UFC 254: Khabib vs Justin G

[cowboyronnie]

Damn. I can't believe he had JG panicked in under 3 minutes. And he gave up the first minute. The moment he turned it on, JG cracked. He was heaving for breath and backpedaling. I'll have to rewatch to see how that even happened.

Khabib could definitely have finished that standing had he wanted to. Against, imo, the most fluid puncher in the sport.

I think JG had serious mental deficiencies. He was way too conciliatory afterwards. Like he was prepared for the scenario.

[REDDzone]

Let's disregard PEDs for a minute. Here is the conclusion that has taken me all day to come to ...

GSP is the most accomplished fighter of all time (and earns him GOAT status).
Khabib is the most dominant fighter of all time.
Jon Jones is the most talented fighter of all time (and is super underrated in the toughness/gritty department).
Silva is a great mix of accomplished, dominant and talented. He's not THE most at any of these though.

Not bad, but if we disregard PEDs then I think Jones has to still be considered the most dominant. Especially looking at his first 13 fights in the UFC (which is how many Khabib has). Interestingly it was his 14th fight (Gus) when he finally faced some adversity.

Yea, it's interesting to compare apples to apples like that, as Khabib's resume prior to UFC is garbage containing fighters with losing records, etc.

I am considering the full body of work for my list though, as Jones has at least 3 fights that he arguably lost (even though I think I personally scored 2 of the 3 for him).

[High 5]

That's not sustainable. Khabib's style is.

It did get him to 31-0 over 9 years. I know, I know, he didn't do it in the UFC. But Fedor has to be at least mentioned in any GOAT discussion. What he did as an undersized HW was unreal.

[cowboyronnie]

Justin is just such a great guy and role model

Objectively he's very dumb

He's served in a few too many photo ops with monsters cos golly gee I'm just a simple kid trying to make my mom proud.

That's hard to model yourself after

[Dupp]

Justin is just such a great guy and role model

Objectively he's very dumb

He's served in a few too many photo ops with monsters cos golly gee I'm just a simple kid trying to make my mom proud.

That's hard to model yourself after

I don't really care if he's dumb or not. If you start talking bout IQ in the cage then yeah that matters.

I just appreciate him being humble and being a respectful guy. Saying nice things to khabib after he lost. Same when he beat tony. "Being an a hole will get you nowhere" .. Talking about wanting to retire his parents etc.

I do agree he's a bit too nonchalant about the loss though. Seemed like whatever i had fun. I think hes just got a different perspective and drive than most though.



Khabib made him look bad though. Fight looked over midway through the first. Khabibs pressure was just way too much and justin looked stunned. Along with the pace there was just no way he could keep up. He was losing the striking, looked way too worried about the take downs and when he did get taken down it was just way too easy for khabib.

[cowboyronnie]

That's not sustainable. Khabib's style is.

It did get him to 31-0 over 9 years. I know, I know, he didn't do it in the UFC. But Fedor has to be at least mentioned inyou any GOAT discussion. What he did as an undersized HW was unreal.

He should be mentioned as a top 5 hw. That's significant enough.

But I always felt he was scraping by by the skin of his teeth. Lindland even had him in trouble til a rope grab.
You dont think that with Khabib. Who shuts down and steamrolls.

Fedor is impressive the most because he won in the wild west against a huge diversity of talent, maybe.

A lot of Fedors fights as an undersized HW were against LHWs and MWs. Lindland and Hendo, for example. Randleman, Cro Cop...Zulu's kid. These are not big guys.

[clyde21]

i wish he got to fight Tony as #1 and #2 but it just didn't happen, it's whatever, rolling thru McGregor, Poirier and Gaethje is no joke, and he rolled thru all of them will little doubt...Tony probably gives him the most fits, but even then, he probably rolls Tony too.

would've loved to see Khabib stay for 1 more fight, take the winner of Tony vs. Conor if it happens and then sail into the sun set, but it's all good...still Mt Rushmore for me.

[Susan]

My question is...who was the dude who beat Khabib in combat sambo? I feel like I watched that match a year or so ago. For those who don't know, combat sambo is literally just MMA with a gi top and shorts on lmao. And this dude beat Khabib handily. What could have been? What other dudes with crazy potential are rotting away somewhere unable to display their talent for WHATEVER reason? It's crazy to think about.

