Can Khabib still be a GOAT with 3 title defenses?(GOAT criteria)

[whileswimming.idrink]

Both GSP and DJ has two losses in their first 13 fights in UFC/WEC. Khabib has none.

 

[AnotherOldGuy]

I think the only way to really compare champions from different eras is to look at their competition because you can't just simply say x champion has more title defenses therefore goat. At the same time I still believe that title fights hold more weight than regular bouts because from the champions perspective they have everything to lose. It really comes down to who they beat as champion imo

The pressure is far more higher and I think being a champion taxes them mentally more than anything. GSP said it himself multiple times that he felt drained and that he needed to take a step back. This is why in Khabib's case it's hard to tell because he has wins over notable fighters but he didn't beat them as a defending champion. GSP has 9 title defenses and fought at a higher weight class but some people still rank Khabib higher because he's undefeated

Khabib's undefeated record is impressive but again the level of competition that was faced has to be looked at closer. He won the title by beating short notice Iaquinta and then his first defense was against Conor who was also coming back from almost 2 years away from the octagon. I'm not saying the outcome would be different but it definitely has to be taken into account

Another thing worth mentioning is that GSP had his first 3 title defenses in the space of 11 months where as Khabib took 2 years

GOAT is subjective. I'm sure there are guys with 1-10 records in tiny organizations whose grandmother thinks they're the GOAT. And because it is subjective, those grandmothers are right for themselves, since their criteria will be:

1) Must be a grandchild.
2) Nothing else matters.

 

[WOLVERINEKILLS]

Maybe instead of counting title defenses you should look into the number of champions each fighter beat.

 

[JKS]

Gaethje won the first but he gave his absolute all in that round and got heavily gassed as a result. He looked frantic in there while Khabib was calm

He looked frantic the first round, and won it. Second round he was much more calm and was actually picking his shots and landing better. Unfortunately he couldn't stop the ultimate TD and grappling force. Was too easy once it hit the ground.

 

[JKS]

Khabib Legacy in 13 UFC fights: 0 Round Loss, Never Been Knockdown, Rocked, Cut, DQ, PED cheat

- Has the most 10-8 rounds in UFC
- Undefeated in the sport for 12 years in 29 fights (2008-2020, undefeated for about 8 years in UFC)
- Didn't even has a well developed striking prowess prior to UFC under Abdulmanap tutelage
- Only got title shot after 8 years in UFC
- Arguably is the best lightweight in the world since 2016
- If Khabib is given title shot in 2016, he would has at least 6 title defenses before retiring at the top

- Dominating in the hardest division of the sport.
- Retiring opened an almost tournament matchup in the division between:

• Poirier, #6 top P4P fighter (defeating Conor, Gaethje, Max Holloway, Eddie Alvarez)
• Conor, #15 top P4P fighter (former 2 division champions)
• Gaethje, #11 top P4P fighter
• Oliveira, 8 active fight wins streak, 2018-2020, 10 POTN Bonus recipient (most in UFC history)
• Chandler, former Bellator LW division champ
• Ferguson, 12 fight wins streak, 2013-2019

etc, all is which imo Championship material fighters, alongside with Hooker, Islam, Dariush
- Defeating 3 top 15 P4P fighters in Poirier, Conor and Gaethje

- Landed the most takedown in UFC fights: 21 takedowns under 15 minutes, on average 7 takedowns per round
- With 70 inch arm reach, Khabib is fighting with no reach advantage whatsoever over all of his respective division opponents (unlike the likes of Jones, Izzy, O'Malley, etc):

• Gaethje, 70 inch reach
• Poirier, 72 inch reach
• Conor, 74 inch reach
• Iaquinta, 70 inch reach
• Barboza, 75 inch reach
• Johnson, 73.5 inch reach

- And under 34 rounds and 171 minutes of fighting in UFC Khabib:

• Never been knockout.
• Never been knockdown.
• Never bleed.
• Never been cut.
• Never been DQ'ed.
• Never been rocked.
• Being declared clean for his 8 years under UFC contract.
• Not even losing, not 1 round in UFC (2 round losses to Gaethje and Conor are in no way favouring, or are being led by either Gaethje or Conor. Plus Conor committed minimum 19 fouls in that fight.)
• Not once is under the state of any serious threat.
• Most visible scarring face Khabib ever had are mostly after fight camps with AKA.
• Only had absorbed 301 significant strikes in 13 fights, approximately had absorbed only 23 count of significant strikes average for every matchup. (For reference Katar absorbed 445 significant strikes in 25 minutes in only 1 fight against Holloway).
• Showing a one-sided domination in 12 out of 13 UFC fights

