What if Anderson had retired after Bonnar?

Could say that about any of the GOATS that retired too late.

If shogun finally retired after defeating Machida since his knees were completely fucked. Or Penn after the first Edgar fight.

If Fedor defeated Sylvia and Arlovski and then retired We wouldn’t even be having this discussion. Same for Silva.

It’s a whole lot harder to contextualize the YEARS these guys dominated before slipping than reading a Wikipedia page for 5 minutes. Khabib simply retired too early to be in the league of those 4. It’s not that he doesn’t have the talent, but the longevity and names aren’t there.


If weidman retired before the Rockhold fight, his resume would certainly rival Khabib’s.

consider this.

How much would one loss affect Khabib’s all time status? It would likely take him out of contention, tbh. Silva, fedor, gsp, and even if jones lost in the future - all have built enough legacy to not be affected by one loss. Silva won 16 in a row including 10 or 11 title fights; and often in spectacular fashion. That’s crazy.
 
Losses at the end of a career don't mean anything imo but the positive ped tests that wouldn't have happened are significant. While I do believe that everybody in the GOAT discussion is on peds there are people that disagree, I think a lot of those that mention the ped thing are just GSP fans and or Silva haters though and they'll use whatever they can to discredit Silva.
 
What if every fighter retired before their first loss?

This is meaningless.
 
Nobody can pretend that the final fateful chapter that many fighters - whether GOAT candidates or journeymen - have in their career did not happen. Of course it happened. However, when assessing someone's greatness and achievements, surely the only criteria that matter are what you achieved at your peak before you fell off a cliff. Most fighters compete for too long. Hardly anyone does a GSP and just walks away. That doesn't, in itself, mean that GSP is 'greater' than others because of that.

When you factor in Silva's pre-UFC career to his UFC stint, you have a record that is absolutely worthy of GOAT status, depending on your preferences. In that respect, the final chapter is irrelevant in that it cannot subtract from what he did do. The same applies to Fedor, BJ Penn, and innumerable great boxers over the decades.
 
bjj4everyone said:
Its, shit like this that makes me rarely post on here. People always say the most ridiculous shit, and If you call em out your "triggered" or a khabib nuthugger.
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Agreed

I was waiting for someone to say I was a khabib nuthugger

People online are pathetic and toxic
 
bjj4everyone said:
Its, shit like this that makes me rarely post on here. People always say the most ridiculous shit, and If you call em out your "triggered" or a khabib nuthugger.
Click to expand...
No need to call them out. Attention seekers just want the attention. As the initial shit post proves, they will go to GREAT lengths to get it. Pathetic, yet predictable. When you can't get a hug, I guess having a forum of dudes shitting on you for your pathetic takes helps fill the void.
 
  • He'd still be one of the greatest fighters of all time, certainly the G.O.A.T. at 185 (just like he is now.)
  • We could only make educated (or less educated) guesses on how a fight against Weidman would've gone.
  • His record would look better on paper.
  • He'd have taken less damage (but also retired with less money).
 
thobra said:
This is What had happened:
3. We would Wonder how a prime Anderson would do against todays rooster. Now we know he most certainly would beat all of them.
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This is an excellent point. He was consistently competitive with big names while well past his prime. And he arguably beat Bisping, whether by KO or decision (pick your poison) before Bisping KO'd Rockhold. If we put those guys in against prime Anderson who was vastly more dangerous, I know who I would favour.
 
Mob69 said:
Nobody can pretend that the final fateful chapter that many fighters - whether GOAT candidates or journeymen - have in their career did not happen. Of course it happened. However, when assessing someone's greatness and achievements, surely the only criteria that matter are what you achieved at your peak before you fell off a cliff. Most fighters compete for too long. Hardly anyone does a GSP and just walks away. That doesn't, in itself, mean that GSP is 'greater' than others because of that.

