That’s kind of the point man, GSP was a special fighter, there is no one else in the sport like him.
Oliviera was never a fighter I thought would give Khabib trouble but in all fairness I was low on him in general because he used to fall apart under adversity, he did show something else in that run , although I’m sure the likes of Gaetje and Chandler are kicking themselves looking at what Islam did to him, both had the chance to put him away and hesitated going to the ground with him , Poirier hung on for dear life from the top when he had a chance.
Islam is a monster with his top control, he made Oliveria remember he is human pretty quickly when they grappled in that fight, was an impressive performance .
So you are giving credit to Khabib over GSP for something Khabib did in your imagination vs something GSP did in real life. Sadly Khabib ain’t coming back. He has zero interest in testing himself against bigger men. But I don’t think they can call you the goat for beating Dustin, Justin, Conor and Al Iaquanta. Top 10. Should have stuck around longer. Only has himself to blame.
Would you be surprised if Khabib or Islam annihilated prime GSP? I feel like a lot of the “special” fighters of yesteryear would get completely outclassed by the new breed of Dagi champions just like everyone else.
Islam vs. Usman should be telling if that ever happens.
I would be surprised if anyone annihilated GSP on his best night, he is one of the greatest to ever do it. I agree though there is something about those Dagi wrestlers , unbelievable to watch some of Khabibs and Islams performances but if that fight takes place standing, which it very well might , similar to the Iaquinta fight, I’d have to favour Pierre.
It’s all speculation anyway and again I don’t see the need to shit on Pierre to prop up Islam or Khabib, they can stand on their own feet.
GSP is used to defending against one shot at a time American wrestling. The thing about the Dagi’s is their chain wrestling and trips. I can almost guarantee GSP would wind up on his ass and I don’t think his striking was nearly as good as given credit for. He had the wrestlers advantage when he fought on the feet, the same thing that helped Khabib knock down Conor and Islam drop Oliveira.
Khabib was 23 when he beat Tibau 30-27 on all scorecards. Just like with Islam Khabib became FAR more dominant towards his 30’s.
He took Khabib down but couldn’t hold him down for more than a second. I want to point out as well that Tibau had statistically better takedown defence than GSP and was roided to the gills.
Khabib was injured and out for two years during his UFC career right after ragdolling RDA, only to come back to RDA being the champion. We have multiple title defenses missing from Khabib’s catalogue because of this, and if Khabib was never injured there would be no RDA as champ, Eddie Alvarez as champ, or Conor as double champ. Conor really celebrates his paper champ status at 155 lbs like it means a lot.
What good is a takedown if you can’t secure it and do any damage? This is why Tibau lost 30-27 on all three scorecards. 23 year old Khabib had him pinned against the cage the whole night and busted him up.
And lol @ age not mattering.
You’re grasping at straws here man.
How about GSP tapping out to Hughes or tapping to strikes against Serra? Getting sat down by Condit?
All those “ifs” matter though. Its the difference between actually accomplishing something vs theoretically accomplishing something. GSP did accomplish feats Khabib didnt, for whatever reason.
So I guess we’re holding Khabib at a higher standard than GSP then, because beating Al 50-43 on all 3 scorecards with two 10-8 rounds was about as good as gets for Georges.
