Where does Volk stand with his Legacy if he never wins another fight?

[Lee Danger]

If stats matter for much, this will be the end of Volk's title reign in all likelihood. Statistically, him beating Topuria would be unprecedented. No fighter who's 35 or over has ever beaten an under 35er in a title fight at LW and below, and it's only happened once at WW. Any betting men would be wise to take advantage of plus money on Topuria.

So all that aside, I think it's hard to put him in the highest upper room with Silva, Jon, and GSP. If he had beaten Makhachev and become a double champ, it'd be a different story. Right now though, I think he's a tier below it with guys like Aldo, DJ, Khabib, etc. What he's done at FW is insane. Knocks out Mendes, outclasses Aldo, clean decision over Max, close decision over Max (yes, scoring 3, 4, and 5 for Volk is perfectly reasonable), beats the shit out of Ortega, beats the shit out of and stops KZ, beats the shit out of Max, and knocks out Yair. What else is there to say?

i put Aldo in the same tier as GSP and Fedor.

 

[MaulingMyClown]

To be fair, that's the only reason people are putting him ahead of Aldo now. If we agree losses past your prime are irrelevant for the GOAT conversation, there's no way you can argue Volkanovski has surpassed Aldo.

I agree so far but time will tell. I rank Aldo higher at the moment (by quite a bit actually). But if we're 2 years down the road and Volk has defended the belt another 4 or so times let's talk again.

 

[Skarsgard]

I only compare wins and losses between the 4 fighters. I only brought up the Dustin fight to highlight that Conor is the only one with wins at LW.

That's true. It also comes with the asterisk that Aldo never got the chance to go to lightweight and ended up dropping down years later. We can go back and forth on whether Volk's performance against Islam was more impressive than beating Eddie, but he lost on paper and that's what matters.
I would like to see Max at lightweight with a proper camp though. I'm not saying he would have beaten Dustin, but I think he would have done better.

 

[RonDante]

best featherweight and greatest featherweight of all time

 

[RonDante]

To be fair, that's the only reason people are putting him ahead of Aldo now. If we agree losses past your prime are irrelevant for the GOAT conversation, there's no way you can argue Volkanovski has surpassed Aldo.

When did aldo leave his prime? Was it after he went on a title run at bantamweight, a young man’s division? Was it just after he knocked out Moicano and Stephens? or was it as soon as someone beat him, so conor?

 

[VinceArch]

He'll have been OK in UFC.
Decision fighter, boring in my observations and forgettable performances.
Now ask me about Leon Edwards and it's even less spectacular...

What about Leon Edwards?

 

[Skarsgard]

When did aldo leave his prime? Was it after he went on a title run at bantamweight, a young man’s division? Was it just after he knocked out Moicano and Stephens? or was it as soon as someone beat him, so conor?

An argument could be made that he was slowing down by the time he fought Lamas or KZ. Definitely by the time he fought Chad for the second time. I think that fight took something out of his chin.

 

[Shaolin Alan]

What about Leon Edwards?

Leon has three highlights...
1: Getting a combo meal from Masvidal
2: Nearly being KOd by Nate Diaz
3: A Hail Mary high kick on Usman, that made newbz forget how lackluster his fights are...

 

[RonDante]

An argument could be made that he was slowing down by the time he fought Lamas or KZ. Definitely by the time he fought Chad for the second time. I think that fight took something out of his chin.

Mendes says the second aldo fight was his greatest performance, when he had everything dialed in, maybe aldo looked worse cause Chad improved from their first fight

 

[KnockoutsGalore]

One of the best in his weightclass to have ever done it.

 

[SuperAlly]

Just a hypothetical with people questioning Volk’s quick return. How much has Volk accomplished in this sport? Does he get remembered and celebrated for years if he goes on a bad skid now into retirement?

Bum.

 

[Gamer2k4]

When did aldo leave his prime? Was it after he went on a title run at bantamweight, a young man’s division? Was it just after he knocked out Moicano and Stephens? or was it as soon as someone beat him, so conor?

Probably shortly before he started losing. You don't go 6-7 in your prime, and it's likely he started falling off before that rough streak began. The fact that he had a resurgence at a lower weight class doesn't put him back in his prime just because he was winning, and if you think it does, you have no idea what "prime" means.

 

[RonDante]

Probably shortly before he started losing. You don't go 6-7 in your prime, and it's likely he started falling off before that rough streak began. The fact that he had a resurgence at a lower weight class doesn't put him back in his prime just because he was winning, and if you think it does, you have no idea what "prime" means.

No chance he just fought better competition, no? Not a possibility? Even the mcgregor and merab fights you could say he just got caught and he was old and ready to retire. Is 6-5 good enough? Moraes you can argue he thought he was winning which is why he didn’t push harder in the third. 6-4-1? look at who he lost to

mcgregor double champion
max champion
max champion
volk champion
moraes title challenger with wins over 3 previous or future champions
yan champion
merab about to fight for a title

youre telling me that becuase he lost to these people he was out of his prime? merab sure

one question, would aldo have beaten all these people in his prime?

 

[markg171]

He has 5 title defences so a fuck ton higher than most fighters.

 

[Skarsgard]

Mendes says the second aldo fight was his greatest performance, when he had everything dialed in, maybe aldo looked worse cause Chad improved from their first fight

That's possible. I remember thinking that Aldo was looking slower and more hittable in the fights leading up to those. He'd been fighting at a high level for a while at that point.

 

[pick999]

Goat fw for sure but not in the leagues of two div champs like Georges.

everyone beat bisping

 

[VinceArch]

everyone beat bisping

Not Anderson.

 

[ipowerslapmywife]

He’s the goat

 

[BROWNPRIDE]

Volk is an all time great and if he gets on a losing streak should just walk away from the sport.

 

[HHJ]

Volk is an all time great and if he gets on a losing streak should just walk away from the sport.

You can tell its going to be hard for him to do that.