Prime Gomi - how would he fair against today's top lightweights?

Who does prime Gomi beat?

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Skylako said:
Prime Gomi - how would he fair against these top 4 lightweight fighters?

Khabib Nurmagomedov
Justin Gaethje
Tony Ferguson
Dustin Poirier

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?????
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He gets rekt by all of them. He was a small lightweight and flourished when the division was still weak and MMA skills weren't quite as sharp as they are today.
Evolution is real.
 
SKYNET said:
{<jordan} The guy that got subbed by Aurelio, Kitaoka, KenFlo, Nate and Guida in the heart of his prime is gonna do any of that bullshit
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C'mon man those ufc losses aren't his prime. I agree with your point but imo we don't need any spin to say he wouldn't be a top guy today.
 
Almost no chance vs Khabib, a decent chance vs everybody else.
 
Hotei said:
Almost no chance vs Khabib, a decent chance vs everybody else.
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I think he'd have some chance in terms of having one shot KO power and pretty good takedown defence but if Khabib gets him down with any time to work he's probably done.

Realistically size wise Gomi is probably more inline with 145ers today although he did have the power to punch above his weight.
 
If they'd have an all-time div where every top LW was in their prime then I'd say he loses to Khabib, Penn and Conor and beats Tony, Poirier and Gaethje.

Because it was very difficult to brawl and win against him. Fast and hit hard in combinations as well, not just single shots. It took Nick to beat him that way. Gomi had good TDD and a good top game as well. Sub defense wasn't the best, like if he got caught in a bad spot it really was one for him.

So Conor with the outside stuff and countering would've been tough. Penn had both the technique on the feet and the elite BJJ. While Gomi could've done well against Khabib with the TDD and boxing. But he'd need to finish Khabib early. Getting stuck on the bottom with his sub defense would mean a quick sub when it hits the ground. So early explosiveness would be his best chance.
 
moreorless87 said:
I think he'd have some chance in terms of having one shot KO power and pretty good takedown defence but if Khabib gets him down with any time to work he's probably done.

Realistically size wise Gomi is probably more inline with 145ers today although he did have the power to punch above his weight.
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It's more when he gets him down than if TBH. Gomi did have good TDD but Khabib has the best TD/trip/throw series of everyone Gomi has ever faced with his sambo/judo and he's also much bigger physically than anyone he's fought. Khabibs athleticism, speed, explosiveness is freakish too. Azeredo and Aurelio got him down when they closed the distance well enough

Khabibs pressure would be too much and he prolly has a granite chin b/c Gaethje landed some bombs and he just walked through the fire.

I agree with the 2nd part tho
 
pride_is_back said:
Guy’s a fish out of the water. He’s nothing but a overrated product of Chinese MMA just like Gilbert Melendez was.
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i'm guessing the pride in your name stands for gay pride, not pride fc.
 
ExitLUPin said:
It's more when he gets him down than if TBH. Gomi did have good TDD but Khabib has the best TD/trip/throw series of everyone Gomi has ever faced with his sambo/judo and he's also much bigger physically than anyone he's fought. Khabibs athleticism, speed, explosiveness is freakish too. Azeredo and Aurelio got him down when they closed the distance well enough

Khabibs pressure would be too much and he prolly has a granite chin b/c Gaethje landed some bombs and he just walked through the fire.

I agree with the 2nd part tho
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I mean to be fair I think Gomi's sub defence in the modern era would not be nearly as questionable, someone like Aurelio is arguably a better sub fighter than any LW today(at least anyone with a decent rounded game) besides Khabib. Still though I suspect if he got Gomi down with any time to work he would be in serous danger.

Gaethje landed some decent punchs but I would say Gomi was significantly better in terms of being able to land really big counters. I think he had more raw power than Conor does as well.

I suspect the two most dangerous fights for Khabib might actually be Gomi and Aoki just because they were both such good finishers, I wouldnt pick them to win(I wouldnt pick anyone to at LW vs Khabib) but they would arguably have the most upset potential. BJ is the only fighter I think might have a shot at actually controlling a fight again him but I think he'd probably have to finish in the first 2-3 rounds.
 
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moreorless87 said:
I mean to be fair I think Gomi's sub defence in the modern era would not be nearly as questionable, someone like Aurelio is arguably a better sub fighter than any LW today(at least anyone with a decent rounded game) besides Khabib. Still though I suspect if he got Gomi down with any time to work he would be in serous danger.

Gaethje landed some decent punchs but I would say Gomi was significantly better in terms of being able to land really big counters.

