Sean's path to GOATness - Merab, Umar, Topuria

[krelianx]

With Merab on the horizon, a very difficult test, I was thinking of what it would take for O'Malley to enter the next echelon of goatness.

The clearest path would be of course to beat Merab and Umar, and then secure a second title against Topuria.

Do you guys think if he gets past Merab and Umar it would suffice to get him to GOAT BW, or would you still give it to Cruz/Aljo?

 

[HuskySamoan]

With Merab on the horizon, a very difficult test, I was thinking of what it would take for O'Malley to enter the next echelon of goatness.

The clearest path would be of course to beat Merab and Umar, and then secure a second title against Topuria.

Do you guys think if he gets past Merab and Umar it would suffice to get him to GOAT BW, or would you still give it to Cruz/Aljo?

I respect you but this is a dumb casual take. Fighters should not go up in weight and then back down in weight. There's a reason why historically this never works and you rarely ever see wrestlers or boxers do it ever. Sean should fight Merab and if he wins, fight Umar...then if he wants to go up he can take 6-8 months off recomp his body, hold the BW title hostage so they can market a super fight and then face Topuria/Holloway/whoever. If he loses he can figure out going back down to defend. There's no fighting Topuria before Umar, that's a joke.


Ahh I only read the title.

 

[krelianx]

I respect you but this is a dumb casual take. Fighters should not go up in weight and then back down in weight. There's a reason why historically this never works and you rarely ever see wrestlers or boxers do it ever. Sean should fight Merab and if he wins, fight Umar...then if he wants to go up he can take 6-8 months off recomp his body, hold the BW title hostage so they can market a super fight and then face Topuria/Holloway/whoever. If he loses he can figure out going back down to defend. There's no fighting Topuria before Umar, that's a joke.


Ahh I only read the title.

Uhm, that's exactly what I said.

Merab, Umar, and then try for a second title with Topuria.

"The clearest path would be of course to beat Merab and Umar, and then secure a second title against Topuria."

 

[HuskySamoan]

Uhm, that's exactly what I said.

Merab, Umar, and then try for a second title with Topuria.

"The clearest path would be of course to beat Merab and Umar, and then secure a second title against Topuria."

The title said Merab, Topuria and Umar. God damn it. That's my bad.

 

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

Cruz is the GOAT BW

If O'Malley wants to be someone who is legitimately thought of the way we think of GSP, Silva, Aldo, etc. he should do what they did, and stay in his weight class, and prove he's the best guy in the world for as long as possible

 

[HuskySamoan]

Cruz is the GOAT BW

If O'Malley wants to be someone who is legitimately thought of the way we think of GSP, Silva, Aldo, etc. he should do what they did, and stay in his weight class, and prove he's the best guy in the world for as long as possible

If he beats Yan (suspect win but still), Aljo, Chito (not a great win), Merab and then Umar...it's the best string of wins in BW history and one of the best in MMA history. He doesn't need to match Cruz's defenses necessarily. That said I think the winner of Holloway vs Topuria should face Evloev upon him beating Aljo or maybe Lopes if he looks good vs Ortega otherwise. I'm not sure post Umar who would be in the wings for Omalley if he gets that far, I'd love to see Rinya blow up or someone compelling like that.

 

[blaseblase]

I think it's more likely Umar takes over the division and we will be discussing his GOAT potential in a year. Like the transition at lightweight from Conor to Khabib.

 

[filthybliss]

He certainly overtakes Cruz at GOAT BW. Yan,Aljo, Merab and Umar >>>>Dildoshaw, Faber,and Olivi's husband

 

[Preston broadus]

Id be more impressed if he gave petr yan a rematch.

 

[Koro_11]

If he beats Yan (suspect win but still), Aljo, Chito (not a great win), Merab and then Umar...it's the best string of wins in BW history and one of the best in MMA history. He doesn't need to match Cruz's defenses necessarily. That said I think the winner of Holloway vs Topuria should face Evloev upon him beating Aljo or maybe Lopes if he looks good vs Ortega otherwise. I'm not sure post Umar who would be in the wings for Omalley if he gets that far, I'd love to see Rinya blow up or someone compelling like that.

Maybe one of the better streaks at BW, but LOL at MMA history. Streaks that guys like GSP, Jones, spider, Fedor put together are in a whole different category. Dozens of divisional champs have had better win streaks than O’Malley‘s.

