Fighters who would be GOAT if not for one other fighter

[Mohawk Mauler]

Not GOAT certainly but Fitch could have had a pretty long run if it hadn’t been for GSP. I think he would have beaten either Hughes or Serra at the time of his title shot, I don’t know that Kos would have fought him and he has wins over Alves already so it’s safe to say he’d have beaten him. I don’t think he would’ve replicated GSPs run but I definitely think he could have gotten a few defenses as champion and thus be looked at very differently historically.

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

 

[pinero]

BJ Penn if 12 fighters didnt exist

 

[mkt]

I think Frankie Edgar without Bendo would easily hold the LW title for some years and would be considered a LW Goat.

Not sure how long he'd hold LW, but IMO he soundly beat Bendo in the rematch (Bendo did win their first fight, though). However, Frankie was very small for LW. FW was different, though. No one but Aldo beat him for years at FW, so I think he could've won that belt and defended it 4 or 5 times. And he was able to cut to BW so it's possible he could've beaten Cruz (a fight I always wanted to see) and won 3 belts.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

Not goat, but something I've often repeated was: "Condit is the most dangerous welterweight unfortunately in the same era as the greatest welterweight ever."

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

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

 

[moreorless87]

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

Yeah the obvious one which comes to mind, but for the loses to Fedor he has an undefeated run from 2000-06 and from 1999-08 his only loses are a close decision to Barnett and a very bad one to Hendo, both of which he avenged more definitiavely.

 

[Hamalcar]

Tony if Khabib wasn't there.

Or electrical cords

 

[Lee Danger]

Cro Cop with no Fedor around.

 

[Gamer2k4]

Holloway without Volkanovski.

I'm not saying Volkanovski is the FW GOAT (he's still needs some title defenses to pass Aldo), but he absolutely kept Holloway from getting there.

 

[Alacran]

DC if he wasn't so nice to Cain. There was no reason to move down in weight and if he would've fought Jones in HW he could have beat him

 

[Spinkick KO]

Izzy without Sean and drink driving.

If it wasn't for Sean and the judge giving Izzy a wake up call, we could have had another Jon Jones situation.

 

[Wetarmpits]

As much hate as he's getting now, Colby before Leon came around would have been champion without Usman.

Yea, and Chase Sherman would've been champion if Parker Porter wouldn't have been around and all these other guys he lost to.

 

[KORNBR3AD]

Umm he has two losses, not rounds, to Stipe at HW and he isn't a Strikeforce champion either... He's 6-2 against HWs you've heard of. Do you even know what his resume is lol

Again, he's done almost nothing at HW meanwhile he's literally undefeated at LHW against fighters not named Jon Jones, and nearly every single one of those fights were for the championship... you have this all backwards my man lol

Something no one is mentioning is the muscle and strength he lost dropping down to LHW. He has mentioned it a time or 2 but he said he could really tell in his lats. The reason I bring this up is we dont really know how good he could have been at HW. Who is beating him? The man was manhandling people. Ill never forget him taking Josh Barnett, and picking him up and slamming him down. Josh is a really good grappler so its not like he did that to some no name nobody. He also did the same to Gus and that was after he dropped down. And remember how he made poor old Dan look like a child being disciplined. Had he stayed at HW and kept his strength, I dont know how far he could have gone. By the time he fought Stipe, both men were shot, and DC wasnt taking fighting as serious. Just look at his body. The later part of his career when he went back to HW, he did so by adding mostly fat. Sure, he was pudgy to start with, but not nowhere near what he was his 2nd run. So one could Cain, and still have a point. I honestly think he would have been better staying at HW.
And saying he did nothing at HW is a bit weak. He won the SF grand prix.. and had Fedor won that thing, everyone would be talking about what an accomplishment it was. He also won the UFC HW title. And while his resume isnt as deep in HW as some other HWs, he still has enough of one that shines light on possibilities. He beat Silva, the same Silva that beat the living shit out of Fedor. He beat Mir, Monson, Nelson. Non of those aside from maybe Mir are much to talk about, but shows he can handle himself against big guys and powerful punchers. He defended his belt against Lewis. And again, while Lewis isnt a goat in any shape or form, he is still dangerous. Just ask Curtis. And he did that bloated and fat.
I get what you are saying though. If a person HAD to pick, Id probably go with Jones as well just because we have more data there. But Iv always wondered how good he would have been had he not cut all of that weight to make LHW.. I mean... He clearly lost mostly muscle lol. All of his fat was still there. Maybe even more lmao.

 

[m249viking]

Wait, there are fighters who aren’t goat?

 

[jsbx45]

Jon Fitch is definitely who came to mind first. He was 21-1-1 across an 8 year span with his 1 loss being to GSP. He EASILY could have been the long term WW champion.

Came to say exactly this.

 

[SG123]

Max would be on a legendary title run at 145 if not for Volk

DC at 205 without Jones. He already beat the toughest matchups of his era and showed what he can do when Jones isn't there.

Joseph Benavidez at 125 without DJ? He never fought Dodson but that's the only threat I think he would have until Cejudo reached title contention.

Nogueira at HW without Fedor

 

[jsbx45]

Cyborg without getting smashed by Amanda.

 

[jko1355]

Rich Franklin would have had a long run if Silva hadn't had his number.

He probably would have 2 more defenses then lost to Dan Henderson

 

[m249viking]

He probably would have 2 more defenses then lost to Dan Henderson

I would have put my $ on Frank.

 

[PaddyO'malley]

Azael "El Perro" Rodriguez will have become middle weightclass GOAT if not for John "The Machine" Davis.