Watch on YouTube

He was 20 while Khabib was 17 which kind of takes a bit of the impressiveness off of it but I do think your point is a good and interesting one and kind of speaks to how underdeveloped the sport still is.

Francis was literally homeless when he started boxing at his gym and is now the greatest HW KO artist of all time
Chimaev just started training with pros at All Stars off of the street 3.5-4 years ago and is now two fights away from the belt
Mark Hunt CLEARLY never trained all that seriously
Tai Tuivasa was winging it and won his first 3 UFC fights at HW

Clearly we see it most at HW where there's just some freaking dudes out there who have this freakish KO power (Lewis, Francis, Tuivasa, Hunt) and can just reach the highest level based on that freak talent.

[Susan]

Damn. I can't believe he had JG panicked in under 3 minutes. And he gave up the first minute. The moment he turned it on, JG cracked. He was heaving for breath and backpedaling. I'll have to rewatch to see how that even happened.

Khabib could definitely have finished that standing had he wanted to. Against, imo, the most fluid puncher in the sport.

I think JG had serious mental deficiencies. He was way too conciliatory afterwards. Like he was prepared for the scenario.

JG got rolled on and was forced to accept that fact and give his respect.

He just got exposed but nobody else in the sport has the skillset to take advantage of those holes, he'll have the belt again IMO.

Way better than Connor tweeting this week about how he took rounds from Khabib and all of that delusional **** he's on.

[Dupp]

Khabib was still getting better which sucks. Like his last few fights were more and more impressive. Wish we could see more.

[Susan]

That's not sustainable. Khabib's style is.

It did get him to 31-0 over 9 years. I know, I know, he didn't do it in the UFC. But Fedor has to be at least mentioned inyou any GOAT discussion. What he did as an undersized HW was unreal.

He should be mentioned as a top 5 hw. That's significant enough.

But I always felt he was scraping by by the skin of his teeth. Lindland even had him in trouble til a rope grab.
You dont think that with Khabib. Who shuts down and steamrolls.

Fedor is impressive the most because he won in the wild west against a huge diversity of talent, maybe.

A lot of Fedors fights as an undersized HW were against LHWs and MWs. Lindland and Hendo, for example. Randleman, Cro Cop...Zulu's kid. These are not big guys.

Just kind of a function of HW. Stipe lost to DC/JDS/Struve and almost got put out by Overeem. It's just a risky game with those big boys. Can't compare the two.

[REDDzone]

My question is...who was the dude who beat Khabib in combat sambo? I feel like I watched that match a year or so ago. For those who don't know, combat sambo is literally just MMA with a gi top and shorts on lmao. And this dude beat Khabib handily. What could have been? What other dudes with crazy potential are rotting away somewhere unable to display their talent for WHATEVER reason? It's crazy to think about.

Watch on YouTube

He was 20 while Khabib was 17 which kind of takes a bit of the impressiveness off of it but I do think your point is a good and interesting one and kind of speaks to how underdeveloped the sport still is.

I feel like the list of MMA fighters (mostly OGs) who talked about how they started fighting and beating adults when they were in their teens (even younger than 17) is probably in the double digits. So I'm not even sure how much this detracts from my point tbh.

Just as one stupid example off the top of my head, Rory McDonald was legit finishing adults in the cage when he was 15-16 years old.

[Prez]

i wish he got to fight Tony as #1 and #2 but it just didn't happen, it's whatever, rolling thru McGregor, Poirier and Gaethje is no joke, and he rolled thru all of them will little doubt...Tony probably gives him the most fits, but even then, he probably rolls Tony too.

would've loved to see Khabib stay for 1 more fight, take the winner of Tony vs. Conor if it happens and then sail into the sun set, but it's all good...still Mt Rushmore for me.

What sucks is even if we did get the Tony fight it would've been well past Tony's best, he hasn't looked like the real El Cucuy in years. I feel like a 30-31 year old Tony about 5-6 years ago would be the only guy that could've put Khabib in some questionable/dangerous situations, not that he would've won but Khabib probably at least bleeds in that fight lol. Current Tony is just way past it and would've gotten ran over.

