If Volkanovski retired today, who would you rank higher all time between him and Khabib?

[ThaiSexPills]

Volk by a mile. Do Bronx matched Khabib’s LW run in like 1.5 years. Yes, Khabib was good but part of being the GOAT is sticking around.

Volk may have even been able to beat Khabib at LW.

 

[ChimRichalds]

Volk. Khabib just didn't stick around long enough.

 

[Soggust]

MMA fans weight things differently than other sports.

If MMA fans judged the NFL - Emmitt Smith would be the GOAT RB. In reality, no football fan considers him that.

Sometimes the GOAT argument can be a bit more than the resume, imo.

 

[old school 2]

Khabib never lost and generally finished. Volko generally decisions and has multiple losses. Not even close.

 

[Soggust]

i basically agree with this, simply going up in weight to get destroyed isn’t a positive mark on a fighter’s legacy. but it does matter how the fight itself unfolded. if the fight ends in a controversial or extremely close decision (or is at least competitive), there’s an argument that things could play out differently in the rematch. and, in the context of a “pound-for-pound” discussion, there is an argument that the weight disparity made a difference. that’s pretty much where volk is. it’s similar to where bj penn was after his first gsp fight. but unlike bj, i think volk is disciplined enough to win the rematch decisively.

I don't love applying much context to fights because I don't feel people really apply it fairly across the board and many people use it to justify their biases and completely trump everything else, when maybe it should be a factor but not the determination.

But with that being said I do think you're right that BJ moving up against GSP and losing or Volk moving up against Islam and losing are both more impressive than say, a Conor moving up and losing to Diaz (ignore the strength of competition for a second, just the way they were beaten).

For me, however, it's a minor difference when I consider "he went up and lost to a great guy" vs "he went up and lost, but later finished that guy and also moved and beat a champion", you know? The reason Volk is clearly better than Conor is the entirety of the resume, not just the difference in moving up.

So while I don't necessarily weight Volk moving up and losing to Islam positively, it's the entirety of Volks resume that gives him a very compelling argument to me over Khabib, if that makes sense.

 

[Grill master]

I voted volk but wouldn't get offended if either argument was made. Both ATGs in any healthy debate.