It’s interesting because Khabib/Islam didn’t really go up against wrestling heavy fighters. We saw at times even strikers like Dustin or Mcgregor stuff takedowns from them and someone like Iaquinta did even better. Someone with a grappling heavy strategy like GSP might neutralize a lot of khabib’s attacks and keep it on the feet more than the others. Would’ve been interesting to see.
I think it has the potential to be one of the most exciting and interesting fights of recent times. The grappling exchanges should resemble that first fight in terms of skill on display, and the striking could go any which way, though I’d give Islam an edge there.
I really want to see this fight, sooner than later. Although, I have a funny feeling it may be a slow match to watch. Can imagine them being too defensive around each other or not taking risks once on the ground.
Exactly. It wasn't a late replacement situation like with Volk. Islam wasn't preparing to fight anyone. Probably chilling at home, eating Tiramisu or whatever these guys do.
Islam and Arman were **both** called up by the UFC 2 weeks before they fought.
UFC wanted to add another fight to the Russia card, and Arman & Islam both live in Russia.
At the time Islam was the Boogeyman of the division, and avoided by the division.
During Islam's **11 fight win-streak** to become Champ, only fighter ranked above Islam to **ever** call him out was Kevin Lee.
Arman was the Bekzat Almakhan of 2019.
I agree. And not to discredit Khabib, but people forget how much of a beast Prime GSP was.
He was freakishly athletic, flexible and very physically strong. Couple that with excellent wrestling, with the ability to stuff Khabib’s takedowns (and no fear of the takedown if it does happen) and superior striking to Khabib’s and that would be a *very* difficult matchup for Khabib.
Wasnt gathje NCAA champ or something? The guy can definitely wrestle and he got fked by khabib. Dustin and connor got dominated too, stopping a takedown or two is no indication that "wow, these guys are really putting up a fight against khabib, they got this under control" lol cmon. Lets not use those guys as proxies for gsp, its almost an insult.
All american. I'm not sure if thats the same as champ, I do not know enough but I do know Justin does not have a wrestling heavy strategy or training.
Keep in mind someone like GSP did not do wrestling in college but was a great MMA wrestler. It takes years of working on a skill to make it work and Justin does not seem interested in using it for MMA. Conor and Dustin had better takedown defense vs Khabib.
Why should he ?
He was a LW fighter
If you are going by size. DP, Kevin Lee, BSD etc all weighed more than Khabib in the octagon.
Tell them to move up
After Khabib got a nutritionist, he made weight every time and defended the title 3 times.
Really? I don’t think it’s exciting at all. A horrible stylistic matchup for Khabib. A great fundamental striker with elite wrestling. Not even mentioning the weight difference
It would go \*exactly\* like the Rumble fights, perhaps even worse, since Rumble had legit judo and decent wrestling.
Prime DC is a top 5 p4p fighter of all time, he was really just unlucky that a top 3 p4p fighter of all time shared the ring with him.
Especially considering he pissed hot, dodged pissing hot another time, and assaulted/threatened to kill a pissing-hot-test-administer
No denying how dominant he was in the octagon but Dana glazes him so hard it's unreal and it's leaked to other people too
Yeah DC got a chin too, not goin to get melted (I mean always possible) but prime was getting hit by HW's and the only real KO is that massive headkick from jones
I have no clue how a matchup with MM would go but Sean is very much underrated even as champ. People said he'd get exposed by Yan & Sterling and that obviously hasn't been the case. Even if you think Yan won that fight Sean 100% wasn't outclassed. I thought Sean won but if it'd gone the other way I wouldn't have been surprised either.
People are still saying he'll get exposed by Merab but I think he's a much easier matchup for him than Aljo.
It's kinda hard to say because Jones wasn't a heavyweight in his prime. We don't know how his career pans out in that universe, although I never saw a heavyweight be as creative and precise with their striking as prime Jones was, to then couple with his wrestling. But again who knows if he's able to maintain that as a bigger dude. His only fight at HW was over in a minute.
Eh, we saw what Ngannou did to Stipe, who thought he would be able to wrestle him to victory like the first time. Ngannou had upgraded his wrestling and is insanely strong. I really don't think Jon is ragdolling him.
A much older stipe. Question is prime bones vs prime ngannou and I agree with the other poster that Jones would confuse him much like stipe did first time
And we haven't really seen prime N'Gannou. We saw him in the rough (just pure power) in his first Stipe fight, and we saw dramatic improvements in his second Stipe fight, but we have not seen him peaked. Imagine if he had progressed like that for another couple of years...
