Fighters who would be GOAT if not for one other fighter

[IPV7]

If it wasn't for Fedor, Big Nog would likely be considered the HW GOAT

Not only did he lose twice to Fedor, the beating he took from Fedor also took a heavy toll on him. The young mentally sharp and no eye problem Minotauro had excellent boxing and speed for a HW

Cosign this!!

He was never the same after those fights. And neither was Crocop.

 

[IPV7]

Also didnt Fitch go on a 10 fight win streak after losing to GSP and yet never got another shot

5 fight winning streak post GSP loss.

 

[Lawrence]

Miesha Tate if it wasn't for Ronda would have dominated

Cat Zingano finished Tate quite savagely, right smack in-between her two loses to Ronda.

 

[Prologue]

Jones without USADA and the police.

 

[Gregoire1]

Khabib without Tibau

 

[ThePimblettEra]

Andy Wang.

 

[JKS]

DC is the only answer. I think he would be HW GOAT if not GOAT if not for either Cain (from not fighting in HW) to Jones knocking him out.

I dont think people realize DC never lost a single round at HW until he fought Jones. He was literally walking through the division while fighters like Fedor were getting knocked in the same tournament

If DC's stayed at HW instead of leaving for his non-active, felon, south-sider homie, DC could have ended his career at HW much earlier without a scratch.

I don’t know about that. If he stayed at HW he would have to fight a prime JDS, Werdum, Overeem, and Stipe as well. And he lost twice to Stipe later.

All very hard match ups. I don’t see Cormier beating all those guys. No way he stays undefeated.

 

[icemun]

I don’t know about that. If he stayed at HW he would have to fight a prime JDS, Werdum, Overeem, and Stipe as well. And he lost twice to Stipe later.

All very hard match ups. I don’t see Cormier beating all those guys. No way he stays undefeated.

He never lost a round at HW prior to that

You're right they could be more challenging potentially and we can only speculate the outcome

But Im sure they would have been easier than Jones, Gus, Rumble

 

[KORNBR3AD]

Shogun was so close IMO, to claiming the title of the worlds greatest LHW ever of all time. The historic PRIDE FC tournament run out of nowhere, to heartbraking debut loss to perceived overrated TUF fighter Forrest Griffin, to a solid win over Chuck Liddell resembling his prime, then getting robbed against Machida in a one sided beatdown that he delivered, to finally stopping the dragon, and abruptly forever ending the Machida era. A couple of more title defenses IMO, which was very doable over the known stock, and he would have gone down as a LHW GOAT. Unfortunately, his first title defense Jon Jones. IMO the UFC should have milked it a little more for Shogun, but we know they hated PRIDE. It was truly a warring shogunate period. Shogun rightfully reclaiming his throne, only to be instantly sliced down.

WAR SHOGUN

I completely disagree. He had a good Pride run, then came and took an L against Forrest, but ok. He was coming off an injury if I remember correct. But was arguably losing to an old Mark Coleman until Mark completely gassed. (Thats the way I remember it anyway, but admittedly, have never rewatched it.) He beat a Chuck whos chin was already gone. That was actually the fight we all knew for sure that Chucks chin was completely gone. And we was right because look at the fight right after with Rich Franklin. Rich Koed him with a broken arm.
I do agree with you that he beat Machida in that first fight. And while some have called that fight boring. I remember in the moment, it being very exciting. A true chess match with both fighters letting their skills shine. And then of course he KOed Machida in the rematch.
Now is where you claim that without Jones, he would have put together a few title defenses. But it would have just been 1 defense against Forrest. That same year he lost to Henderson in one of my favorite fights of all time. So he would have lost his belt after just 1 defense. Then, the very next year he loses to Gus, and then 6 months after that he taps to Sonnen. He was only like 30 at the time. Then he gets 1 meaningless win before losing to Henderson again. Then loses to OSP. Both of those were KO/TKO. His best run was basically from 2005 to 2007. Thats only a 2 year run. Granted there are alot of fights in those 2 years. But 2005 is when he beat Rampage. Everyone before him after the Sobral loss was extreme cans with losing records. The only competition he faced before Rampage was Cyborg and Babalu, He beat Cyborg and lost to Babalu. So his run really starts in 05 and he fought Forrest in 07. Thats ignoring the freak arm break against Coleman. But his biggest run was 2 years. And then traded wins and losses. Never really putting together another run quite the same. Sure he won the belt. And did so in fashion against top competition. But the UFC wanted to give him a title shot when he came in. And had he beat Forrest, they probably would have. Knowing alot of Pride fans would want to see it. So he beat a Liddell who was coming off a loss and never won again, and im pretty sure, an unranked at the time Mark Coleman to get his title shot. And then gifted the rematch when he loss. Not saying I didnt agree with the rematch because I did. Im just saying I never considered him in conversation of the GOATs. And Jones didnt really stand in his way. Without Jones, he still loses to half the division.

