Khabib was so smart to retire when he looked untouchable

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?
Don't you think he could've done two more? Not that I blame him because of his father and all. But I think he could've safely snuck away undefeated with two more.
 
More fighters should do this, ideally start prof comp early, then retire by age 32.

The damage taken in mid 30s appears to be where a lot of significant CTE is endured..
 
It goes both ways, lots of people are saying that the reason Khabib isn't a GOAT candidate is that he retired too early.
Yeah you could definitely argue he took himself out of the goat debate by retiring when he did. I don’t personally fault anyone for retiring when they feel like they’re done, it’s just difficult when guys like GSP and Silva were at the top of the mountain for so much longer.
 
Get your money. Retire when you have enough.
 
If Jones fanatic fans truly believe that he is the GOAT (makes sense), why do they keep mentioning Khabib´s early retirement? Maybe their conscience kept saying at night " Uhhh The eagle is the one. Yes, yes, Khabib is the chosen one"
 
Volk didn’t strictly lose because of age. He lost because he rushed coming back to fight the P4P #1. Then he rushed back for his return at 145 and ran into a monster. Topuria is the best guy he’s faced since Max.
 
Khabib legit seems happy and content outside the octagon. Some fighters don’t ever find that and are still scrounging fights years after their peak.
 
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?
only if you care about MuH EmMAh L3GaCyIe3S!!!!

personally, i think it's cowardly, and show's extreme levels of narcissism. to believe that you must leave the sport, suddenly, to preserve your perfect record of opponents that will never ever be looked at as elite, or even remembered by 30% of the fans. it's all false accolades. i prefer the fighter who achieves greatness, and continues on that path, regardless of the outcomes, regardless of the inevitable down fall. that is more heroic, a far more interesting career to me. Look at what GSP is now. a fucking Bruno extra, who just films his sprint work outs, and jumping into ice baths...... like, who gives a proper fuck? it would have been far more interesting to see him come back against a Khabib, other contender, just to test himself. instead he rested it on wins over Carlos Condit, Jay Heiron, and Oklahoma Steak house dude. WOW!!! Amazing. Never risked it, played it super safe, and now is a walking talking caricature of what was once perceived greatness.
 
Nothing really to do with smart, relating to his legacy. More about real intelligence relating to what really matters...
View attachment 1030336
Such a giving person......

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Yea if anything, fighters who leave fights on the table are harder to judge as you don't see the whole picture. I think it hurts Khabib that he walked away so early in terms of legacy. Or maybe it helps if you assume he would have gotten crushed in the next fight or two.
Personally I don’t think Khabib regrets it at all. In his heart I don’t think he liked fighting rather than live out his dad’s expectations. Did you hear the convo between him and the footballer Zlatan ?
 
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?
That's why Jon Jones is the GOAT, he did all that and never lost. I don't like him but it's hard to deny his GOAT title
 
There's a point in that for sure. But a true MMA connoisseur will know how to separate a guy in his prime and an old beaten fighter like Anderson after Weidman, for me his losses doesn't stain his legacy.

well, for me his wins have an asterix.
 
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?

It does make sense.

I would rather have salty haters argue about who 'would have' beaten me, rather than have fickle fans marginalize my legacy because of losses at the end of my career.

It is not just about legacy...how about avoiding all the damage that often comes with those losses?
 
Personally I don’t think Khabib regrets it at all. In his heart I don’t think he liked fighting rather than live out his dad’s expectations. Did you hear the convo between him and the footballer Zlatan ?
Thats a bit of a different topic. He may not have had the interest to be the greatest and spend his prime years fighting. If he wanted to be the greatest, he'd need to fight more, and we'd need to see his whole trajectory. If he is happy retired, good for him. He woulnd't make it on my GOAT list personally but maybe others disagree.
 
Do you think fighters should retire more often in their primes to preserve a greater legacy?
No, all fighters lose, they can't be great unless they lose. Fighters who don't lose, either they have a robbery or something weird on their record, or they haven't fought good enough competition.
 
It’s possible he goes on a super long run. It’s also possible he has a disaster.

Fyi, his UFC title streak is basically the same as if Chris Weidman retired before the Rockhold fight. We’d have a much different opinion of The Chris if he ended it there.
 
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