When you factor in Silva's pre-UFC career to his UFC stint, you have a record that is absolutely worthy of GOAT status, depending on your preferences. In that respect, the final chapter is irrelevant in that it cannot subtract from what he did do. The same applies to Fedor, BJ Penn, and innumerable great boxers over the decades.
Click to expand...

Post peak fight records are never ignored, nor should they be.

They may not carry the same weight, but a career is still a career, whether it ends on a high note or sour note.
 
mirko>anyone said:
Could say that about any of the GOATS that retired too late.

If shogun finally retired after defeating Machida since his knees were completely fucked. Or Penn after the first Edgar fight.

If Fedor defeated Sylvia and Arlovski and then retired We wouldn’t even be having this discussion. Same for Silva.

It’s a whole lot harder to contextualize the YEARS these guys dominated before slipping than reading a Wikipedia page for 5 minutes. Khabib simply retired too early to be in the league of those 4. It’s not that he doesn’t have the talent, but the longevity and names aren’t there.


If weidman retired before the Rockhold fight, his resume would certainly rival Khabib’s.

consider this.

How much would one loss affect Khabib’s all time status? It would likely take him out of contention, tbh. Silva, fedor, gsp, and even if jones lost in the future - all have built enough legacy to not be affected by one loss. Silva won 16 in a row including 10 or 11 title fights; and often in spectacular fashion. That’s crazy.
Click to expand...
Neither BJ or Shogun were able to win more than 3 fights in a row inside of the UFC, neither are GOAT worthy regardless of when they retired.
 
FlyingDeathKick said:
Neither BJ or Shogun were able to win more than 3 fights in a row inside of the UFC, neither are GOAT worthy regardless of when they retired.
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I don’t think they are either, but they are clear examples of how one’s reputation could have been different, especially shogun.
 
cshireman4 said:
No need to call them out. Attention seekers just want the attention. As the initial shit post proves, they will go to GREAT lengths to get it. Pathetic, yet predictable. When you can't get a hug, I guess having a forum of dudes shitting on you for your pathetic takes helps fill the void.
Click to expand...
Haha! Well said.
 
Ancient Warrior said:
What if every fighter retired before their first loss?

This is meaningless.
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It's not meaningless, it's a decent thought exercise.

Penn dominated from 01-09. IWon the WW belt and in '03 was ranked #1 in the world at both LW and WW. He ended up being only the 2nd or 3rd best WW of the era (debatable) behind GSP, but he still crushed at LW.

But a lot of fans discount his entire career due to his accomplishments (lack thereof) after 2011.

Can he be a GOAT candidate for his accomplishments only from 2001-2009? Can fans separate that out from the second half of his career? Should they? All interesting questions in a (admittedly) ultimately stupid debate.
 
Ancient Warrior said:
Post peak fight records are never ignored, nor should they be.

They may not carry the same weight, but a career is still a career, whether it ends on a high note or sour note.
Click to expand...
So ok then, I guess we shouldn't ignore how athletes in other sports peform when past their prime too right? Even if they break a ton of records they aren't the GOAT if they continue playing and start having bad results.
 
It's not Silva's losses that sank his legacy, it's him popping for multiple substances as soon as USADA started randomly testing
 
IF Fedor and Anderson retired right after Arloski and Bonnar ... both would be as old or older than Khabib and GSP at the time of their original "retirements".

GSP came back for a cherry picked fight and Khabib might do the same as he probably hopes to beat up an older GSP if GSP dares to fight at 39 years old.

GSP will be closing in on 40 years of age. He didn't seem as fast against Bisping and took a lot of damage.

GSP will be hoping his size and strength advantage will allow him to jab Khabib to death.

We will see.
 
When he beat Bonnar, that was full 100% Matrix + Bruce Lee shit.

I was convinced 100% that the Matrix was real and Anderson was Morpheus.

589472d3dd230f5158906b2ef131a9ca.gif


Khabib & Jones have great wins, some by complete domination ect - but they have never pulled anything like the Bruce Lee shit that Anderson can do.

That is why Anderson is the GOAT - because he came closer than any human has to accessending into Martial Arts heaven.
 
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