One which hasnt been mentioned that I think could have been interesting is Sakurai circa 2005 vs Khabib.
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That could be true but Gaethje also had the leg kicks helping to set up punches. Poirier, Johnson and Conor are very comparable punchers to Gomi at least ITO handspeed (maybe Dustin a bit behind) and they never really landed clean on Khabib except Conor in the 3rd when it was all standing and his power was gassed out. There was the immediate reaction of Johnson and Poirier hurting him but on slowmo replay it was much like Fedor/Arlovski. Khabib wasn't as sound and fundamentally correct defensively as Fedor but he avoided basically everything all the same

As for Mach, I think it looks similar to the Hughes fight TBH except a sub finish. He dropped down to LW in 05 but guys like Hellboy, Viera and Aoki despite the mat chops were way smaller than Khabib. These guys all made 145......
 
ExitLUPin said:
That could be true but Gaethje also had the leg kicks helping to set up punches. Poirier, Johnson and Conor are very comparable punchers to Gomi at least ITO handspeed (maybe Dustin a bit behind) and they never really landed clean on Khabib except Conor in the 3rd when it was all standing and his power was gassed out. There was the immediate reaction of Johnson and Poirier hurting him but on slowmo replay it was much like Fedor/Arlovski. Khabib wasn't as sound and fundamentally correct defensively as Fedor but he avoided basically everything all the same

As for Mach, I think it looks similar to the Hughes fight TBH except a sub finish. He dropped down to LW in 05 but guys like Hellboy, Viera and Aoki despite the mat chops were way smaller than Khabib. These guys all made 145......
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The difference for me is that guys like Gaethje, Johnson and Poirer are all really more pressure fighters, they tend to need to be on the war path to threat an opponent. Gomi I think had more ability to pull out really big one off punchs with arguably more variety than Conor who depends so much on that left hook.

Again I think with Khabib it might be less a case of "who can beat him in his prime" and more "who has the most potential to upset him" and in that respect I think Gomi and Aoki might be the best picks, the most dangerous puncher and most dangerous sub fighter in LW history IMHO.

The Hughes fight was a bit unfair on Sakurai I'd say, he was rather at a low ebb their dropping quite a few matches and generally looking a bit bored and unmotivated were as around 05-07 he seemed to have alot more zip to him and alot more threat standing.
 
Mike said:
If you disagree with someone and can't articulate why without immediately going into insults and name calling, that sounds pretty childish and petty.
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how is saying you sound stupid name calling when you say stupid things
 
moreorless87 said:
The difference for me is that guys like Gaethje, Johnson and Poirer are all really more pressure fighters, they tend to need to be on the war path to threat an opponent. Gomi I think had more ability to pull out really big one off punchs with arguably more variety than Conor who depends so much on that left hook.

Again I think with Khabib it might be less a case of "who can beat him in his prime" and more "who has the most potential to upset him" and in that respect I think Gomi and Aoki might be the best picks, the most dangerous puncher and most dangerous sub fighter in LW history IMHO.

The Hughes fight was a bit unfair on Sakurai I'd say, he was rather at a low ebb their dropping quite a few matches and generally looking a bit bored and unmotivated were as around 05-07 he seemed to have alot more zip to him and alot more threat standing.
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Fair point on variety. I don't agree about Johnson needing pressure tho. He iced Poirier and Tibau on the counter in the pocket, and he planted his rear and his footwork was sound to generate power

Aoki is prolly the most dangerous sub fighter and either Gomi or Conor for puncher but Aoki and to a lesser extent Gomj were sort of frontrunners. It was more frustration with Gomi prolly but Aoki tended to fold a lot when a sub attempt would fall apart and he'd taste GNP he was like Do Bronx and Paul Harris in that respect. With Khabib you need resiliency and being able to fight out of tough positions and bring down on the cards. Aoki is much more likely to quit when things aren't going his way
 
BTW to the people calling Gomi small. He was cutting down to make the PRIDE LW limit which was 161. Dude was a big LW.
 
If "Gomi beats khabib" is an option, "Goni beats the tooth fairy" should be a choice also
 
SKYNET said:
{<jordan} The guy that got subbed by Aurelio, Kitaoka, KenFlo, Nate and Guida in the heart of his prime is gonna do any of that bullshit
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Adamant said:
I would hardly say he was in his prime during his UFC run.
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Mike said:
C'mon man those ufc losses aren't his prime. I agree with your point but imo we don't need any spin to say he wouldn't be a top guy today.
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Yeah I know fellas, I was baiting @JustOnce who is the Sherdog champion of "Prime Gomi" worship.

I was aiming to catch him gloss over the fact that Gomi got subbed by guys like KenFlo and Guida when he was more or less around the same age as Khabib is now, not to mention he said Gomi was going to besmirch and destroy killers like Gaethje and Porier that have run a serious gauntlet not that can crushing marathon Gomi went on during his Pride W streak

Unfortunately he didn't take the bait. He knows me too well by now
 
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Man were living in a fucked up society these days what da hell is this forum where are we
 
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