 

[deadshot138]

This. Cain cost Cormier more than Jones did IMHO. HW was ripe for the taking and Cain was one of the worst champions in MMA history. It is an absolute shame that Cormier couldn't have just stayed at HW and ended the injury/JDS/Bigfoot Silva carousel which plagued us for YEARS. Cormier vs Werdum would have been a dream fight

You think DC could beat Werdum?

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

I completely disagree. He had a good Pride run, then came and took an L against Forrest, but ok. He was coming off an injury if I remember correct. But was arguably losing to an old Mark Coleman until Mark completely gassed. (Thats the way I remember it anyway, but admittedly, have never rewatched it.) He beat a Chuck whos chin was already gone. That was actually the fight we all knew for sure that Chucks chin was completely gone. And we was right because look at the fight right after with Rich Franklin. Rich Koed him with a broken arm.
I do agree with you that he beat Machida in that first fight. And while some have called that fight boring. I remember in the moment, it being very exciting. A true chess match with both fighters letting their skills shine. And then of course he KOed Machida in the rematch.
Now is where you claim that without Jones, he would have put together a few title defenses. But it would have just been 1 defense against Forrest. That same year he lost to Henderson in one of my favorite fights of all time. So he would have lost his belt after just 1 defense. Then, the very next year he loses to Gus, and then 6 months after that he taps to Sonnen. He was only like 30 at the time. Then he gets 1 meaningless win before losing to Henderson again. Then loses to OSP. Both of those were KO/TKO. His best run was basically from 2005 to 2007. Thats only a 2 year run. Granted there are alot of fights in those 2 years. But 2005 is when he beat Rampage. Everyone before him after the Sobral loss was extreme cans with losing records. The only competition he faced before Rampage was Cyborg and Babalu, He beat Cyborg and lost to Babalu. So his run really starts in 05 and he fought Forrest in 07. Thats ignoring the freak arm break against Coleman. But his biggest run was 2 years. And then traded wins and losses. Never really putting together another run quite the same. Sure he won the belt. And did so in fashion against top competition. But the UFC wanted to give him a title shot when he came in. And had he beat Forrest, they probably would have. Knowing alot of Pride fans would want to see it. So he beat a Liddell who was coming off a loss and never won again, and im pretty sure, an unranked at the time Mark Coleman to get his title shot. And then gifted the rematch when he loss. Not saying I didnt agree with the rematch because I did. Im just saying I never considered him in conversation of the GOATs. And Jones didnt really stand in his way. Without Jones, he still loses to half the division.

nah

 

[FreddieRoachsVoice]

You think DC could beat Werdum?

Werdum was a wildly inconsistent fighter so it's hard to say. Almost every one of his losses was caused by an absolute bonehead decision so I think he had the potential to beat anyone but could also lose to anyone.

- 2nd Overeem fight: Is winning the stand-up but keeps flopping to the ground/butt scooting until he loses a decision
- 3rd Overeem fight: Is a punch or 2 away from winning by KO but idiotically goes for a takedown and loses a decision
- Arlovski fight: Throws an open-hand slap that lands clean when a punch could have actually ended the fight against the glass-chinned Arlovski
- JDS fight: Shows up 30 pounds overweight (and doughy) after clearly not training worth a damn and got KTFO in a minute against a complete unknown
- Stipe fight: Goes full retard running at Stipe with his chin sticking out and gets KO'd (might have still happened but this was a gift wrapped moment)

Even if Werdum showed up in prime form and took the fight seriously, it would be very tough. DC could catch the leg when Werdum goes for his muay thai knees and if DC is really cautious, he could rack up points just dumping him on the ground and standing up over and over (which is my prediction for most likely outcome).

That being said, DC's chin would absolutely get checked and Werdum would have been faster than any of DC's previous HW opponents who were lumbering/slow. Jones is not exactly known as a power striker and he KO'd DC standing so Werdum absolutely would have had a shot if DC got sloppy. Also, if DC got sloppy for even a second in a scramble and Werdum got his back, he would probably have gotten subbed as Werdum is IMO the best MMA submission artist ever. It would have been a great fight.