conor accomplished. It just means we need to stop confusing an unbelievable few years with being the greatest fighter of all time.

There Can Only Be One Greatest

Everybody wants to call somebody the GOAT now. You see it in every sport. A young athlete has a few incredible seasons, and suddenly people want to put him beside Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, Shaquille O’Neal, or Hakeem Olajuwon.

Slow down.

Greatness requires longevity, dominance, championships, adversity, and proving yourself against different generations of competition. The same applies in fighting. Georges St-Pierre deserves to be in the conversation. Anderson Silva deserves to be in the conversation. Khabib may very well be the greatest lightweight ever.

But if we are talking about the greatest mixed martial artist to ever walk into an Octagon, I still think it is Jon Jones.

Why Jon Jones Is the Greatest Fighter I Have Seen

Jon Jones could beat you almost anywhere. He could out-kickbox a striker, dominate somebody in the clinch, wrestle elite wrestlers, use jiu-jitsu, control distance, and throw elbows like most fighters throw jabs. His physical tools were ridiculous, but it was not just his length.

It was his ability to understand exactly what an opponent did well and then take it away. That is what great fighting really is. It is not always about having the prettiest boxing or the most explosive knockout power. It is about having a strategy that removes your opponent’s strengths while constantly forcing them into situations where you are better.

Jones did that better than anybody I have watched. People can bring up his official loss to Matt Hamill, but anybody who actually watched that fight knows what happened. Jones was disqualified for illegal elbows in a fight he was otherwise dominating. So when I look at the complete body of work, Jon Jones is still number one for me.

Skill Matters, but Strategy and Humility Matter Too

One of the most interesting things about fighting is watching what happens when somebody becomes too confident in what they believe about themselves or their opponent. You can have beautiful striking. You can have great grappling. You can look unstoppable. But if you underestimate the person across from you, none of that matters.

That is one of the reasons I enjoy this sport so much. Eventually, the cage tells the truth. You can talk, promote yourself, and convince everyone around you that you are unbeatable, but then the door closes and somebody has to prove it.

That lesson applies far beyond the UFC.

BRIAN DOES ONLINE AND IN-PERSON COACHING!

Back Injured Average Mary or Joe who wants their life back

Back Injured Athlete Wanting to Return to Sport

Lift and exercise coaching & cueing to troubleshoot form

Program adherence & accountability coaching