Prime BJ Penn or Prime Khabib, a better fighter and career?

Reach4theSky said:
Before passing judgement people need to realize before the second Frankie fight BJ was 15 - 6 - 1. His losses were as follows..

Jens Pulver - Could of went either way..

Machida - Heavyweight..

GSP 1 - Razor close split decision. Could of went either way

Matt Hughes 2 - Legit loss

GSP 2 - Legit loss

Edgar 1 - BJ should of got the decision imo..

So had it not been for controversial or coin flip decisions BJ could have easily been 18 - 3 - 1 with his only loses being to two WW's (Prime GSP and Prime Hughes) and a HW Machida. In hindsight he probably should've retiried after the 2nd Frankie fight..
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Correct me if I’m wrong but Bj penn vs Hughes 2 was a late replacement over gsp . Bj took that fight on short notice and did not look cardio prepared .
 
BJ was a physical genius and a once in a generation talent.

Khabib smears him all over the floor, anytime, anywhere. He's the better fighter at any stage of their careers i think
 
I love BJ, but Khabib dominated a LW division that was deeper, more skilled, and just better in every way. And he STILL ran through most of the top fighters like they were bums. Sure he only had 3 title defenses, but in their heart of hearts, even Khabib haters know that he would beat guys like Chandler and Oliveira. He could've easily defended 6 times barely losing any rounds, we all know that.
 
Khabib had a do-nothing career. He's not even the Calzaghe of MMA.
 
Khabib was a better fighter and had the better career.
 
Khabib might have a perfect record on paper but he never challenged himself past getting the belt and defending it a few times. It was obvious through his career he was only concerned about keeping that perfect record at all costs. He retired young and in his prime. Aside from a handful of wins the rest are fluff. He is the Joe Calzaghe of MMA.
Prime BJ Penn was a killer who wasn't scared to face anyone anywhere at any weight.
 
This question can't be answered easily with data available. Two questions are asked by OP

Better Career? = Khabib
Khabib retired with far more fan boys, more money, and a "legacy" situation that makes it hard to argue against him as one of the best fighters ever. Unlike GSP he did retire after big wins. There was no question of him losing to anyone in the ranks on LW at that time. The only argument that can be made is that he didn't fight enough fights for GOAT status.

Better Fighter? = Impossible to answer
Khabib had such a short career compared to BJ. He never fought fighters that were in weight classes above where he can do his best. But he dominated fighters in his weight class with his only close fight being a long time before he got to the high level fights.

BJ was a far better fighter than his record shows. Unfortunately it is hard to even tell when he fell out of his prime because he fought in challenges that fighters would never fight if all they care about is their legacy. His best fighting days were probably shortened by challenging himself with too many fights in a weight class above where he fit best.
 
I like both guys, but not a fanboy of either. And it's a really tough call for me. I can see a clear case to be made for either guy.
 
Khabib.

Bj had extremely memorable highs but people tend to willingly ignore his lows because he's a nostalgic figure. I have mad respect for him tho. Man was fighter through and through.
 
BooBoyMan said:
BJ's fights at other weight classes has no bearing on who the greatest LW of all time is.

It's also fucking hilarious you think BJ had a better career than Khabib. If you want to say he's more legendary or whatever, go for it, but he absolutely did not have a better career than Khabib.
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he did if you think winning titles outside of your own weight class is more prestigious than staying in your lane. you can say those things have no bearing on his GOAT status at LW, but the TS is talking about just his overall career.

there's definitely an argument to be made that BJ achieved greater heights in terms of legacy. he was the first guy to be a champ in 2 weight classes in the history of UFC. he fought top fighters in much higher weight classes, even beating some while having competitive fights.

this is like arguing who you think is better Floyd Mayweather Jr or Muhammad Ali. 1 guy had a carefully constructed career that ended flawlessly, the other had losses but always rose up to fight and meet the challenges of his day.
 
Well prime BJ actually moved up and tooled the best WW in the world, matt Hughes.

Khabib is a fantastic fighter but he would never go up to WW and do the same thing
 
Khabib because BJ likes to share his gf.
 
Bj definitely took more risks, but in that sense he isn't just better than khabib, he is also greater than all the other GOAT candidates

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind who is the better, more dominant fighter and that is khabib
 
BooBoyMan said:
BJ's fights at other weight classes has no bearing on who the greatest LW of all time is.

It's also fucking hilarious you think BJ had a better career than Khabib. If you want to say he's more legendary or whatever, go for it, but he absolutely did not have a better career than Khabib.
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Maybe read the O.P first..

Didnt say shit about LW goat...

Which him and Khabib are tied..

Qualifications of a Divisional GOAT

1) win a title in any division
2) defend that title more times then any previous champion against ranked opponents...


Both khabib and Bj Penn did this 3 times...therefore there tied...


O.P is talking about better career..

And hands down being a two division champion is better then being 1 division champion and given that there tied for defenses it only strengthens Penn case for a better career..


But but khabib is undefeated...ya with over half those wins being against 3w -40L cans in russia...with no wiki pages...

Unlike BJ Penn record who is literally a list of the whos who of MMA past and present and future...

Its not even close..


Recency bias is a motherfucker tho...Prime Motivated Penn boxes Khabibs ears off with that awkward stand up defense khabib tries and likely flying knees him into the WW division had they met prime for prime...GSP and Hughes much bigger grapplers then khabib and Penn and they struggled to take him down...
 
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