Merab vs Aljo on the Bantamweight GOAT list?

[Subline]

Title Runs​

Above is a side-by-side of the most notable eras of their careers.

• Sterling has 3 title defenses while Merab just won the belt
• Merab dominated Yan & Cejudo, Aljo beat them via controversial decisions
• Merab dominated O'Malley, who KO'd Aljo in R2
• Merab finished Moraes, who KO'd Aljo in R1
• Merab has a UD win over Aldo, Aljo has a R1 submission over Cory

Who's resume do you favor? Does Merab's dominance put him higher on the Bantamweight GOAT list? Or are Aljo's championship accolades more significant?

 

[MarioLemieux]

99% decisions. No GOAT on any of my lists.

 

[RonDante]

Aljos resume
Assuncao (this was a robbery, it wasn’t close, rewatch it)
Stamann
Rivera
Munhoz
Sandhagen
Yan
TJ (one arm)
Cejudo

Losses to caraway, moraes, o malley, some might include the first yan fight

Merab resume
Stamann
Moraes
Aldo
Yan
Cejudo
O malley

Losses to frankie Saenz and Ricky simon


It’s close

 

[akeller901]

99% decisions. No GOAT on any of my lists.

Right, the real goat is Dominick “The Decisionator” Cruz

 

[akeller901]

IMO Merab. Aljo best wins are Henry and Yan, Merab beat both much more convincingly. Add in Aldo, and Sean. That’s probably the best 4 fight resume in the divisions history, and he dominated them all.

 

[Subline]

Right, the real goat is Dominick “The Decisionator” Cruz

What do you think Merab needs to do to surpass Cruz

 

[FraudGoat]

Even though Merab has 0 title defense and they share the same top wins. I still rate him higher simply because of his dominance.

 

[akeller901]

What do you think Merab needs to do to surpass Cruz

If he beats Umar. Resume wise I think he might already have surpassed Dom, and Aljo. 2 title defenses and he’s the bw goat.

 

[blaseblase]

If he beats Umar. Resume wise I think he might already have surpassed Dom, and Aljo. 2 title defenses and he’s the bw goat.

Cruz has an insane resume.

Joseph Benavidez 2x
Mighty Mouse
Faber 2x
Dillashaw
Brian Bowles
Ian McCall
Scott Jorgensen was a great win at the time, though he had fallen off by the time the WEC turned into the UFC.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

IMO Merab. Aljo best wins are Henry and Yan, Merab beat both much more convincingly. Add in Aldo, and Sean. That’s probably the best 4 fight resume in the divisions history, and he dominated them all.

That’s really solid. 4 in a row Cruz has DJ, Mizugaki, Dillishaw, and Faber. That’s as solid as it gets too.

As long as we all realize Merab needs to defend 7 times in a row to enter the conversation.

Cruz vacated after DJ. But came back to claim his belt against Dillishaw. Fighters regaining their belts doesn’t happen everyday.

Cruz is the BW GOAT. Nobody will convince me otherwise at this point in time.

 

[RonDante]

That’s really solid. 4 in a row Cruz has DJ, Mizugaki, Dillishaw, and Faber. That’s as solid as it gets too.

As long as we all realize Merab needs to defend 7 times in a row to enter the conversation.

Cruz vacated after DJ. But came back to claim his belt against Dillishaw. Fighters regaining their belts doesn’t happen everyday.

Cruz is the BW GOAT. Nobody will convince me otherwise at this point in time.

Dillashaw isn’t as good as yan, and those are their best wins, cruz scraping by dillashaw and arguably losing while merab dominated yan 50-45 and broke him. Mizugaki compared to Henry, their worst wins in those 4 you listed, isn’t even a comparison