Difference between Usman and Izzy, and who is the GOAT candidate

[Dionysian]

I got Kamaru further ahead / him as current #1 P4P. IMHO.

 

[fullspar]

Off to a bad start already. Usman is not the second best ww imo. He's on his way but he's not there.

Izzy is a better p4p fighter than Usman that we can agree.

Hence why i said probably, as he has the potential, glad we agree on Izzy

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Usman is only a few fights, with impressive performances, away from being VERY arguably equaling or surpassing GSP as the GOAT WW.

I'm giving a few qualifiers there...
*few fights
*Impressive performances
*very arguably
*equaling/surpassing
...because its going to be a very passionate debate with many points on both sides of the argument, and neither side will be wrong.


With Izzy, he has a much longer road ahead to be considered the MW GOAT. The division isn't what it once was and Izzy hasn't had the impressive performances Silva had against the type of threatening competition Silva had.

Like with his last fight, against a fighter so irrelevant I can't even remember his name, he should have finished it at some point rather than going to the bell. His fight against Romero was the most boring title fight in recent memory.

Not counting his 205 gifted title shot, he's 3-3 for impressive/boringAF performances. Not GOAT material, so far, but he has the advantage of youth. He's only 31 so he has another few years before he'll be over the hill, hopefully.

 

[fullspar]

3 title defenses is not enough to be considered goat

Maybe not, but its his 29 wins, and his dominance of his fights. Sure GSP, Silva and Jones are by default more goat status than Khabib, but we cannot say Khabib is not on there level.

This much is true
LHW GOAT - Jones
MW GOAT - Silva
WW GOAT - GSP
LW GOAT- Khabib
FW GOAT - Aldo

Now you can choose who the GOAT of the GOAT's is, but in reality they all are in their own right

 

[Azyy]

Izzy is the only guy to lose 2 rounds in 3 title defences, beat 6 fighters in the top 15, be 10-0 in only THREE years, and still not seen as dominant or a goat candidate. Just lol at those saying neither will ever be goat candidates, don't be stupid.

However, Usman is closer to becoming the WW goat than is Izzy becoming MW goat. Both of them are just as much goats as Khabib imo.

 

[Nobru]

Lets compare Usman and Izzy, and see who is on more GOAT status, as they are both in similar positions yet seem to be fighting for very different reasons.

Both are probably the second best title holders in their divisions, after GSP and SIlva.

Both are on a similar number of title defences, and are in a position to defend a lot more, possibly reaching GSP and Silva numbers, or very near.

But so far one has fought all of the top contenders in his division, whilst the other seems to be avoiding them.

One is currently building a padded title defence, whilst the other is fighting all the top worthy contenders and building and unpadded one.

If Izzy fights Rob next and defends, he will be on a 4 title defence, the same as Usman.
Both of them will 2 defences against the same fighter. The only issue being, one of them is ranked number 1 in their division and the other 7.
That already sets who is the candidate for being the GOAT of this generation, out of those 2.

"GOAT of this generation"
do you understand what the "AT" from GOAT mean, right? ALL TIMES?
Im not a hater, I love technical fights, but Izzy is too scared to be hit, he misses so many opportunities. He need to let it go, stand and bang. Hes got the reach and skills, come on
Usman is another beast. Not flashy enough for GOAT tho.
Honestly, IMO Usman is way scarier than Izzy. Even considering weight and reach, IMO Usman BEATS Izzy, at MW or catchweight.

 

[Dan Torrance]

Usman's a little classier, probably because he has kids.

 

[fullspar]

Izzy is the only guy to lose 2 rounds in 3 title defences, beat 6 fighters in the top 15, be 10-0 in only THREE years, and still not seen as dominant or a goat candidate. Just lol at those saying neither will ever be goat candidates, don't be stupid.

However, Usman is closer to becoming the WW goat than is Izzy becoming MW goat. Both of them are just as much goats as Khabib imo.

Usman is not close, and neither is Izzy, lets face it.
To be considered GOAT, they would first need to break the title defence records.
GSP 9
Izzy 3, he needs 6 more defences to tie. I think his division

Silva 10
Usman 4, he also needs 6 more to tie

If they defend twice a year, it will take them 3 years. Usman is already 34, with Izzy only being 31. Its certainly doable, then they would need the 7th to break the record.
Usman's path is a lot tougher than Izzy's, Usman still has WB, Leon, CC 2, and possibly Luque or Chiesa. Chimaev is also a future possibility.
Izzy has schooled everyone so far, and he has Whittaker next, then who? He wil have to start going down to Brunson, Till, Hermansson, Cannonier.

 

[Azyy]

Usman is not close, and neither is Izzy, lets face it.
To be considered GOAT, they would first need to break the title defence records.
GSP 9
Izzy 3, he needs 6 more defences to tie. I think his division

Silva 10
Usman 4, he also needs 6 more to tie

If they defend twice a year, it will take them 3 years. Usman is already 34, with Izzy only being 31. Its certainly doable, then they would need the 7th to break the record.
Usman's path is a lot tougher than Izzy's, Usman still has WB, Leon, CC 2, and possibly Luque or Chiesa. Chimaev is also a future possibility.
Izzy has schooled everyone so far, and he has Whittaker next, then who? He wil have to start going down to Brunson, Till, Hermansson, Cannonier.

