What if Anderson had retired after Bonnar?

It's a valid point that anyone who dogs out BJ Penn for the last half of his career and/or is praising Khabib today should - if they value honest introspection - consider.

It's so obvious that it shouldn't need to be said. And yet I feel like most MMA fan's have never considered it.
 
In some ways going to a decision and doing very well at his age against the current champ looks good

He also hurt Cormier with a body kick
And took on any competition which looks good

But then he also popped and is losing like every single fight...

If he retired right after Bonner, would people be saying he retired right when there are new breeds of fighters in his division etc?
 
This is What had happened:
1. He would have quite less money.
2. he would still be the no 2 goat.
3. We would Wonder how a prime Anderson would do against todays rooster. Now we know he most certainly would beat all of them.
 
SeattleFightFan said:
It's a valid point that anyone who dogs out BJ Penn for the last half of his career and/or is praising Khabib today should - if they value honest introspection - consider.

It's so obvious that it shouldn't need to be said. And yet I feel like most MMA fan's have never considered it.
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Likewise, GSP avoided that fate by stepping away from the sport at age 32. If Fedor had done the same, he’d have retired after Arlovski.
 
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BFoe said:
Likewise, GSP avoided that date by stepping away from the sport at age 32. If Fedor had done the same, he’d have retired after Arlovski.
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Right.

And this isn't a dog on GSP or Khabib or any fighter. Fighters should retire when it's right for them.

It's purely about fans and their critical thinking skills.
 
Moonwalker95 said:
In some ways going to a decision and doing very well at his age against the current champ looks good

He also hurt Cormier with a body kick
And took on any competition which looks good

But then he also popped and is losing like every single fight...

If he retired right after Bonner, would people be saying he retired right when there are new breeds of fighters in his division etc?
Click to expand...
If he retired after Bonnar he would’ve been “ducking Weidman, Moose etc..” literally can’t win
 
We would've seen "Nick Diaz would demolish Silva" threads and people would've laughed at the mere idea of Anderson even being able to survive a round against anyone while in his mid 40s.
 
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I'd still view him about the same, which is to say I don't currently hold his late career skid against his legacy. Even the greatest athletes will inevitably succumb to the endless waves of new competition. The only difference between him and guys like GSP or (potentially, hopefully not) Khabib is that he was willing to stick around long enough for that to happen. Warrior Spirit.

Also notable that he was a slow starter in his career, didn't achieve goatness till his 30s, so maybe he just wanted to try to enjoy it a little longer.
 
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