"I never gon fight at 170, never, I want everybody know I never fight at 170" - Khabib

[Source]

Then don't expect any sympathy for nearly killing yourself to have a strength advantage at 155.

Meanwhile SherDorks give Conor shit for

fighting at a weight he makes consistently.

Could you have found a newer interview? UFC 209 was over 2 years ago. You do know Khabib has fought at WW right?

When you said fighting at a weight he makes consistently do you mean Conor at FW? Conor hasn’t fought at FW and will never fight at that weight again. He simply can no longer make that weight. Dana has been quoted as saying the cut to LW is a tough cut for Conor now.

 

[LogicalPoster]

For what it's worth, I do hold Anderson to the same standard, and wish he had've challenged himself by moving up to face any of the champs at LHW when he was in his prime. Like with GSP, I can understand why he didn't, but I would've been excited to see him do so.

And with Khabib, it's not like he'd be fighting in a division he hasn't fought in before. WW is where he fought most of his fights. There are a couple of compelling matchups at 155, in Ferguson and Holloway, but there are more at 170.

khabib i think is just a cherry picker. dude wants to finish undeafeated, hasn't really challenged himself, bullshitted everyone with the i fight for legacy not money line.

dudes taking the path of least resistance and im not going to celebrate him for it. He's a massive lightweight, is the same size as gsp and can barely make weight at 155. Now he wants to fight max of all people, the champ from a weight under him. I honestly beleive the gsp fight didnt materialize because he didn't want it.

 

[Phisher]

What you seem to forget is that the Top Welterweights also cut a shit-ton of weight.

Usman and Khabib are nowhere near the same size. It's ridiculous to expect Khabib to fight him just because he went to the hospital a few years ago.

 

[Lord Grey]

Usman and Khabib are nowhere near the same size. It's ridiculous to expect Khabib to fight him just because he went to the hospital a few years ago.

There are several reasons to hope that he fights at welterweight.

1. He has had trouble making 155, leading to canceled fights and almost death. Nearly dying is a pretty good reason, IMO.

2. He's already fought numerous times at welterweight and never lost.

3. He's noticeably larger than many of his LW opponents.

4. He's noticeably better than all of his LW opponents.

Now, I think Ferguson provides a decent challenge for Khabib at LW, but otherwise I think he'll need to move up to really challenge himself and get many excited about his career.

If he wants to continue a less challenging career path at LW, that's his prerogative. He may well go down as the LW goat. But he has more exciting, less safe opportunities available.