So, what's better, leave being in prime like Khabib or retire on the shield like Tony?

[Lost_Cause]

GSP did it best.

 

[BigDramaShow26]

yeah but we still haven’t seen khabib fight anybody with an active guard ....ever.....in history ....of life

All that active guard shit means nothing to me at that level. I mean how many times did we see it proven vs. Tony? A gassed Kevin Lee conceding defeat doesn't count.

 

[DOMMA]

I don't know why you watch this stuff sir.
Nobody...in any contact sport is coming out unscathed.

You may be correct, but the degree of damage is something that can be mitigated to a certain degree. If you are well past your prime and continue to suffer multiple head shots it might be time to move on. I realize that fighting is what these guys do to make a living, but after 6 consecutive loses by an older fighter, the Employer should cut/release the fighter to preserve his/her health.

 

[Vanzanto]

I love Tony Ferguson....but I damn well hope he never fights again for his health.

 

[CatchThisFade]

Khabib didn't leave in his prime.. he ran. He's a not who you wanna reference when you say he left on top.

 

[Megatronlee]

All that active guard shit means nothing to me at that level. I mean how many times did we see it proven vs. Tony? A gassed Kevin Lee conceding defeat doesn't count.

Nah it means a lot.

that’s why we wanted to see it.

khabib ran away before it could go down sadly.

 

[markg171]

Utter horseshit.

There is no other division where multiple contenders have had to go on such insane win streaks over such a small time period just to get title shots, or even just to break into the top 10.

And that's because there are usually 70 - 80 fighters trying to break into the LW top 10 at any one time.

Meanwhile, in the LHW of Jones's era, there were what? 20 fighters outside the Top 10 trying to break in? 30?

And then, in a supreme display of really dumb thinking, you'll whine about how the LW win streaks include more wins outside the Top 10, because you apparently can't understand the vast difference between 20/30 fighters and 70/80 fighters. The LHW equivalent of a Drew Dober would have already had a title shot, and someone like Tsarukyan would have probably had two. Lol

Get the fuck out of here with your 30 IQ analysis.

Please point to Dober or Tsarukyan's ever top 5 wins that would get them to a title shot like the guys at LHW were doing. I'll wait. They're not earning title shots in any division with the wins they manage to get.

People aren't going on long win streaks without title shots cause the division's so great but rather because they're not beating highly ranked competition. People have literally already pointed out to you how quickly guys are getting title shots at LW... when they're beating top 5 fighters that is. Hell, the last LW challenger literally had never fought at LW before in the UFC.

Islam, Khabib, Tony, Charles, Dariush, etc. went on long win streaks without title shots because they weren't fighting top 5 opponents. Islam never even fought one period before his title shot. Of course they had to keep fighting as they literally weren't beating guys even near the top to warrant going even higher than them to the actual top fighter in the champ. This is true across all divisions, no different than how Allen (FW), Leon (WW), Belal (WW), Ankalaev (LHW) were going on streaks too without title shots while others with better wins were getting them instead.

It's like you don't understand how rankings are or something. You seem to think that the bigger the number is the better the win it is when it's the complete opposite.

 

[mkt]

GSP did it best.

I agree. He finished on top but cleared out his division a final time, even after ACL injuries/surgeries when he was no longer at his peak. And yes, he came back to MW when there was a beatable opponent, but so what? That was the UFC's fault for bad matchmaking for a division champ. He was still a better opponent than Bisping's first title challenge: a 46-year old Hendo who also gave Bisping a scare.

 

[Taric]

It's better for the fighter to leave earlier in their career.
It's better for the fans if the fighters leave later in their careers.

 

[HereticBD]

I don't think their careers are remotely comparable to begin to draw parallels.

Tony was a flash in the pan, who is only more memorable than fighters with similar career paths, due to his personality. Reality is, he's more comparable to Roger Huerta. He didn't so much go out on his shield, as he was merely beaten into irrelevancy.

 

[richardjohnson]

Let’s be honest here, the only people who would say it’s better to go out on six losses are just mad because they never got to see Khabib lose. You’d think they’d get over it at some point but evidently not.

 

[Taric]

Tony was a flash in the pan, who is only more memorable than fighters with similar career paths, due to his personality. Reality is, he's more comparable to Roger Huerta. He didn't so much go out on his shield, as he was merely beaten into irrelevancy.

Tony was a ranked fighter for 5 years with 7 ranked victories on his resume.
Huerta was in the UFC for 3 years with 0 ranked victories on his resume, and a grand total of 6 UFC wins in general.

If you want a comparable from that era it would be someone like Josh Koscheck or something. A fighter who was a contender for half a decade but never got to the top.

 

[SuperNerd]

And yes, he came back to MW when there was a beatable opponent, but so what?

GSP should have been honorable.

He should have told Bisping, and the UFC, "I know you want this bout, and we all could make a lot of money together, but it's much more important to protect the prestige of the UFC MW championship, and you 2 should go book a truly deserving fight. Because we don't care about money. Sorry Michael. Sorrie Dana."

 

[HereticBD]

Tony was a ranked fighter for 5 years with 7 ranked victories on his resume.
Huerta was in the UFC for 3 years with 0 ranked victories on his resume, and a grand total of 6 UFC wins in general.

If you want a comparable from that era it would be someone like Josh Koscheck or something. A fighter who was a contender for half a decade but never got to the top.

