Unpopular take: I'd already rank Pereira's resume above Khabib's

[WoozyFailGuy]

It's Prochazka, Blachowicz, Hill, Strickland and Adesanya (though he has 1 L with Adesanya as well and a VERY close fight with Jan) vs. Gaethje, Poirier, McGregor, Dos Anjos and let's say Barboza.

I think Pereira has more top quality wins, Nurmagomedov's are slightly better to me. Both were facing favourable matchups.

I don't think it's a wild comparison.

OP actually makes a decent point and people will now pretend Khabib wasn't facing cans for the first 20 fights of his career. Alex has certainly achieved more in the UFC by winning two titles in separate divisions, something Khabib was never going to do.
End of the day, the guy retired in his prime before he could truly prove himself as the best ever at the weightclass, let alone someone in a hypothetical goat discussion. The guy won his title off of Al Iaquinta lol

Fighting in the weight class you should have been in all along does not make you courageous.

Khabib looked dead on the scale almost every time he stepped on it LMAO. Alex at the very least looked normal every time he weighed in. Then he realized the dehydration was affecting him after the Izzy KO and he went up. Khabib would never even take a catch weight at 165 when they were discussing a fight with GSP, demanding that GSP make 155, knowing they were wolf tickets and that would literally never happen.

Khabib fans then make up these abstract reasons their fighter is the best ever.
"He was nevah cut bruddah"
"Khabib never lost a game of monopoly bruddah he OWNS the boardwalks bruddah"
"If Khabib felt like it, he would have defended for 20 more years and then won the WW and MW titles but he didn't feel like it"

 

[JoeRowe]

Khabib beat 2 UFC champions. Even if you include interim champs it's only 4.

Alex has already beaten 5.

It's definitely debatable but Khabib has him outdone against fighters with 0-2 records so that could put him over the top.

 

[markg171]

I like both fighters. However, Alex competes in two of the most shallow UFC divisions which are filled with mid-tier guys who are either not well-rounded whatsoever, or are just average to below average at everything. Khabib competed in arguably the most competitive UFC division.

Please tell me more about this.

Pereira just became the first LHW to successfully defend in 3 years, and the MW belt hasn't been successfully defended in 2 years. Both MW and LHW have had 4 champions since those. They also both have more champions in their history than LW.

LW being the deepest division is dick sucking nonsense invented by the Khabibtards cause they needed to something to try and cover up their far poorer resumes. It's not remotely true. Eddie Alvarez is the only LW champion in UFC history who never managed to successfully defend the belt when they tried.

 

[markg171]

Fighting in the weight class you should have been in all along does not make you courageous.

- Half Khabib's career was at WW
- he moved down to LW for the UFC
- repeatedly failed to make weight
- wanted old WWs like GSP to move down to him
- retired cause of the cuts
- is now 60lbs over his old weight class

But please tell me more about how Pereira is the one who was in the wrong weight class.

 

[arcadeperfect]

Poatan is the perfect example of quality over quantity. Most guys that have his level of competition from the get-go end up trading wins and losses. The fact that he's only lost once and has faced nothing but former, future, and current world champions and finished almost all of them is insane.

 

[arcadeperfect]

Khabib will go down as one of the bigger "what ifs" in the sports history.

Dude was an absolute stud; and barely ever lost a round; but only really ever had 4-5 marquis fights (are we including #11 ranked Iaquinta?)

Nope, Iaquinta doesn't count.

Khabib's best wins are:

Gaethje
Poirier
McGregor
Barboza
RDA

 

[arcadeperfect]

Khabib's record just like jones imo is a tad bit overrated for having zero losses


Both of them didnt fight as much as many other goat candidates. Body of work and strength of schedule should matter

Khabib's record doesn't compare to Jones at all. Khabib's reign barely compares with Jones' 2011 which to this day is still the most impressive year in the UFC.

 

[arcadeperfect]

29-0 vs 10-2 ….interesting

Quality over quantity. Even with his small number of fights, Alex has just as many top level wins as Khabib.

