Is Volk the FW GOAT?

[Lee Danger]

Korean Zombie in his pre-retirement fight, Max x 3, Yair, Lopes x 2


lol

 

[oldschoolmmafan]

Was absolutely sparked by Ilia but GOAT is apparently the accumulation of achievements rather than simply how good a fighter was on a particular night.

Featherweight Conor and Ilia *feel* like they are much better than Volk but I guess they get disqualified from GOAT conversations because they didn't stick around long enough to build credit as a champion.

So yeah it feels weird but under that criteria, Volk probably is featherweight GOAT.

Far too quick turn around from the Islam fight, he needed to take a bit of break then before fighting llia.

 

[oldschoolmmafan]

He’s so boring to watch though

Personal opinion I guess, I like to watch a technical fight far more than a brawl.

 

[kkthx]

You can’t get slept like he did against Topuria and then get an endless supply of sympathy title shots against undeserving middle of the pack guys.


Diego was not a real contender either time. UFC just hates guys like Evloev and Aljo.

This.

The FW division used to be one of great excitement. Since WEC, pretty much every time the belt was on the line, it always felt like a huge, huge deal. It's just not like that anymore.

 

[swarrrm]

Aldo is the fw goat Volk is the UFC fw goat

 

[Rubios]

You want him to beat bots like Yair and Korean Zombie to prove he’s the GOAT?


Because he already slept Max without breaking a sweat.

I’m not saying he can’t. I’m stating:

He didn’t.

There’s a -huge- difference between being the fav vs Max three times (hypothetically speaking about Ilia) and actually winning three times.

Winning six title fights (difference bw Ilia and Volk @ FW) is never a foregone conclusion.
In MMA you cannot take for granted winning alone vs a ranked oponent.

 

[YourBoss]

One thing I really value in champions is diversity of opponents. You have guys like Cruz, Aldo, GSP, Silva, and Jones who don't have a string of rematches. Maybe a couple. These days damn near every champion has rematches immediately.

Considering Volkanovski has FIVE fights between two people as champion, it's really hard for me to see those as equal to five different opponents.

3 of those fights are against a guy that smoked aldo twice and is one of the greatest featherweigts and P4P fighters himself. I dont think Aldo has any win of that caliber.

 

[Steve Fox]

His run until he lost to Topuria was GOAT material. Topuria left the division and that is why Volk is a champion now. Before Topuria? GOAT material. After Topuria? Not the same thing.

 

[HuskySamoan]

It puts him top 5 all time mma IMO

Debatable. Hate to be that guy but Lerone isnt a good win and getting outclassed by Makhachev and Topuria makes it hard, if not impossible, for him to be a top 5 guy. Is he close to the level of achievements GSP or Jones reached? No not really. Does he have anywhere near the championship reign of an Anderson or Mighty Mouse? No. Has he won a title in two divisions yet? No. I mean Makhachev and Topuria will likely end up outranking him, Makhachev for sure. Volk if he beats Evloev and then say they have a Keita vs Lerone number 1 contender fight and he wins that, he will be top 5-10 all time.

 

[Uber_Noober]

This determination cannot be made until the world reaches the end of time. There will be many more fighters to come after his retirement.

 

[Rampage_Jackson]

Its Aldo and frankly I think less of you if you say otherwise. but "to each their own" or whatever. But its Aldo. Volk is probably the best #2 in any division any he's the man. But its Aldo.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Debatable. Hate to be that guy but Lerone isnt a good win and getting outclassed by Makhachev and Topuria makes it hard, if not impossible, for him to be a top 5 guy. and then say they have a Keita vs Lerone numbe

Hate to be that guy, but the simple fact that when equipped with prep time Volk had a very close fight with Islam who is now a ww champion while he is a FW actually proves my point further. Islam was only able to "outclass" a depreciated short notice version of Volk. I will not hold that against his legacy at all

 

[fortheo]

It's still Aldo. If volk beats evloev/Murphy winner I'll start entertaining the idea of him surpassing Aldo, but even then he'd be behind Aldo on the numbers. You'd have to give volk extra points for Volk having a head to head win against Aldo when Aldo was coming off two knockout wins, and extra points for volk not having as many losses at FW as aldo.

 

[crarnsin]

Yes he is.

No "greatest of all time" gets smoked in 13 seconds after fighting emotionally due to some mean words.

 

[fortheo]

One thing I really value in champions is diversity of opponents. You have guys like Cruz, Aldo, GSP, Silva, and Jones who don't have a string of rematches. Maybe a couple. These days damn near every champion has rematches immediately.

Considering Volkanovski has FIVE fights between two people as champion, it's really hard for me to see those as equal to five different opponents.

I mean, Aldo rematched Frankie, Mendes, and Max.

Ufc loves rematches bro

 

[Natural Order]

Yes he is.

No "greatest of all time" gets smoked in 13 seconds after fighting emotionally due to some mean words.

That's one helluva first post after registering 2 years ago......

Welcome?

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Weird situation. He's not even the best FW of this era, but he could be the greatest in terms of accomplishments.

 

[LEWIS540]

Don’t know but Taking that Ilia fight on short notice right after taking the short notice KO loss to Islam is the GOAT in worst ever MMA decisions.

Amazed he bounced back so well.

 

[LEWIS540]

One thing I really value in champions is diversity of opponents. You have guys like Cruz, Aldo, GSP, Silva, and Jones who don't have a string of rematches. Maybe a couple. These days damn near every champion has rematches immediately.

Considering Volkanovski has FIVE fights between two people as champion, it's really hard for me to see those as equal to five different opponents.

LOL what?

Listed 5 guys with multiple rematches.

 

[markg171]

If he beats Evloev and Murphy I'd say he is undoubtedly FW GOAT.

Why? Is Aldo's defence against Hominick so impressive to you tht Volk really needs to overcome it