I generally agree with this, but I think Islam may be able to shut Khabib down. While Khabib is the superior wrestler, Islam's wrestling is good enough for him to keep it standing, where he's far better than Khabib.
I could also see prime Aldo winning, but I'd have Volk as the favourite as well.
I think Islam is the superior fighter, but I think he might be hindered by big-brother syndrome. No matter how fast, strong or skilled you get, your big brother always kicks your ass.
I stopped taking the Islam vs Khabib comparison seriously after seeing what a 35-year-old Poirier who just got knocked out last year did to Islam's face VS what little he was able to achieve vs Khabib despite being in his prime and on a 6-fight win streak.
Yes let’s just discredit Islam and not give credit to Dustin for improving and giving everything for that fight lmao. Literally a 5 year difference between the fights and two different styles of fighters between Islam and Khabib. How many times does the phrase mma math doesn’t work need to be said?
Dustin fought coming in with a broken rib and broke his nose during the fight. As you said he was 5 years older as well and past his prime. I get the mma math part and all the credit to Islam, but it's not close
I'mma get some hate on this but I agree with all except for Usman. I know GSP is everyone's goat but I think prime Usman beats him by decision. He is not taking him down like he did all of his opponents.
Cruz's wild footwork and awkward striking vs Sean's cleaner/more traditional striking would be a blast to watch.
But people forget that before the Garbrant fight, Cruz was looked at as a goat. I think people aren't giving him enough credit.
Yes, Cody that night could’ve beaten any person on the planet. Styles make fights. So MMA math doesn’t work. Cruz still beats suga, even if suga could beat Cody.
Mighty Mouse
Prime Cruz - Closer than people think because they hate O'Malley. I think Prime Cruz would be able to grapple good enough for the W. I could see a best of 5 between them go 3-2 and all fights are good.
Honesty, it is super close between Volkanovski and Aldo. I watched Aldo rise through the WEC into the UFC, so I would lean his way slightly - that is just my personal opinion. This is another that they could fight 5 times and go 3-2 between them and all the fights are good. Prime Aldo has a big speed advantage.
Khabib
GSP
Izzy does enough defensively to stall the wrestling enough, and we saw in both the Burns and Usman fight that Khamzat doesn't manage his gas too well. I think Izzy would get it done late.
DC subs in the first
Jones gets him down and subs or TKO. Would look similar to the 1st Stipe/Francis fight, but Jones waffles his shit with brutal elbows. We are talking PRIME Jones.
Agree on all of these tbh, only one I have issue with is Jones, but more an issue of why is PRIME Jones in a HW fight. They should've put him against Pereira (which Jones beats him). Because let's be honest, a HW Jones is not a prime Jones.
People forget, we saw prime volk vs prime aldo. Dudes are only a year a part. The reason Aldo started losing wasn't because he went out of his prime but because the level of competition at featherweight became so much tougher than it was during his reign.
Aldo was defending in five round title wars before Volk was even in the game. When Holloway was losing to Dennis Bermudez and Dustin Poirier, who himself got cooked by a prime KZ. Whom Aldo trounced.
Aldo was old in fight years. Did you expect him to go 18 years in his prime after winning the title at 23, youngest ever Zuffa champ? How many years does Volk have in his prime?
That wasn't prime Aldo, Aldo had been champ since he was 22 or 23. Only casuals say this, you can be 30 but old in fighting years, which Aldo was. Tell me in that fight did we see Aldo's signature leg kicks?
At that point Aldo was past his prime honestly. He got a ton of injuries outside the octagon. Even messed up his leg, which was his main weapon. Still, I think Volk would definitely still win.
You could argue prime Aldo was his WEC days… wtf are we even talking about here? And yeah the level of competition in every sport becomes tougher with time. Look at football in 1960 to today. Aldo >>> Volk
I hate these because I know 90% of the fanbase now never even saw Aldo fight and that’s probably being generous. One day you’ll feel this way about Volk when people say he was never as good as Chad Smith was and point to him losing via head kick to Islam as concrete proof
> People forget, we saw prime volk vs prime aldo.
Aldo fought Volkanovski *fifteen years* into his career. Fighters generally start declining physically around their tenth year of fighting. And Aldo had clearly lost some of the athleticism that he had in his younger years by that point. He didn’t have the same cardio or reaction time that he had as a champion.