 

[ThroughTheDakr]

Personally I would say so. Those are good names which I could see being possible all timers in the future as well

 

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

If he beats Yan (suspect win but still), Aljo, Chito (not a great win), Merab and then Umar...it's the best string of wins in BW history and one of the best in MMA history. He doesn't need to match Cruz's defenses necessarily. That said I think the winner of Holloway vs Topuria should face Evloev upon him beating Aljo or maybe Lopes if he looks good vs Ortega otherwise. I'm not sure post Umar who would be in the wings for Omalley if he gets that far, I'd love to see Rinya blow up or someone compelling like that.

I wouldn't put him over Cruz I don't think, but it would be debatable either way depending on how the fights went... but if you're O'Malley why not definitively prove you're the best? Why try to do the bare minimum to make an argument and then jump up in weight?

I more commented because of this idea that he wants to beat Merab, and Umar, then leave the division... I'm so tired of these guys trying to do this to get a shortcut to GOAT status when the reality is it doesn't even work the way they think it will

 

[HuskySamoan]

Maybe one of the better streaks at BW, but LOL at MMA history. Streaks that guys like GSP, Jones, spider, Fedor put together are in a whole different category. Dozens of divisional champs have had better win streaks than O’Malley‘s.
[/QUOTE]

One of, doesn't mean the best. It'd be arguably a top 10 run all time, top 20 for sure which is huge. Yan, Aljo, Chito, Merab, Umar. And all of them were within their respective primes which is also enormous to take into consideration. It also covers an amazing spectrum, Chito is a good striker, Yan arguably an elite one, Umar both high level in grappling and striking, Merab an elite grappler and so is Aljo...like two of the best in the sport. The only argument becomes longevity, which I can accept to an extent. Not a fan of guys leaving divisions after 3-4 defenses but that's where the money's at and it's lower risk/insanely high reward.

 

[laleggenda27]

Cruz would still be BW GOAT, but O'Malley would be close.

 

[VinceArch]

Cruz still has it but if O'Malley gets a few more defenses, he's definitely closing in. Fuck.

 

[Subline]

Cruz is definitely the easiest divisional goat to surpass, and yes I think wins over Merab + Umar would put O'Malley ahead of Cruz. That would tally his resume up to: Umar, Merab, Vera, Aljo, Yan. An extra win over Yan/Figgy should end the debate entirely.

I put more stock into Umar's potential to become BW goat though and believe he will achieve that goal. O'Malley could definitely do it too though.

 

[Leonard Haid]

With Merab on the horizon, a very difficult test, I was thinking of what it would take for O'Malley to enter the next echelon of goatness.

The clearest path would be of course to beat Merab and Umar, and then secure a second title against Topuria.

Do you guys think if he gets past Merab and Umar it would suffice to get him to GOAT BW, or would you still give it to Cruz/Aljo?

The bar just keeps rising higher. If O'Malley beats those three he's gotta be in GOAT contention. No question about it. Cruz's level of competition was way lower, and I don't think I'm exaggerating. Aljo's level of competition was pretty high for sure, but if O'Malley, after beating Aljo and Yan, beats the three you mentioned, he'll get my vote for one of the faces on the Mount Rushmore of GOATs.

 

[Croton]

Merab and Umar are huuuge tests. If he can beat those two I put him as the BW goat over cruz.

 

[xhaydenx]

2 title defenses doesn't put him above Cruz in terms of being the BW GOAT. I say 2 because the Chito one didn't mean much. He didn't deserve that shot at all.

If Suga did beat those 3 names though that would be impressive. Ain't happening though. Maybe he can beat Merat and Umnar, but Topuria would stiffen him bad. Completely different level.

 

[Subline]

The bar just keeps rising higher. If O'Malley beats those three he's gotta be in GOAT contention. No question about it. Cruz's level of competition was way lower, and I don't think I'm exaggerating. Aljo's level of competition was pretty high for sure, but if O'Malley, after beating Aljo and Yan, beats the three you mentioned, he'll get my vote for one of the faces on the Mount Rushmore of GOATs.

Aljo's resume also has some asterisks on it, a win over Yan by DQ after getting dominated that fight, a win over one armed TJ, a win over Cejudo coming off a 3 year layoff, who also went on to get dominated by Merab.