If Max beats Ilia, does GOAT FW rankings change?

[Southpoor97]

Volk has FW goat status mainly off of his wins over Max.

They share many similar wins otherwise (Ortega, TKZ, Yair, Aldo).

If Max comes back and beats Ilia, do you have him above Volk?

If yes, or if no, does your answer change if Volk rematches Ilia and loses, or if Max beats Ilia twice?


I’m just asking because it seemed so clear that volk is the FW goat, but I’ve realised that his main distinction over Max is his head to head record and he has less total all times win. If Max is able to beat the guy who beat volk, it complicates things again.



PS - Volk v Max 1 was competitive but clear for Volk, Volk v Max 2 was razor close despite “hard cores” pretending it was actually an easy volk win, and volk max 3 was very dominant but people act like it somehow makes his previous wins against max more definitive, which is not how it works.

 

[Southpoor97]

My opinion is that it is probably still Volk.

But, if Max beats Ilia twice and/or Volk loses a rematch to Ilia and Max gets a win over Ilia, I think that may change things for me.

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

Same for me. Its gonna be hard to put Max above Volk after 3 head to head losses (some might argue he won 1). Just my opinion.

Both legends regardless of where they rank

 

[Xoleth]

Nope,
Still, Volk has 5 defenses and Max lost 3 times to Volk. Sure, one of the fights could have been a draw, it's disputable, but Volk was clearly the better fighter.
But if Max beats Ilia and defends a couple more times, probably.

Imo, Volk should get a rematch, if he wants one.
I know he was KTFO, but he had 5 defenses.
Also, Max will fight Gaethje and most probably he will take some damage in that fight, so I don't see him fight Ilia very soon.

 

[Mr. Shickadance]

Aldo is the GOAT so no

 

[kingghidrah]

Volk has FW goat status mainly off of his wins over Max.

They share many similar wins otherwise (Ortega, TKZ, Yair, Aldo).

If Max comes back and beats Ilia, do you have him above Volk?

If yes, or if no, does your answer change if Volk rematches Ilia and loses, or if Max beats Ilia twice?


I’m just asking because it seemed so clear that volk is the FW goat, but I’ve realised that his main distinction over Max is his head to head record and he has less total all times win. If Max is able to beat the guy who beat volk, it complicates things again.



PS - Volk v Max 1 was competitive but clear for Volk, Volk v Max 2 was razor close despite “hard cores” pretending it was actually an easy volk win, and volk max 3 was very dominant but people act like it somehow makes his previous wins against max more definitive, which is not how it works.

If he beats Islam too, then yes

 

[filthybliss]

nope. maybe if he beats ilia twice then maybe? though, I don't see it happening, max is at the tail end of his career and ilia is entering his prime too. overall though, aldo and volk have painted their spots as 1 and 2 for a while, don't see anyone taking that from them anytime soon. i also predict justin will crucify him just based on max's previous stints in lw so he might not be in the best of spirits taking another bloody fight with topuria. but who knows? i'd like to see max rack up some wins against some new faces eitherway.

 

[RonDante]

Maxs success is volks success

He 50-45d him twice and won a 3-2 despite melatonin gate

Also max has like 6 losses at featherweight compared to volks 1

 

[UkraineFreightTrain]

Jose Aldo is still GOAT 145er. Recency bias has gotten the best of you TS

 

[EnthusiastCultivator]

Jose Aldo is still GOAT 145er. Recency bias has gotten the best of you TS

Jose Aldo, the only “goat” that lost to all other GOAT candidates at featherweight.

 

[Substance Abuse]

No. It's still Aldo.

 

[pick999]

Then max is the goat

 

[Dr Fong]

No. It's still Aldo.

Nothing says 'GOAT' like getting KOd 3 times and 30-27d vs the 3 other FW champs you fought before you'd even passed 32.

Frankly GOAT doesn't do it justice. They should just retire the belt and declare him perpetual champ with that level of dominance over his greatest rivals.

 

[pv3Hpv3p]

My heart says Aldo

My mind barely says Volk

My monkey-brain says Max

I'd love to see Topuria make a run at any of those spots. The dude is must-see-TV

 

[Sean_wongster_wongmastter]

Jose Aldo is still GOAT 145er. Recency bias has gotten the best of you TS

Aldo reigned in an era where FW didn’t even exist yet in the UFC. The division was still thin.

He also fought a lot of wrestlers and Aldo was tailor made to beat wrestlers probably best takedown defense in the game.

Aldo didn’t face too many great strikers during his reign ( best one being Mark Hominick ). He ran into issues as soon as he faced great strikers in McGregor, Holloway, and Volk.

Aldo isn’t goat because he reigned in a era that was simply too early and he couldn’t make it in the next one.

 

[Kb7]

My nostalgia is saying Aldo is GOAT, but when Volkanovski best Max in rematches he probably is at this point. Max Holloway has the best resume at FW among those 3 fighters let alone the entire division.

 

[Lee Danger]

Aldo.

 

[r-harper-1]

Nope,
Still, Volk has 5 defenses and Max lost 3 times to Volk. Sure, one of the fights could have been a draw, it's disputable, but Volk was clearly the better fighter.
But if Max beats Ilia and defends a couple more times, probably.

Imo, Volk should get a rematch, if he wants one.
I know he was KTFO, but he had 5 defenses.
Also, Max will fight Gaethje and most probably he will take some damage in that fight, so I don't see him fight Ilia very soon.

Volk deserves a rematch……but that fight doesn’t get me excited at all ….style mismatch

 

[GOATtalks]

Aldo is the GOAT so no

Aldo lost to Conor, Max and Volk in his prime. He fought way lesser competition than today. Aldo had the advantage of fighting in FW divisions infancy, once division matured he no longer could held the title. He’s still an amazing fighter though

 

[ferrisjso]

It won't change the Max v Volk comp. It will make people write off the Illia loss as Volk being past it or a fluke.