I mean in combat sports like MMA/Boxing, with those people cheating around you, is it still possible to be an elite fighter without steroids, or perhaps even become GOAT. It seems lots get popped, and people say most of them roid, so it makes me wonder if its even possible to do it naturally?
Yes if and I mean IF, your style is based on evasion, footwork, timing and amazing jab.
I met lots of boxers who were broke as a joke and boxing at a high level while being semi-homeless, couch surfing with friends and family and had to dumpster dive for their meals did well.
Also Roids is not going to give you crazy good footwork, you need to learn weight transfer, bouncing, rotation and other striking foundation from different styles of boxing and striking to have a diverse skillset. Don't get me wrong, recovery is EXTREMELY important and roids do a damn good job helping you recover and most guys are on it and YOU MUST be on roids if you have a cookie cutter fighting style.
To compete naturally at a high level be considered a GOAT, you have to have either of two things:
1. Insanely effective and unconventional fighting style that is not replicable in generic gyms and extremely difficult to train against.
2. Freaky genetics that is borderline on human genetics from: Immune system, bone structure, muscle fiber, top of the line digestion and resilience against injuries, drug use and alcoholism.
You need to have a mix of both. A genetic freak who is freaky in multifaceted way who happens to has various martial arts mentors who trained him in a way that he has a unique fighting style that cannot be trained. Not to mention access to clandestine technology aimed at increasing human performance through natural means.
Cliff:
You pretty much need to be a genetic freak who has access to skill and knowledge ahead of his time and has passion for learning it.