How many wins would max need to pass khabib?

[RonDante]

This is NOT a khabib hate thread, I know how great he is, it’s just something to think about
this is partly subjective, as it just sort of comes down to how notable a win I think it is, so some wins are counted and others aren’t

NOTABLE is the key word, but SUBJECTIVE and POTENTIALLY BIASED are too

Khabib title fight wins
-Iaquinta
-Mcgregor
-Poirier
-Gaethje

Khabib 3 rounder wins
-RDA
-Johnson
-Barboza



Max Holloway title fight wins
-Pettis
-Aldo
-Aldo again
-Ortega
-Edgar

max non title fight 5 rounder wins
-Oliveira
-kattar
-yair
-allen
-tkz (quite a weak win to be honest)

max 3 rounder wins
-swanson
-stephens
-lamas



obviously, Khabib never lost, and only lost two rounds in his career, while max has 7 losses. However, when you look at who max lost to, it’s not the worst. He had 3 losses early in his career to poirier, Bermudez and mcgregor. Then he goes on his win streak, loses to poirier up a weight division. His other 3 losses are all to the same guy, which some may see as a bad style matchup, or volk just being that good (the greatest featherweight of all time in a lot of peoples eye, certainly the best)

so, how many more wins would holloway need to pass khabib? Does he have to become champion again in your eyes? Does picking off top ten guys for the next few years of the volk reign do enough? How about his upcoming fight against gaethje?

NOT a khabib hate thread, just a thought experiment

 

[Koya]

He can't pass Khabib. Max is up in age and has a different legacy. Very solid champion, very good legacy, but not in the same ballpark.

Khabib 3 title defense isn't much, but it's him running through guys

 

[RonDante]

He can't pass Khabib. Max is up in age and has a different legacy. Very solid champion, very good legacy, but not in the same ballpark.

Khabib 3 title defense isn't much, but it's him running through guys

Is it just about title wins? What if you’re fighting the exact same people the champion of your division is fighting? Kattar probably would have fought for the title if he had beat Max. Are the stakes lower cause it’s a title shot instead of a title? Is kattar fighting worse becuase he isn’t getting a belt if he wins?

 

[Egészségére!]

If by some miracle he beat Gaethje & Islam for the LW belt 2 div champ Max would surpass Khabib imo

 

[OldBoy91]

Khabib never having lost is the only thing he has going for him and the only reason people put him anywhere near GOAT conversations.

As far as elite wins go there are multiple guys in every weightclass that have a more impressive resume than his.

 

[HuskySamoan]

This is NOT a khabib hate thread, I know how great he is, it’s just something to think about
this is partly subjective, as it just sort of comes down to how notable a win I think it is, so some wins are counted and others aren’t

NOTABLE is the key word, but SUBJECTIVE and POTENTIALLY BIASED are too

Khabib title fight wins
-Iaquinta
-Mcgregor
-Poirier
-Gaethje

Khabib 3 rounder wins
-RDA
-Johnson
-Barboza



Max Holloway title fight wins
-Pettis
-Aldo
-Aldo again
-Ortega
-Edgar

max non title fight 5 rounder wins
-Oliveira
-kattar
-yair
-allen
-tkz (quite a weak win to be honest)

max 3 rounder wins
-swanson
-stephens
-lamas



obviously, Khabib never lost, and only lost two rounds in his career, while max has 7 losses. However, when you look at who max lost to, it’s not the worst. He had 3 losses early in his career to poirier, Bermudez and mcgregor. Then he goes on his win streak, loses to poirier up a weight division. His other 3 losses are all to the same guy, which some may see as a bad style matchup, or volk just being that good (the greatest featherweight of all time in a lot of peoples eye, certainly the best)

so, how many more wins would holloway need to pass khabib? Does he have to become champion again in your eyes? Does picking off top ten guys for the next few years of the volk reign do enough? How about his upcoming fight against gaethje?

NOT a khabib hate thread, just a thought experiment

Max is all time great status but him getting bested by a surging McGregor who would go on to he champ and then him getting dethroned by Volk and going 0-3 vs him is huge. Does Max has a great resume? Yes. Only real criticism is he doesn't fight wrestlers much/UFC doesn't sign FW wrestlers out of fear. If Max beats Gaethje he will probably try to angle for a LW title shot or a number 1 contender bout, I see him being a sub 500 LW in the long run.

If Max beats Gaethje and then ends up winning the LW title you can argue he's greater than Khabib. Very different careers though.

 

[Nigelbro]

When you put it like that Max’s resume reads like Oscar DeLahoya, he’s fought them all.
There’s a lot of world champions on his win/loss at a couple of weights.

Everyone talks about Khabib and Tony never happening, who is Max missing? Like one big name that never eventuated at FW.