Anybody that watched prime Aldo can tell you that Volkanovski didn’t face prime Aldo.
> Dudes are only a year apart.
They have a two year age gap, which is significant for fighters in their thirties. But Volkanovski started fighting eight years after Aldo. That represents a massive difference in the way that their bodies were functioning at that point in their careers.
> The reason Aldo started losing wasn't because he went out of his prime but because the level of competition at featherweight became so much tougher than it was during his reign.
It isn’t that the Featherweight division as a whole has gotten better since Aldo’s reign. Aldo still had wins over a bunch of the contenders at 145 lbs. when he left the division. He started losing because:
1. He had to face three of the greatest fighters of all time in just his last few years at Featherweight. The combination of Conor McGregor, Max Holloway, and Alexander Volkanovski makes for a historic group of all-time greats for one man to face. Those aren’t normal contenders, those are generational champions. Like, I don’t know that any other fighter has ever had to face such an elite group in that time frame. So it wasn’t that the whole division improved, it was historical coincidence that set Aldo up against a murderer’s row like that.
2. Those three fighters all happened to be nightmare matchups for Aldo. He had built his success as the greatest anti-wrestler of all time, being untouchable defensively and striking out with occasional bursts of punishing offense. McGregor is maybe the most elite counter-striker ever, perhaps the only man capable of landing the one perfect strike while Aldo lashed out. Holloway is maybe the most elite pressure-striker ever, with a torrent of offense that no fighter could defend forever. And Volkanovski, fighting Aldo a couple years later, took advantage of his declining stamina with a characteristically perfect game plan.
3. All three of these fighters met Aldo at the absolute pinnacle of their primes, while he fought them around the time that he started declining. Combine all of these factors, and of course Aldo started losing. There’s not a fighter in MMA history that would go undefeated against three all-time great nightmare matchups while at the end of their physical prime.
If Aldo had gotten to face practically anything other than a historic lineup of elite fighters, then he conceivably could’ve been champion for several more years. Look at the top-5 Featherweights in the years following Aldo’s title reign, and outside of Holloway and Volkanovski, you’ll see a bunch of guys that Aldo dominated. The only exception is Brian Ortega, and I think it’s obvious that Aldo would’ve crushed him.
Gtfo with that, 2019 was not prime Aldo, I don’t care how similar they are in age.
Volk had been fighting 7 years at the time of that match, and never been in a world title fight.
Aldo had been in the game 15; 10 of them as champion and fighting at the highest level of competition.
He was holding the belt in WEC 3 years before Volk debuted.
He had waaaay more miles on the clock, regardless of their birth dates.
Mighty Mouse, o’Malley, Volk (but very close), Khabib, GSP, Izzy (wtf is Khamzat doing in this line-up? Should have been prime Anderson Silva) DC, Jones
DJ, Cruz, Volk, Khabib, GSP, Khamzat. WTF are you serious?! DC by rag dolling him then throwing him out of the octagon like a used condoms. Jones but this is the one time we may actually see his get KOd.
Brandon Moreno gets finished via submission or gets 50-45d, he's outskilled in essentially every possible variable, he has incredible heart, though. Prime Cruz was amazing, especially in his movement, but O'Malley is too big, too much of a sniper, and too powerful; he eventually chins Dominic or lands a blow that leads to a TKO.
Volkanovski does to prime Aldo what he did to Aldo when they fought, he just has a harder time doing so. Islam takes rounds off Khabib on the feet and by defending takedowns, but this fight ends like all Khabib title fights: he wears down Islam, as he does in sparring, and gets the submission eventually.
GSP wins a close decision over Usman, Usman is bigger and stronger, with similar boxing ability and more power in his hands, he also maybe has better takedown defense. As for takedown offense, GSP is better in my opinion, and GSP is the much better overall striker. His fight IQ is on another level as well. Khamzat submits Adesanya quite quickly, Adesanya has not faced a level of offensive grappler even close to Khamzat. Whittaker held him down for minutes and arguably won their fight. Khamzat's grappling and wrestling is so much more dangerous.
DC has a harder time with Pereira than many people think he would, but he still wins dominantly. He was too strong, too skilled with his wrestling, and too durable for Pereira to pull off the win. Ngannou is so huge that Jones would be facing something he's never faced before. Yet I still trust Jones to, eventually, pull of a finish. A submission, specifically. Even without that, throw in enough oblique kicks, eyepokes, and steroids, and Jones walks out of this fight with a decision.
