Why Khabib is the GOAT

[BusterBarry]

MEDIA SCORES
MMAJunkie.com 29-28 Nurmagomedov
Jordan Breen
Sherdog.com 28-30 Tibau
Tristen Critchfield
Sherdog.com 27-30 Tibau
Chris Nelson
Sherdog.com 27-30 Tibau
Shaun Al-Shatti
MMAFighting.com 27-30 Tibau
MMAWeekly.com 27-30 Tibau

23 year old Khabib in his second ufc fight beat ufc veteran Tibau 30-27 on all 3 judges score card

 

[Stoic]

Pretty easy to argue against your points.

1.) Context. The only reason he fought 3 top 10 ranked P4P fighters was because of inactivity, his own and Conor's.

2.) Easy stylistic match-ups. All three strikers and at least one, arguably two, known to gas out or break. All three were finished multiple times before facing Khabib.

3.) Very small sample size/window. Three fight peak, I've never seen that argued for any other sport/weight class/GOAT/etc. Generally, longevity/sustained dominance and accolades are weighed heavily alongside absolute peak/prime when deciding GOAT's in sports.

 

[Richard Fannin]

Melendez was on PED's his whole career though.

Sure, but so were Anderson Silva and Jon Jones, and since they've already been listed a bunch of time I figured I'd spice things up a bit.

Since when was Justin p4p elite. Fucking lol. And Conor is good now? He was inactive for like TWO years before he fought Khabib. LOL

Well, Conor did get the snot knocked out of him by an old, rusty, washed up Floyd a year or so before the Khabib fight

Hasn't fought in MMA in 2 years though... MMA N°2 P4P, lol, Dana has zero shame.

Nate Diaz still comes off as the better fighter between the 2, watching both fights back to back.
Tapped the first time


Got a controversial "majority decision" in a rematch that lots of people consider a draw...
But yeah sure, number 2 P4p, I mean if Dana says so; what would he have to win by exaggerating the skills of his biggest money makers?

In 2018, guys like Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Max Holloway, Robert Whittaker, TJ Dillashaw, Mighty Mouse, Tyrone Woodley, etc etc, they all shit on Conor's P4P ranking.

Khabib has 2 good wins that haven't poorly aged yet, Poirier and Justin. And these 2 better keep on being good, because if Gaethje loses his next 3 or something, this will look pre-tty bad on Khabib's record

"Justin Gaethje? Who did he ever beat that was any good? TONY? LOL Ferg got badly exposed when he faced actual competition (instead of washed up Cowboys, Fighter Kevin Lee and an old-ass Pettis who was 3-5 in his last 8?) going 0-3 in his last stint.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a massive Gaethje fan, fun striker and all, but let's face it; anytime he fought someone who was actually in his prime and had a ground game, he was like a fish out of water... I'm sure he'll be a fine addition to Bellator, I'm not worried"

 

[LoveMyMMA]

Jones has as much title defenses as Khabib has fights in the ufc.

Jones has more failed drug tests than Khabib has losses.

Overrated GOAT that has done nothing post-steroids.

 

[DestinedAussie]

P4P is all opinion. Just like GOAT talk. So heres MY opinion on what makes a goat, and who are the goats.

fedor
Anderson
Gsp
Jones

they all showed dominance for an extremely long period of time at the highest level and consistently beat all of them. Khabib was on the road, but he didn’t do it long enough.

I do say anderson’s steroid bust put him down a bit, or else i’d say he was the clear goat.

gsp’s loss to hughes and serra hurt him just a bit, or else he would be the clear goat

fedor’s dominant run and beating the best HWs in the world at the time for a 10 year stretch is incredible, but his loss to werdum and bigfoot hurt him just a bit or else he would be the clear goat

jones title defenses and beating every LHW for another 10 year stretch is incredible. But his steroid bust also put him down or else he would be the clear goat.

Khabib is not on my list because he didnt defend his title long enough. Being the champ means everyone is gunning for you, and u must eliminate them all. Khabib did not clean house, he beat a few top guys at the time (who also had lots of losses themselves). And then walked away. That to me just isnt dominant long enough to be a great. Tyron woodley has more defenses than khabib...and look what happened to him. If woodley retired before losing to usman, you guys might even call him a goat WW lol.

+1

It isn't to say Khabib wasn't great, but he had challenges in front of him. The idea a reign as good as long as Woodley makes you a goat is silly. For me at this point Usman is clearly in front of him too due to a longer reign at the top (and looking like it will go on for a while at this point).

The 4 you named are the 4 obvious contenders. It is debatable which of those 4 is the goat however.