Khabib was so smart to retire when he looked untouchable

Khabib had a good 2 more year in him. Would have solidified him as the GOAT if he defended his title 4 more x.
 
Islam fan here. He needs about 10 more wins in a row to makeup for that huge loss to match khabib
I gotta respectfully disagree. It's ridiculous to think that Islam needs 10 more wins in a row to match Khabib. As a sidenote, just my neutral take: I would venture to say that you are a bigger fan of khabib than of islam? I hold both of them in equally high regard, but, it's just not right at all to say that Islam needs to have 12 title defenses in a row to match (keyword is match, meaning, in your eyes, he still wouldn't outshine khabib in that scenario) Khabib's 3 title defenses.
Given Islam's high level of competition, I would give him the nod over Khabib as the more accomplished LW, once he gets a total of 4 title defences.

One KO loss on Islam's record is tantamount to requiring 9 more title defenses than Khabib, just doesn't make sense to me. Respectfully disagree and feel like you like Khabib more.
 
As we see with Volkanovski. Every fighter loses eventually. The same would've happened to Khabib had he kept going till 35, moved up to WW etc. Somebody would've made him look mortal and he'd be nowhere near as highly regarded as he is now.

Do you think fighters should retire more often in their primes to preserve a greater legacy?

There's no guarantee that anyone would've beat Khabib.

He was also a much better talent than Volk.
 
Khabib had a good 2 more year in him. Would have solidified him as the GOAT if he defended his title 4 more x.

What sucks about Khabib's retirement is we didn't even get to see his peak.

I feel like we didn't even get to see his best because no one was able to pose a significant threat. He was leagues above everyone else.
 
Volk did it for the money not to “challenge” himself, fans need to stop buying into these BS narratives. You don’t take a 10 day short notice fight against a P4P level fighter to “challenge” yourself. Volk has a growing family to feed. Khabib already made more than enough money and walked away, that’s called being smart. GSP did the same.

That's true about the second fight, but not the first fight.
 
What sucks about Khabib's retirement is we didn't even get to see his peak.

I feel like we didn't even get to see his best because no one was able to pose a significant threat. He was leagues above everyone else.

I agree, we never saw the best Khabib. Oh well, I believe it's like we never got to see the best Muhammad Ali in those 3 years he was not allowed to box.
 
And that's why number of title defenses matters.

Yes but in the case of Khabib his injury really screwed him.

He beats RDA in April 2014. Then misses 2 years and fights again in April 2016.

That 2 year window saw the title go from Pettis < RDA < Alvarez < Conor


Khabib meanwhile has to reestablish himself and dosent get a title shot until late 2018.

So without that knee injury he gets a title shot at the latest when RDA got his which was 2015 against Pettis.

Thats potentially 3 years worth of defenses he missed out on.
 
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Yes but in the case of Khabib his injury really screwed him.

He beats RDA in April 2014. Then misses 2 years and fights again in April 2016.

That 2 year window saw the title go from Perez < RDA < Alvarez < Conor


Khabib meanwhile has to reestablish himself and dosent get a title shot until late 2018.

So without that knee injury he gets a title shot at the latest when RDA got his which was 2015 against Pettis.

Thats potentially 3 years worth of defenses he missed out on.
I would also add the time he was hospitalized from his weight cut against Ferg. Even in his last fight against Gaethje he struggled big time. I wonder if his struggles with weight cuts (and likely not wanting to go up to WW) played a role into his decision to retire.
 
And again why Jones / GSP / Anderson were leagues above everyone else, that many successful title defense before finally losing / vacating / retiring
 
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I gotta respectfully disagree. It's ridiculous to think that Islam needs 10 more wins in a row to match Khabib. As a sidenote, just my neutral take: I would venture to say that you are a bigger fan of khabib than of islam? I hold both of them in equally high regard, but, it's just not right at all to say that Islam needs to have 12 title defenses in a row to match (keyword is match, meaning, in your eyes, he still wouldn't outshine khabib in that scenario) Khabib's 3 title defenses.
Given Islam's high level of competition, I would give him the nod over Khabib as the more accomplished LW, once he gets a total of 4 title defences.

One KO loss on Islam's record is tantamount to requiring 9 more title defenses than Khabib, just doesn't make sense to me. Respectfully disagree and feel like you like Khabib more.

I changed my mind. I just saw a gif of Islam's ko loss again, he will need at least 15.

On a more serious note, i like both guys but i feel like if they both fought at their best, Khabib would beat him.
 
Imagine how badly Khabib would have beaten Volk
 
As we see with Volkanovski. Every fighter loses eventually. The same would've happened to Khabib had he kept going till 35, moved up to WW etc. Somebody would've made him look mortal and he'd be nowhere near as highly regarded as he is now.

Do you think fighters should retire more often in their primes to preserve a greater legacy?
5 defences with wins over 3/4 previous champs and nearly beat the champ above vs 3 defences and 6 ranked wins during a whole 29 fight streak.

There was a time in MMA when losing wasn't the end of the world back when the best all fought each other (Pride era).

His legacy is only ruined for people that buy into the stupid UFC undefeated narrative.

Volk will be argued about as one of the greats for years, Khabib is below him in terms of career accomplishments though he left before he took those losses.

I would love to see him hang around like Whittaker and still be a top guy in reach of the title, but no shame if he wants to leave.
 
Every fighter loses eventually if they fight long enough, that is true. However, as much as i respect Volk, he never showed the same utter dominance that Khabib did in his fights. Khabib ran through every top guy he fought, and i think his style would have given him more longevity than Volk. Sort of like how GSP dominated the WW division with his wrestling, i feel like Khabib would have done the same, except Khabib would finish most of the guys he fought in this hypothetical scenario. He is just that good. Not trying to take anything away from Volk, he's one of the best fighters ever, just my opinion.
 
And that's why number of title defenses matters.

no they don't because they're given out unfairly a lot of the times.
most recently, colby being gifted a title shot for absolutely zero reason over more deserving fighters.
 
The hard part is to retire and stay away. Bordem or financial problems makes guys comeback for one more run at it. I don't think he will have financial problems. It is the boredom that can get at him combined with watching fights and thinking to himself that he could take these guys he is watching.
 
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