 

[Van Daz]

This is NOT a khabib hate thread, I know how great he is, it’s just something to think about
this is partly subjective, as it just sort of comes down to how notable a win I think it is, so some wins are counted and others aren’t

NOTABLE is the key word, but SUBJECTIVE and POTENTIALLY BIASED are too

Khabib title fight wins
-Iaquinta
-Mcgregor
-Poirier
-Gaethje

Khabib 3 rounder wins
-RDA
-Johnson
-Barboza



Max Holloway title fight wins
-Pettis
-Aldo
-Aldo again
-Ortega
-Edgar

max non title fight 5 rounder wins
-Oliveira
-kattar
-yair
-allen
-tkz (quite a weak win to be honest)

max 3 rounder wins
-swanson
-stephens
-lamas



obviously, Khabib never lost, and only lost two rounds in his career, while max has 7 losses. However, when you look at who max lost to, it’s not the worst. He had 3 losses early in his career to poirier, Bermudez and mcgregor. Then he goes on his win streak, loses to poirier up a weight division. His other 3 losses are all to the same guy, which some may see as a bad style matchup, or volk just being that good (the greatest featherweight of all time in a lot of peoples eye, certainly the best)

so, how many more wins would holloway need to pass khabib? Does he have to become champion again in your eyes? Does picking off top ten guys for the next few years of the volk reign do enough? How about his upcoming fight against gaethje?

NOT a khabib hate thread, just a thought experiment

Ha, ha....that's piss funny...

 

[HHJ]

Khabib never having lost is the only thing he has going for him

No its not just that.

Its also HOW he ran through the people he beat. Makin people look fuckin ridiculous.

 

[HHJ]

Anyway,the point is not to worry about how a dude who dont really even fight in the same weight class compares to Khabib. Their legacies arent connected,and they are very different from each other. If you want to like Max more than Khabib than go right the fuck ahead,its a free forum.

 

[Koala]

He would have to go on an Oliveira run
Take back the 145 belt from the guy who beats Volk (Topuria?) and defend vs Volk, take the BMF or move up and take the belt, all of that in great fights

 

[Luthien]

He already passed Khabib

 

[HHJ]

He would have to go on an Oliveira run
Take back the 145 belt from the guy who beats Volk (Topuria?) and defend vs Volk, take the BMF or move up and take the belt, all of that in great fights

No one thinks hes got all that in him,unless Volk is totally destroyed by the head kick,and even if he was,people would cite that prime vs prime,Max was inferior,overall.

 

[NationWideNinja]

Khabibs legacy isnt just based on his record and wins, its also how he dominated everyone from the opening second. Khabib mauled pretty much everyone except for Tibau and lets say Iaquinta.
If we were to take that context out the picture then sure, I would say Max's record is almost on par with Khabib, with the losses obviously being what makes it weaker imo.

If he beats Gaethje, and lets say Topuria beats Volk for the strap, and Max then beats Topuria to recapture the belt, then I personally would put his record above Khabibs. Butttt, when we add in the context of Khabib seeming invincible then I would still put Khabib above him in general.

 

[balkanbomber85]

I like to compare this with boxing because Kabib, although unbeaten, simply does not have the resume to be anywhere close to the All Time Goat TOP.

Kabib is like Joe Galzaghe of MMA, unbeaten and therefore some hardcore fans and moreover nuthuggers will bring him up but no serious fan would really place him on the top.

Max does have losses but the guy fought anyone there was, he was longer champ than Kabib and he had superfights in the upper class. He is also not on the top of the ALL TIME GOAT LIST but he, for sure, is closer than Kabib. He is like the Roberto Duran of MMA.

 

[kingmob6]

If by some miracle he beat Gaethje & Islam for the LW belt 2 div champ Max would surpass Khabib imo

lmao no. Max will never pass Khabib. He almost fought Khabib, and thankfully he got injured, otherwise Khabib would have put a beating on him.

 

[Reileyb]

In terms of UFC career, Max has done more as champion, beaten more ranked opponents and also looked dominant like Khabib for many years before losing to Volk.

You could say p4p that Max's career is more impressive than Khabib's. Khabib's biggest claim is his undefeated record.

But someone like Max could have also gone 17-0 against cans before coming to the UFC, and also a much more deceiving record.

And who's to say if Khabib would have remained undefeated if he did as much as Max did as champion, Khabib dominated a lot but also showed weaknesses in his game during his UFC run, he was 100% beatable.

Comparisons will always be subjective though.

 

[RockyLockridge]

max is already past khabib by quite a bit.

I would not compare the twos combat acumen.

 

[loisestrad]

Khabib's resume is like a poem written by a masterful author, in which every syllable is perfectly constructed.

Max' is like a novel - not every sentece is flawless, but there's more to be entertained by, ups and downs and twist and turns.

In the end it's apples and oranges, it's Mozart or Bach, it's Baudelaire or Hemingway, it's Fedor or Jones, it's movies vs series, it's Oscar vs Emmy.

Thank you and good night.

 

[Koala]

Max does have losses but the guy fought anyone there was, he was longer champ than Kabib and he had superfights in the upper class. He is also not on the top of the ALL TIME GOAT LIST but he, for sure, is closer than Kabib.

No one is listing Holloway in his GOAT list. Even at 145, people would argue btw Aldo and Volk