Tony vs Khabib will determine the best LW ever, BUT...

Say for example that Tony somehow beats Khabib. The only way I see him winning is by catching him in a sub or by Khabib gassing and Tony picking him apart really late.

Anyway, so Tony wins. He will be the consensus all time LW GOAT. It’s hard to argue that. Then in his next fight he defends the LW title. But what if he gets KOed by someone like Gaethje or even *gasp* Conor in 1 round? And then following that loss he goes on a 2-3 fight losing skid and is deemed washed up.

Will he still be the LW GOAT? Or will he be looked at like BJ Penn? We have short term memory as fans. I use Tony as an example because it’s very possible this happens. He is on the wrong side of his 30s, he gets caught quite a bit in his fights, and his style may not exactly hold up anymore. Not to mention the wars he has been in and the mileage he has.

I don’t see this happening to Khabib because I don’t see him fighting much longer. If he beats Tony, he will probably defend against Gaethje or Conor, and if wins that he will probably look to fight GSP or retire.

 

It will depend on how Khabib bounces back and whether or not he get's to rematch Tony.

 

Greg Hardy would beat both of them, LW GOAT is a participation prize for manlets.

 

tony is already the LW GOAT

 

Tony hasn't fought Conrad, Poirier or Gaethje.
He hasn't faced a real top contender since RDA. Lee, cowboy and pettis are good wins but not top contenders. And yes I know Cowboy is ranked 5th but let's be honest here.

 

Good question and it's also raises the following, if Beeb loses to Tony and then proceeds to win 3 whilst tony loses 3 does Tony still qualify as GOAT? As Jones has been to DC at LHW could Tony be to Beeb? sometimes there's just that one guy....

 

Its mind blowing how people think bj penn as the goat of anything. He was really good for a while.

 

No. Of course these things are dynamic. If Tony wins but then gets KO'd, nobody will argue he was suddenly past his prime. So that loss would matter a lot.

There's always a level of subjectivity so people will view it however they want really though.

 

"He will be the consensus all time LW GOAT."

There will be no such consensus until Tony has had more than one truly great result on his record.

One key difference is that Khabib has beaten everybody and made it look easy, whereas Ferguson has beaten a lot of great fighters through surviving rough spots.

 

BJ Penn is a legend because of the wars he has been in, his pioneer in fighting at whatever the fuck weight class, and for his dominance (all beit pretty short) at LW.

While it’s easy to look back now and say BJ Penn might have been overrated (his big wins were Florian, Sanchez, Joe Daddy, being competitive vs GSP in the first fight, and beating Hughes- not that bad of a resume), there is no one else until recently aside from Tony/Khabib that you can say is the LW GOAT.

 

Great thread.

I make this argument all the time. Let the fighter finish their career before we start talking about where they rank all time.

Perfect example is Renan Barao. Was considered "one of the best of all time" during his championship run but look at him now, not even a top 15 fighter in his weight class much less a GOAT. The same thing could easily happen to Tony, Khabib, or any other great fighter.

 

He can only fight whos put in front of him. He won on the same card as khabib the fought again before even getting another shot at khabib. Gaethje wasnt a contender at the time and dustin was fighting khabib

 

No he is not and a win over Khabib wouldnt make him it either.

You need to be the actual champion of the division and have a reign of dominance over the division.

Tony has done neither (i will agree the win streak is impressive)

 

Define "truly great result". He's won TWELVE in a row, 9 finishes. About half vs top 10-12 guys. His resume' speaks for itself.

 

Its not mind blowing to us who were around at the time to witness it.

Most of you dolts get your information from fight finder.

 

You need a couple vs the best the division has to offer.

Khabib + Dustin or Justin n I'd never argue against it

 

I know. But he really hasn't fought someone on a good streak like Poirier.
The Poirier Khabib fought was red hot man. Coming off Pettis-Geathje-Alvarez-Holloway. Even Tony's best win RDA was coming of a standing TKO loss to Alvarez.
Tony has no real marquee win

 

Beating a champ, beating a former champ relatively close to his title-reign, beating a future champ on his way up. Those are great results. Only the Dos Anjos-win is great, the sort of win that one can use in an argument over GOAT-status. Thomson and Pettis were spent forces once they faced Tony.

 

Nah, if either of them just ate and bloated up to 220+ Hardy wouldn't be able to beat either of them.

 

If you are ranked (not that it matters) then you are a top contender. Both have faced absolute killers and at this point Tony doesn't have to worry about facing them. He's more than earned his shot at the title.