You could say that. However, I have decided to move away from that way of thinking. This is why I only consider UFC records, because it allows me to say that "Fighter A and Fighter B both fought opponents from the same talent pool" and that adjusts for a lot subjective interpretation of the data.
If you fight in the LW division of the UFC, then you are fighting in the same pool as your competitors, so I can say with a higher degree of confidence that if you have a better record than your competitors, then you are better than them.
Using that hall of fame argument seems weak to me, because it is based on hyped-nostalgia. For example BJ Penn is a HOFmer, but his record doesn't reflect this. He has the record of an average fighter.
Also, Kelvin Gastelum is beating a lot of HOFmers who are on their way out, so if we are just going by brand-recognition, we are going to downplay the context of Gastelum's recent wins. Another example, Jon Jones went through a gauntlet of HOFmers, but when you look at those HOFmers, they have atrocious UFC records.
It gets too confusing and subjective. I have decided I will look at it this way:
1) Your dominance must have occurred after 2009/2010 and inside a UFC cage under variations of the MMA unified rules. Why after 2009/2010? Because that is when the sport of MMA was standardized, and now we know MMA is fundamentally cage fighting using variations of the Unified rules. So, I don't even consider ring MMA with other rules as the same sport as the MMA we have today. This is a logical stance.
If you are a fighter from a previous era of MMA or an in-betweener like GSP, then your dominance must have carried past 2009/2010 and inside a UFC cage under variations of the MMA unified rules.
2) If you meet the basic requirement of UFC fighter after 2009/2010, then you must have at least 13 consecutive wins in the UFC (I don't care who you fought). Why 13 wins? Because that is GSP's current longest winning streak and he is the standard. Why is GSP the standard? Because he is the least controversial of all GOAT contenders. So, whatever he did, is the baseline for me. Consequently, if GSP continues to fight and win, that bar will be raised higher and higher.
I give fighters extra points if those consecutive wins were title fights. This is how I separate the GOATs from the GOATs. So, the GOAT of all GOATs will have 13 consecutive title fight wins.
I apply this algorithm to all fighters. So, how I feel about a certain fighter doesn't matter. I don't care if you molested little babies, if you meet this criteria, I will defend your GOAT status against anybody who dares to challenge it.
