I think MMA guys should retire when they are financially set for life and have not taken too much damage. It does not take the amount of money to live well in Dagi that it does in say, Canada. Khabib is very, very rich and was never even cut in a fight. Even without the promise to his Mom. He was smart to get out and go into other businesses. I would not blame Islam if he can do the same thing. Too many guys fritter away their money and the have to fight too long so when they do leave their bodies pay the price for the rest of their shortened lives.
I respect all of that. There are even parts of me that admire it.
But GOAT talk should be reserved for the guys who had the balls to hang around a while. The guys who canāt wait to take the first train out of town shouldnāt even be up for consideration. I acknowledge that probably removes GSP from the conversation too, but I stand by it. How am I supposed to cheer for a guy who doesnāt even want to be there? I want to cheer for guys who actually LIKE fighting. Otherwise we might as well include the point fighters in the GOAT conversation too.
I actually donāt dislike Khabib or Islam nearly as much as I like arguing with Jack. But having said that, thereās just something that doesnāt sit right about guys who are planning on retiring early. Itās like working with a guy that just counts down the minutes until home time. I remember Benson Henderson always talking about how his gameplan was to win a decision before the fight. I react exactly the same way to that. They might be good at what they do, but theyāre not real fighters. Theyāre athletes who arenāt particularly good at the sport who are no danger to anyone. Completely removes the thrill as a fight fan for me.
Nobody was ever as dominant as Khabib in 29 professional fights through USADA
Name me one person who was
Also going on one of the longest winstreaks in the UFC itself and having the most title defences in the toughest division.
You can plead ignorant to how great Khabib is, but anyone worth their salt know he would have crushed Oliveira or anyone else and been 40-0 if he wanted.
I named two already. Through 29 fights as you specified, Khabibās career looks exactly like Renan Barao, and to a slightly lesser extent, Miguel Torres. The only difference is Khabib retired before he started racking up the losses.
I originally meant it as a knock, just to rustle your jimmies. But I donāt even, now. Those two guys were monsters. Everyone called them P4P #1 when they were mid-30ās and Oh.
Khabib knew GSP was going to molest him on the ground so he packed up his marbles and ran. It was probably the best career move he could have made, BUT, if he wanted anyone to call him the GOAT, he probably should have hung around and fought GSP.
I would accept an argument that 135 and 155 are two totally different divisions, and were even more so at the time. But youāll always find some differences when youāre comparing two MMA fighters. So Iām gonna double down on it.
To pretend either of them faced as good competition as Khabib and were as dominant in round to round, minute to minute winning % not taking damage is laughable though.
Khabib is the most dominant over 29 fights ever with all factors considered including USADA.
This is why heās the GOAT. Heās the best fighter. End of story.
And now coach as well which I see you never acknowledged.
Imagine being the not only the most dominant fighter but now coach of the year as well and having these cyber KKK motherfuckers doubt you. I called the round faggots
The similarities are uncanny, actually. Outside of the UFC, all guys built up significantly padded records against no-name fighters. They came to the UFC, fought one or two scrubs, then a few good guys, then the titleā¦ where they all faced the same #1 fighters.
Khabibās pretty good. Heās in the same category as those guys. He could have transcended that category if heād hung around a while, but, it was his decision to leave.
Iāll give him that. He looks like a great coach. Itās a shame that people discredit the contribution of Khabibās dad and Javier Mendez, though. Khabibās only been coaching for a year or so. He couldnāt possibly take credit for the championship level success that some of his teamās fighters have seen. It seems more honest to give credit to the other coaches on the staff who have dedicated most of their recent lives to that championship journey.
Javier himself said he does next to nothing for Team Khabib at this point and he just lucked into it. Abdulmanap deserves a ton of credit but Khabib has been the headcoach for years and the results are now better than ever.
Also Khabib is the GOAT and deep down you probably know it. A lot of people in the know do, some accept it and others try to dispute it, but Khabib gets the most attention of any GOAT calibre fighter for a reason. That much is certain.