You're conveniently ignoring that GSP and Anderson both lost title fights badly. And title defences aren't everything. Izzy's win over Whittaker is better than the majority of Anderson's defences, and Usman never tapped or got dominated badly in title fights like GSP did. Neither of them need to surpass a certain number to surpass Anderson or GSP.

And you're being hypocritical. Both Usman and Izzy have more title wins and cleared their division more than Khabib has, so if they aren't goat candidates neither is he.

 

[ThunderStruck]

Lets compare Usman and Izzy, and see who is on more GOAT status, as they are both in similar positions yet seem to be fighting for very different reasons.

Both are probably the second best title holders in their divisions, after GSP and SIlva.

Both are on a similar number of title defences, and are in a position to defend a lot more, possibly reaching GSP and Silva numbers, or very near.

But so far one has fought all of the top contenders in his division, whilst the other seems to be avoiding them.

One is currently building a padded title defence, whilst the other is fighting all the top worthy contenders and building and unpadded one.

If Izzy fights Rob next and defends, he will be on a 4 title defence, the same as Usman.
Both of them will 2 defences against the same fighter. The only issue being, one of them is ranked number 1 in their division and the other 7.
That already sets who is the candidate for being the GOAT of this generation, out of those 2.

And usman is trying to fight Diaz next. Laughable.

 

[fullspar]

And usman is trying to fight Diaz next. Laughable.

 

[icemun]

Jones, Silva and then GSP have the most title defences

These young guns have a ways to catch up

 

[theleerygoose]

Usman is more dominant but it’s fair to say he’s taking easier fights. There was no point whatsoever in that second Masvidal fight. That should have been Colby, Wonderboy, or Edwards. Now he wants Diaz? All three of those guys deserve it more.

 

[UFCIsNOTRigged]

Can’t we all agree that both Izzy and usman is great and leave it at that and on a side note khabib didn’t have enough title defenses to be considered the goat he’s all time great fighter but not the goat

No, Kamaru Usman is a straight up coward , that arguably has the least fans of any champion in the history of the UFC; I have never seen an Usman fan because there does not appear to be even one.

He has denied Leon Edwards, the most deserving of a title shot in his division, the opportunity in favor of more pay-per-view friendly matchups.

The irony is Kamaru Usman would have never fought for a title had Tyron Woodley embraced the attitude Usman has as champ.

That is fine. But now the UFC has told him and made public that Colby Covington is next and Kamaru knows that is a tough matchup for him given his very serious knee problems; and him and his management are embarrassing themselves falling over to whine, bitch, and moan until he gets a different opponent.

Tyron Woodley, a respectable champion that fought touch matches and gave rematches that were very much not in his best interest.

Kamaru Usman, not so much.....

 

[Peli]

I got Kamaru further ahead / him as current #1 P4P. IMHO.

This was the rankings post Khabib retirement.

Beating Masvidal, Burns, Masvidal is enough for you to say he's better only because Izzy lost to Jan?

I get that he's P4P, but its more of a default P4P. If Izzy defends a few more times against top tier opponents and Usman is going after Nate and possibly colby again, I can't say Usman's fought better crop of talent. Colby match was competitive, but I don't know. I can see how people don't have usman p4p 1. I have him but only by default. If Jones was active, If khabib never retired, He's be like a top 4, top 5.

 

[morrisondafalln]

Usman fought weaker opponents

Duh one is a welterweight and the other is a mw dum dum.

 

[Dionysian]

This was the rankings post Khabib retirement.

Beating Masvidal, Burns, Masvidal is enough for you to say he's better only because Izzy lost to Jan?

I get that he's P4P, but its more of a default P4P. If Izzy defends a few more times against top tier opponents and Usman is going after Nate and possibly colby again, I can't say Usman's fought better crop of talent. Colby match was competitive, but I don't know. I can see how people don't have usman p4p 1. I have him but only by default. If Jones was active, If khabib never retired, He's be like a top 4, top 5.

Nah it isn't because Izzy lost to Jan. Way too much is being made of that.

It is because Kamaru swept the cards vs Masvidal, then finished Burns after some brief adversity, then HL reel'd Masvidal. In the same time period Adsenya had a comfortable decision over Vettori, decimated Costa, and a dud vs Romero. That's in the post-Khabib era. Overall Kamaru's resume stands out as being better straight up I think.

Also, Kamaru showcased grappling and striking and cardio and toughness and power in those last 3. Complete package. Izzy's skillset is more narrow of course (though he prides himself on that).

Khabib is retired. If Jones had competed at all since February 2020 he would have lost/wouldn't be ranked high P4P any longer. It's Kamaru #1 IMHO.

 

[Conor_Is_Overrated]

Usman fought Covington (undisputed #1 contender), Masvidal (something similar, he was THE man at that point, might even have been the first option instead of Burns), Burns (again, nobody argued about Burns being the top contender).

So, his first three title defenses are top-notch.
Masvidal 2 is of course a bit... weird. But then again, it still makes some sense as the first fight was on short notice for Masvidal, and he seemed to present certain stylistic challenges to Usman... and then Usman backed up his words and flatline KO'd Masvidal.

A title fight against Nate would be absolutely unjustifiable and inexcusable though.
But I don't think it happens.

It should be Covington 2, Wonderboy, Leon... in some order.
Usman is legit, and at this point ahead of Izzy due to the longer win streak.