If Overeem wins a title, is he the GOAT UFC HW?

The Penetrator

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Simple question!

I hear some people argue that Cain is greatest UFC HW ever ( some even say not only UFC :O ) , based on his performances vs Lesnar and Dos Santos i guess, to me its completely stupid to say a fighter has legendary status if he fought like, 12 times in his entire life.

So based on Overeems dominating performances vs both Lesnar and JDS, ammount of fights he had, overall longevity in MMA, and if he becomes the champ beating Stipe wich i guess isnt that far fetched, is he greatest HW fighter in UFC history?
 
Up there, but I don't think there is one UFC HW that really stands out from the rest. No HW was able to dominate in the UFC for a long time. No HW ever got more than 2 title defenses in a row. If he wins it and defends a few times, he could make the claim though IMO.
 
He we need to defend, however he would have a case for the most accomplished mma athlete.
 
Why is everyone in such a rush to anoint a new GOAT? I'd say if he defends the belt a few times, maybe. Breaks the defence record? Definitely.
 
Goat stuff is bs anyway. On paper he accomplished the most as HW if he does win the UFC title. I actually don't see anyone else come close: he'd be Strikeforce/Dream/K1/UFC champion. No matter if he wins it or not, he deserves credit for what he's done. One loss and people will say he's a loser again, though. ;)

Only one that could come close is someone that wins Glory Kickboxing HW, goes to Bellator wins that title and then UFC gold. Don't see that happening, to be honest. On that note, Glory isn't as good as the K1 used to be. Kickboxing is on an alltime low.
 
No, he's lost way too much. I don't think about GOAT as a UFC exclusive thing either. Fedor is the the GOAT at HW for now and it would take Reem going on a huge run after his title win to surpass Fedor's greatness or even to get past Randy who won a UFC HW tournament, won the UFC HW title 3 different times, defended the title twice in a row and on one other occasion. Reem isn't close to Randy in the UFC and he is light years away from Fedor.
 
First of all, crowning the greatest inside an org is silly, especially since the UFC has had a terrible HW division while other orgs did better... but I guess everyone agrees, so no need to complain.

IMO he needs to defend it some times first. Now it is probably Sylvia.
 
If he does he will be greatest HW in combat sports. But.... Stipe might KO him.
 
I like Overeem but he isn't and never will be the GOAT anything. GOAT's don't get KO'd by Ben Rothwell and Travis Browne.
 
14 loss.... hard to make him a goat with that.


But if he beat Stipe and defend the title a couples of time, then yes we can discuss that for sure

(I think he beat Stipe tbh)
 
If he Horse Kicks someone maybe but the HW division hasn't had a champ perform multiple defenses in a long time so no.
 
Overeem had some ugly defeats not long ago, don't know about this GOAT status, not before he defends his (eventual) belt couple times.

Anyway, I guess Stipe's boxing + heavy hand will do a good job to Overeem chin. (I know Overreem is a different fighter since he entered to Jacksons, but i'm always biased against him)
Stipe has a good chin, but since Alistair TKOed JDS, I don't doubt he can do this to the champ, but still put Stipe as favorite.
 
I think he would be one of the most accomplished martial artist in the modern era. But he's not clos to being the best ufc hw by a long shot. He hasn't defended the belt and hes lost multiple times already in ufc.
 
Overeem has been KO'd so many times it's ridiculous. Also PEDs.

He's an amazing fighter but he is no GOAT.

Fedor is the best ever and no one is close yet.
 
I think the subject of Reem definitely throws a debate around the definition of the term GOAT into the spotlight. There are a number of different ways you could define it, some of them apply to Reem, others don't, others aren't black or white:

Overall accomplishments: definitely a strong case, multiple championships, GP winner, victories over legendary fighters.
Dominance: definitely not, he's had some exceptional victories but also crushing defeats, and as other people have mentioned has lost to second tier fighters (Silva).
Moving the needle for the division/sport as a whole: yes and no - he was red hot coming off the Lesnar win, but then getting popped, a long time out and inconsistent performance after that really took the shine off him.

I think he can beat Stipe - he's definitely dangerous but we know Reem isn't just going to rush in and hand him the KO.
 
I see the chance of him beating Stipe as 50/50. However, I don't see him keeping the title for more than 3 defences after that. So no, not greatest of all time, but a very decorated HW champion nonetheless.
 
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