[Dupp]

Apparently two judges have Justin the first round. That’s crazy to me

[clyde21]

Islam now takes over as the best after Khabib from his group, let's see how far he can carry that torch, I like Islam but he's not Khabib of course

[Dupp]

Man Bones is more sensitive than MJ and Shaq. Dudes tweeting up a storm on why he’s the goat and p4p.

[Headliner]

Khabib, GSP, Bones and Spider top 4 all time not necessary in that order

Bones
GSP
Mouse
Silva
Miocic
DC
Fedor

All should be above Khabib imo.
Khabib probably next. If he stuck around for 3 more name fights and wins, then he’s up with the top.

lol c;mon Fedor?

Khabib is as deserving as anyone. He ran through Poirier, Conor, and JG. He could probably have KOd each of them standing, they were dominated in every aspect. He was landing hard rights on JG, **** JG's face up.

There is just no avenue to beat him. That has to be taken into consideration. Lucky strikes happen, sure. But, in that case, Sam Alvey could beat Stipe. But it's really not something we should expect. Khabib rolls through Tony and Chandler. He would be a massive fave in each fight. Like +500.

Fedor is the opposite. I never once thought Fedor was the GOAT. Because there were clear avenues for him to be beaten. I mean, he regularly WAS being beaten until he would land an overhand. That Japanese guy, Arlovski...guys were putting it on him. That's not sustainable. Khabib's style is.

Granted, expecting him to run through people is not the same as him running through people. But it should be factored in. He's near impossible to beat.

Ya I don’t rank Fedor high either, but historically his name was in the mix so I added him, but I’ll cede to him removed no problem. The others no.

[Headliner]

Khabib: Conor, JG, Dustin, RDA (Omitting: Johnson, Al and Barbosa)

Jones: cormier x2, Gus x2, shogun, machida, rampage, sonnen, Reyes, Glover, Rashad, Bader, OSP, Belfort, (Omitting: Vera, Hamil, Bonnar)

GSP: Hughes x2, Bisping, Kos x2, Shields, Diaz, Condit, Fitch, Hendrix, Pennx2, Hardy, Alves, Sherk (omit: Serra, Trigg, Kari)

DC: Stipe, Rumble, Gus, Volkov, Silva, Dan Henderson, Roy Nelson, Frank Mir, Barnett, Big Foot, Volkan, Derrick Lewis (omit: Cummins, Monsoon, cole),

Anderson: Belfort, Henderson, Maia, Sonnen x2, Forrest, Bonnar, Franklin, Nate M, Okami, Leites (Omit: Irvin, Leban)


For comparisons of guys not considered goats, but good:

Conor: Alveraz, Max Halloway, Aldo,Dustin Poirrer, Chad Mendez, Cowboy, Diaz (omit: Brando, Brimmage, Siver)

Usman: Masvidal, Colby, Woodly, RDA, Maia, Edwards,(omit: meek, Strickland, Moraes)

[Headliner]

Jones’ list is incredible
It’s a slap in the face to say he’s not the pound for pound best fighter until he actually loses

[Headliner]

Damn. I can't believe he had JG panicked in under 3 minutes. And he gave up the first minute. The moment he turned it on, JG cracked. He was heaving for breath and backpedaling. I'll have to rewatch to see how that even happened.

Khabib could definitely have finished that standing had he wanted to. Against, imo, the most fluid puncher in the sport.

I don’t think so at all.
It was frantic and crazy, but when JG Landed the leg kicks Khabib was buckeling. Khabib was also huffing too, he was struggling to breath during his interview still.
The whole thing coming in was JG had to survive 2 rounds and then Khabib, with a compromised weight cut might gas out enough that the takedowns are weak, which we’ve seen slightly in the past. Khabib fought like he knew that, and that was perfect game planning because it worked.
That said though, JG was winning the first round. Two judges gave him it. He had 15 significant leg strikes and they were huge. They were icing his legs in between the round.
Khabib mauled him, but the idea he was going to take him out on his feet, I don’t think so. The longer that stood up the more likely Khabibs leg is in the first row.