- Has literally no knockout power to dominate direction of the fight
- Only has 2 knockdown in all fights (Kamal Shalorus, Thiago Alves).
- Instead is fully relying on full arsenal of mixed martial arts composed of wrestling, sambo, judo, punishing ground control, deceptive striking offense and defense, fight IQ, and in gameplan formulation
- Example of established gameplan:

• Pressuring Barboza with forward pressure to negate Barboza from succesfully setup the right distance in his striking favoring kicking offense
• Negating Conor offense completely in the first round, let Conor worked in the grappling, in denying attempted takedown just to tire him out
• Pressuring Gaethje by mixing out takedown threat and forceful striking. Has Gaethje running at the final minute of the 1st round.

- As a champion, Khabib is getting better in each fight, earned a finish a round faster

View attachment 846649

- Arguably the 2 of only clean & P4P UFC GOAT candidate did had losses (KO'ed, submitted, decisioned) in their first 13 fights in UFC/WEC

• GSP

View attachment 846656

• DJ

View attachment 846659

...

Well guys, that's the story.

That's the legacy.

Here is a question, can anybody repeat what that Khabib had done in his first 13 fights in UFC?



A perfect career in the first 13 UFC fights. Shouldn't be hard is it?

12 dominant performances out of 13.

Good breakdown! It really is a very impressive, great UFC career. The man is among the best of all time, somewhere outside the top 4 in the 5-7 range.

 

[Based and White Pilled]

He can be LW GOAT because it's a division where no one has a lot of defenses.

He cannot be overall GOAT compared to guys who have two or three times as many fights against top competition and way more title fights.

 

[balkanbomber85]

Probably because he never dominated all his competition and fought has beens

87% VS 65% finishing rate

 

[Mike]

It's not just the number of defenses. His resume is thin and very padded.

 

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

He looked frantic the first round, and won it. Second round he was much more calm and was actually picking his shots and landing better. Unfortunately he couldn't stop the ultimate TD and grappling force. Was too easy once it hit the ground.

People really undervalue how badly Gaethje hurt Khabib will leg kicks, if he could've made it another round that fight would've looked a lot different

Props to Khabib for an all time great poker face

 

[Mike]

Both GSP and DJ has two losses in their first 13 fights in UFC/WEC. Khabib has none.

They also fought good opponents sooner than 18 fights into their careers.

 

[djason1988]

Nah. He has like, 5 top ten wins. If he stuck with it, maybe, but nah

 

[balkanbomber85]

Kabib only lives on his undefeated record which is padded with cans with negative scores and the great mass of "fans" who support him/and watch mma only because they share the same religion as him, nothing more

 

[Dana's Moonface]

87% VS 65% finishing rate

Its not about stats

Did you see his fights with Walcott or Charles?

He was busted up and battered in many scraps

Khabib has never been punished or really hurt

Also I guarantee khabib would have a much higher finish percentage if he was in more 5 rounders

Anyway to prove my original point, marciano is ranked way higher than Wlad despite having under 50% the title defences

 

[Palani]

No

 

[chinarice]

Do we even take people seriously who think khabib is in the conversation for greatest of all time?

 

[JKS]

People really undervalue how badly Gaethje hurt Khabib will leg kicks, if he could've made it another round that fight would've looked a lot different

Props to Khabib for an all time great poker face

I said that after the fight but it was dismissed by the Khabib lovers. If Gatehje landed another 3 solid ones he would have him in some real trouble.

 

[bubbleboyjones]

Here is a question, can anybody repeat what that Khabib had done in his first 13 fights in UFC?

Possible if we get another wrestler who is too big for a weight class and misses weight multiple times. Funny enough Khabib fought as a welterweight right before his UFC debut. Despite how bad the weight cut was he was dead set on not fighting welterweight even to the point when calling out retired GSP he wanted GSP to cut below a weight he's never done in his life.....just odd coming from Khabib was literally in his prime as a guy approaching 40 to do that.

 

[Datura]

Nope