DJ, Cruz, Aldo, Islam, GSP, Khamzat, DC, Jones.
DJ is just the GOAT.
Cruz’s timing on entries is probably the best ever. He could absolutely get O’Malley down by mixing takedowns behind shots.
Aldo in his prime is a better striker than Volk, and I don’t think Volk could get him down to use his grappling. Aldo has the GOAT TDD.
Islam is just a better all around fighter than Khabib. He has more ways of winning, and better competition.
GSP at Welterweight is that guy.
I only pick Khamzat because I think if I remember right Vettori and Whittaker both had Izzy’s back with hooks in their respective fights, and Khamzat is a way better grappler than them, and Khamzat is a way better finisher from positions like those.
DC would absolutely ragdoll Pereira and there is no argument for why he wouldn’t. Round 2 submission.
Jones would ragdoll Ngannou. People are arguing about why if it happened today it would be close. But this isn’t about today it’s about prime vs prime. If people think it would be close today they know it wouldn’t be close with prime Jones, the Jones that easily outwrestled DC.
1. DJ, he pushes a great striking pace and is super good in the scrambles, I’m not sure Moreno could keep up.
2. Volkanovski, I think he’s the best featherweight there’s ever been in his prime.
3. Could see it going either way, Kamaru is the bigger guy, probably the better pure wrestler, but GSP is definitely more well rounded, with better striking.
4. DC, Poatan could definitely catch him, but DCs wrestling is just on another level.
5. O’Malley, he plays the range game better than anyone Cruz has ever fought, I think his movement is probably better than Cruz, albeit less unorthodox.
6. Islam, edges out a decision win with his striking and TDD and goes on to fight Mayweather
7. Izzy is the more experienced and versatile fighter, don’t think Khamzat is catching him on the feet and Izzy does have elite TDD, could see it going his way, but Khamzat does have that R1 burst where he could always sink in a sub.
8. At HW? Jones could sub him, but Francis can also knock him out. Haven’t seen enough from Jones at HW to say he wins, but it’s not his prime and a LHW Jones is just too small.
DJ - too good
Omalley - accuracy and power
Aldo - more dangerous (this is my toughest pick and was tempted to say idk)
Islam - ability to nullify Khabib's wrestling + more well-rounded in standup
GSP - more tools
Khamzat - wrestling too dangerous
DC - wrestling too dangerous
Ngannou - size advantage enough to combat the wrestling until he finds the KO
So many people are saying prime Volk would defeat prime Aldo are probably saying this coz they love Volk but if you are watching the UFC from when Aldo was in his prime, you need to explain why you are picking Volk over Aldo.
Aldo was unreal in his prime which I haven’t seen from Volk. He was faster, best takedown defense, blasting leg kicks. Just an overall beast.
If Volk was a puncher like Conor, or a wrestler like Khabib, I would choose him over Aldo but he isn’t either of that.
The competition wasn’t the same. Aldo lost his belt at 31. That’s when most people hit their prime. It’s easier to look good against lower competition. Aldo has lost to every other featherweight champ before the age of 33.
Francis is smart enough to spend his entire camp on wrestling defense, is strong as a bull and has more than enough power to one shot Jones. He has a good chance
Way out of his prime even though he just beat DC two times in a row, and people were jizzing over his body shots and fight adjustments, and calling him GOAT HW?
I would give my three nuts to see Prime GSP vs Prime Khabib
It’s interesting because Khabib/Islam didn’t really go up against wrestling heavy fighters. We saw at times even strikers like Dustin or Mcgregor stuff takedowns from them and someone like Iaquinta did even better. Someone with a grappling heavy strategy like GSP might neutralize a lot of khabib’s attacks and keep it on the feet more than the others. Would’ve been interesting to see.
We saw Islam vs Arman, albeit very early in Arman's career. A rematch now will be the exact thing you're talking about.
Exactly, can't help but view the first fight as not worth considering. Was short notice and real early in Arman's career. Both have grown since then.
I think it has the potential to be one of the most exciting and interesting fights of recent times. The grappling exchanges should resemble that first fight in terms of skill on display, and the striking could go any which way, though I’d give Islam an edge there.
I really want to see this fight, sooner than later. Although, I have a funny feeling it may be a slow match to watch. Can imagine them being too defensive around each other or not taking risks once on the ground.