 

[arcadeperfect]

- Half Khabib's career was at WW
- he moved down to LW for the UFC
- repeatedly failed to make weight
- wanted old WWs like GSP to move down to him
- retired cause of the cuts
- is now 60lbs over his old weight class

But please tell me more about how Pereira is the one who was in the wrong weight class.

Don't forget the part where Khabib was the reason why his fight at UFC 209 got cancelled due to being rushed to the hospital for cutting too much weight.

 

[Megatronlee]

Who would you rather be?

 

[Blayt7hh]

Well yeah it’s going to be an unpopular take because it’s kind of a dumb take

 

[Stump]

The quality of his wins is simply higher, he's finished his opponents at a higher rate and he's always ready to fight while Khabib was extremely protective of his 0.


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Agreed. Khabib had enormous potential bht simply didn't challenge himself enough to be included among the all time greats.

I agree that khabib looked unbeatable and like he was clearly better than his peers. Unfortunately, he simply did not compile enough evidence of this likelihood. 4 top top 5 wins Is good, but not in the same tier as the greats.

Alex has already surpassed him in mma accomplishments.

Khabib is probably the #1 what could have been/undefeated record against mostly cans fighter in the world, but he's not in the same league as Alex, who had the balls to step into a new sport late in his career, become champ and then challenge himself in a weightclass above. Khabib is like the polar opposite of this. Refused even a catch weight against Georges.

 

[Stump]

Well yeah it’s going to be an unpopular take because it’s kind of a dumb take

Alex has a better record than khabib.

Sure, khabib was undefeated, but that's not as impressive as being a two division champion and fighting well past your physical prime, two things khabib would never even consider doing

 

[King in the North]

i don’t think so but the man is violence personified and that counts for something

 

[AbominableJoman]

Meh. Kablob had to fight nine times in ufc before his first title shot. Alex only 3….

 

[VonSupervillain]

Please tell me more about this.

Pereira just became the first LHW to successfully defend in 3 years, and the MW belt hasn't been successfully defended in 2 years. Both MW and LHW have had 4 champions since those. They also both have more champions in their history than LW.

LW being the deepest division is dick sucking nonsense invented by the Khabibtards cause they needed to something to try and cover up their far poorer resumes. It's not remotely true. Eddie Alvarez is the only LW champion in UFC history who never managed to successfully defend the belt when they tried.

A kickboxer with zero ground game became champion in his eighth MMA fight. That's all that needs to be said about MW. I like Alex, I've always rooted for him. But there's not a single dangerous fighter in MW besides Khamzat now. Strickland, Whittaker, Vettori, Cannonier, all just the same, generic fighter with average stand-up with no real knockout threat, no legitimate grappling threat. Everyone is just blah. And LHW has been full of sloppy bums for years. I hope Alex does well and will always root for him. Although, at MW or LHW, Khamzat finishes him in the first with ease. Those are just the facts, man.

 

[Ladder Master]

- Half Khabib's career was at WW
- he moved down to LW for the UFC
- repeatedly failed to make weight
- wanted old WWs like GSP to move down to him
- retired cause of the cuts
- is now 60lbs over his old weight class

But please tell me more about how Pereira is the one who was in the wrong weight class.

I agree with everything you said about Khabib.

One massive weight cutters decision to stay at LW does not mean the other is awesome for going where he belongs.

 

[Trabaho]

he's always ready to fight while Khabib was extremely protective of his 0.

I never heard Khabib turn down 1 single opponent. He retired on time, deal with it.

 

[pick999]

alex took way more chances and never played it safe

 

[Nobru]

I think what made Khabib so special and so highly regarded was his dominance.
Yeah his resume might not be among the best but his performances are mostly flawless. 29 wins without being knocked down or even barely bleeding is pretty remarkable
I wish we saw him fight longer

yup
his lack of longevity is what keeps him out from any 'serious' goat discussion (or whatever that means)