I was more comparing their celebrity appeal elevating their mediocre careers, but fair enough. Koscheck works.

 

[PunchyMcSplodo]

Please point to Dober or Tsarukyan's ever top 5 wins that would get them to a title shot like the guys at LHW were doing. I'll wait. They're not earning title shots in any division with the wins they manage to get.

People aren't going on long win streaks without title shots cause the division's so great but rather because they're not beating highly ranked competition. People have literally already pointed out to you how quickly guys are getting title shots at LW... when they're beating top 5 fighters that is. Hell, the last LW challenger literally had never fought at LW before in the UFC.

Islam, Khabib, Tony, Charles, Dariush, etc. went on long win streaks without title shots because they weren't fighting top 5 opponents. Islam never even fought one period before his title shot. Of course they had to keep fighting as they literally weren't beating guys even near the top to warrant going even higher than them to the actual top fighter in the champ. This is true across all divisions, no different than how Allen (FW), Leon (WW), Belal (WW), Ankalaev (LHW) were going on streaks too without title shots while others with better wins were getting them instead.

It's like you don't understand how rankings are or something. You seem to think that the bigger the number is the better the win it is when it's the complete opposite.

Holy shit, you really went on that long rant while either cowardly avoiding every point I previously made, or genuinely being too dumb to grasp 1st grade arithmetic.

You can't compare number of "Top 5 wins" between a division that has 30 people and a division that has 80 - 90.

Literally, as an obvious mathematical and practical reality,

1. a win streak climbing up an 80 person hierarchy will REQUIRE more wins outside the Top 10/5

2. a division where the best fighters in the world number 80 - 90 people will generate much stiffer competition (on a literal level) and overall competency than one where the UFC could barely scrape together 30 - 40 guys. This is true of any and every sport, i.e. the more elite athletes a division/league can attract, the better the competition gets

3. Given the above, not only is achieving Top 5 status a more difficult and longer process in a deeper division, but it means more than in a shallower division, and even unranked fighters tend to be better

You already know this, because even you wouldn't pretend a belt or Top 5 status at Women's Featherweight (the shallowest division there is) is the same as Women's Strawweight (the deepest female division).

But when it comes to your favorite fighters, suddenly you'll pretend you're completely retarded and don't understand these elementary school level principles.

Stop debasing yourself.

 

[mkt]

GSP should have been honorable.

He should have told Bisping, and the UFC, "I know you want this bout, and we all could make a lot of money together, but it's much more important to protect the prestige of the UFC MW championship, and you 2 should go book a truly deserving fight. Because we don't care about money. Sorry Michael. Sorrie Dana."

Yeah, easy for us to say at Sherdog. The bottom line is they were helping Bisping duck real challengers like Jacare, Yoel, Whittaker, etc. If not GSP, they may have dragged out some other old guy for him to fight. GSP did us a favor by taking Bisping out and letting the division reset. If someone like Masvidal shocked everyone by winning the WW belt, very few people here would cry about Khabib coming back to fight for the WW title then retiring again.

 

[markg171]

Holy shit, you really went on that long rant while either cowardly avoiding every point I previously made, or genuinely being too dumb to grasp 1st grade arithmetic.

You can't compare number of "Top 5 wins" between a division that has 30 people and a division that has 80 - 90.

Literally, as an obvious mathematical and practical reality,

1. a win streak climbing up an 80 person hierarchy will REQUIRE more wins outside the Top 10/5

2. a division where the best fighters in the world number 80 - 90 people will generate much stiffer competition (on a literal level) and overall competency than one where the UFC could barely scrape together 30 - 40 guys. This is true of any and every sport, i.e. the more elite athletes a division/league can attract, the better the competition gets

3. Given the above, not only is achieving Top 5 status a more difficult and longer process in a deeper division, but it means more than in a shallower division, and even unranked fighters tend to be better

You already know this, because even you wouldn't pretend a belt or Top 5 status at Women's Featherweight (the shallowest division there is) is the same as Women's Strawweight (the deepest female division).

But when it comes to your favorite fighters, suddenly you'll pretend you're completely retarded and don't understand these elementary school level principles.

Stop debasing yourself.

Thank you for confirming that you do not in fact understand what rankings are, just as I suspected.

Top 5 is top 5. It's literally self-descriptive yet you're still struggling with it and why it's necessary to beat those fighters to actually get title shots.

 

[chimpoehurricane]

Mods, add poll please.
No we saw two models of retirement. First is to retire on peak (but obviously with some fights left in you). On other hand there's Tony who gave it all, but his losing streak looks terrible.

Clearly khabib

 

[PunchyMcSplodo]

Thank you for confirming that you do not in fact understand what rankings are, just as I suspected.

Top 5 is top 5. It's literally self-descriptive yet you're still struggling with it and why it's necessary to beat those fighters to actually get title shots.

Holy shit.

You unironically said "Top 5 is Top 5" while pretending all the facts I pointed out don't exist.

Sure, bro, getting a Top 5 position and title shot at Women's Featherweight is exactly the same thing as getting a Top 5 status and title shot in Women's Strawweight. Those are definitely the same level of accomplishment and carry the same significance and degree of difficulty.

"Top is Top 5" lmao

 

[old school 2]

So you are asking who was the more intelligent person for how they handled their life, career and future health issues. I would not be amazed if a few of Tony’s fans still chose Tony.