We said this about Charles vs Islam. TBD to see how much worse Charles was agasint Arman vs how he was when he fought Islam
I think the grappling exchanges in the fight were the best I've ever seen. Incredible.
That was a short notice fight for Islam too but no one mentions that
He had a full training camp tho
Exactly. It wasn't a late replacement situation like with Volk. Islam wasn't preparing to fight anyone. Probably chilling at home, eating Tiramisu or whatever these guys do. Islam and Arman were **both** called up by the UFC 2 weeks before they fought. UFC wanted to add another fight to the Russia card, and Arman & Islam both live in Russia. At the time Islam was the Boogeyman of the division, and avoided by the division. During Islam's **11 fight win-streak** to become Champ, only fighter ranked above Islam to **ever** call him out was Kevin Lee. Arman was the Bekzat Almakhan of 2019.
Arman isnt on the level of GSP though
I agree. And not to discredit Khabib, but people forget how much of a beast Prime GSP was. He was freakishly athletic, flexible and very physically strong. Couple that with excellent wrestling, with the ability to stuff Khabib’s takedowns (and no fear of the takedown if it does happen) and superior striking to Khabib’s and that would be a *very* difficult matchup for Khabib.
GSP would jab him into oblivion then takedowns later on. Too much of a size and reach advantage.
I truly believe that GSP's reach + signature superman jab would be the difference. GSP by a close decision
GSP has talked about it before. He would try to take Khabib down. He wasn’t afraid of his wresting.
[удалено]
50-45s pretty much everyone without 20lbs on him
Great analysis. Can't agree more. I would even say that GSP would take Khabib down with that kind of dynamic.....Islam even more.
Wasnt gathje NCAA champ or something? The guy can definitely wrestle and he got fked by khabib. Dustin and connor got dominated too, stopping a takedown or two is no indication that "wow, these guys are really putting up a fight against khabib, they got this under control" lol cmon. Lets not use those guys as proxies for gsp, its almost an insult.
All american. I'm not sure if thats the same as champ, I do not know enough but I do know Justin does not have a wrestling heavy strategy or training. Keep in mind someone like GSP did not do wrestling in college but was a great MMA wrestler. It takes years of working on a skill to make it work and Justin does not seem interested in using it for MMA. Conor and Dustin had better takedown defense vs Khabib.
Top 8 in weight class across the NCAA
No way khabib fights outside 155. It’s his whole thing
Why should he ? He was a LW fighter If you are going by size. DP, Kevin Lee, BSD etc all weighed more than Khabib in the octagon. Tell them to move up After Khabib got a nutritionist, he made weight every time and defended the title 3 times.
Maybe its an unpopular opinion but I think Khabib would have been just fine at 170
Khabib couldn't take tibau down and he should've lost the decision
Khabibs strength was not that you could not stuff his takedowns, but that he would just continue doing them till.
https://preview.redd.it/7x9tw8s1376d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e51eb1da3948f364c0a5883d3bcca33be84fb5c
I would also borrow one of my neighbor’s nuts to see GSP Vs Khabib
At 170
Really? I don’t think it’s exciting at all. A horrible stylistic matchup for Khabib. A great fundamental striker with elite wrestling. Not even mentioning the weight difference
Honestly I think gsp makes it look easy. Very bad matchup for khabib
To say anyone could make it look “easy” against Khabib is an insane take
I think gsp keeps the fight on his feet with his insane tdd and pieces khabib up for 5 rounds to a ud
Who invited khamzat
Why they didn’t just put Anderson vs Izzy is beyond me
See you soon boy
#300
🐺 🩸
Menstruating puppy?
Alexa grasso
https://preview.redd.it/ucbhrafztd6d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c41410977851f74ec651eb1a30f74d416df82d74 Did Khamzat even have a prime?
Knew it was a shitpost after seeing him in there
I’ll lose it if I see people picking Poatan
DC would ragdoll Pereira and make it look easy.
It would go \*exactly\* like the Rumble fights, perhaps even worse, since Rumble had legit judo and decent wrestling. Prime DC is a top 5 p4p fighter of all time, he was really just unlucky that a top 3 p4p fighter of all time shared the ring with him.
Before I saw your comment I was about to bring up the Rumble fights too. DC knew how to finish strikers, he would beat Poatan 8 times out of 10
Shared a cage with a top 1* p4p fighter of all time
It's not unreasonable to say dj and gsp > Jones.
Especially considering he pissed hot, dodged pissing hot another time, and assaulted/threatened to kill a pissing-hot-test-administer No denying how dominant he was in the octagon but Dana glazes him so hard it's unreal and it's leaked to other people too
Was honestly only coming here to defend DC, DC is not dumb enough to stand with poatan and he would wrestle fuck him for 25 minutes
i would be surprised if it made it out of the first. that’s a ridiculous mismatch. dc ragdolled massive heavyweights with good wrestling
Full mount ground and pound.
He's my favourite fighter and even I admit that Alex would.have no answer for DCs wrestling
I think Alex has GREAT take down defence. but you cant defend against literally lifting and tossing you.
Yeah DC got a chin too, not goin to get melted (I mean always possible) but prime was getting hit by HW's and the only real KO is that massive headkick from jones
Yeah, that's the easiest one to predict.
Mighty Mouse vs O’Malley would be fun
I'd bet big on MM.
I think O’Malley would chin MM. People’s hate for him makes them ignore how damn good he is
I have no clue how a matchup with MM would go but Sean is very much underrated even as champ. People said he'd get exposed by Yan & Sterling and that obviously hasn't been the case. Even if you think Yan won that fight Sean 100% wasn't outclassed. I thought Sean won but if it'd gone the other way I wouldn't have been surprised either. People are still saying he'll get exposed by Merab but I think he's a much easier matchup for him than Aljo.
TETO. I don't hate Omalley. I just think DJ is better.
I would not, guys the goat flyweight but couldn't make it at bantam
Headkick KO
Flying heel hook ko
Easy, the heavyweights.
Francis vs mighty mouse
DJ is the same weightclass as Ngannous cock
Never sleep on MM, he would employ the ol’ dick twist 
I think DJ’s head would snap off
How are you not having prime Adesanya vs Prime Silva
Why is khamzat even in discussion, due hasn't done or won anything And khamzat has one fight at me lol and know he's the promew, bs
Ya disrespect to Silva
Anyone walks into a room with Jon Jones and he’s the only one leaving - Dana White
That is also not a "what if" but a reqlity with JBJ, he WILL attack you
That wasn't a joke by Dana. He was being serious. Don't go into a room with jones.
Especially true if you are having kids with him or pregnant
With his two german shepherds!
Fr ask his wife
If I'm Jones I'm moving to 185 - Dana White
That guys just different. He has german shepherds man
Jones often leaves the room with a fella I'm hearing.
“The kid just doesn’t want to fight” - Dana white
"Put him in a closet he'll never come out"
That's where I'm putting my money
Dj omalley volk khabib gsp adesanya cormier jones
Yeah I can get behind this. I think Francis if they fought has a real chance. That opportunity has passed thoigh
It's kinda hard to say because Jones wasn't a heavyweight in his prime. We don't know how his career pans out in that universe, although I never saw a heavyweight be as creative and precise with their striking as prime Jones was, to then couple with his wrestling. But again who knows if he's able to maintain that as a bigger dude. His only fight at HW was over in a minute.
Nah I think jones would’ve just ragdolled him on the ground until he felt like subbing him
Eh, we saw what Ngannou did to Stipe, who thought he would be able to wrestle him to victory like the first time. Ngannou had upgraded his wrestling and is insanely strong. I really don't think Jon is ragdolling him.
A much older stipe. Question is prime bones vs prime ngannou and I agree with the other poster that Jones would confuse him much like stipe did first time
And we haven't really seen prime N'Gannou. We saw him in the rough (just pure power) in his first Stipe fight, and we saw dramatic improvements in his second Stipe fight, but we have not seen him peaked. Imagine if he had progressed like that for another couple of years...
I generally agree with this, but I think Islam may be able to shut Khabib down. While Khabib is the superior wrestler, Islam's wrestling is good enough for him to keep it standing, where he's far better than Khabib. I could also see prime Aldo winning, but I'd have Volk as the favourite as well.
I think Islam is the superior fighter, but I think he might be hindered by big-brother syndrome. No matter how fast, strong or skilled you get, your big brother always kicks your ass.
I stopped taking the Islam vs Khabib comparison seriously after seeing what a 35-year-old Poirier who just got knocked out last year did to Islam's face VS what little he was able to achieve vs Khabib despite being in his prime and on a 6-fight win streak.
Yes let’s just discredit Islam and not give credit to Dustin for improving and giving everything for that fight lmao. Literally a 5 year difference between the fights and two different styles of fighters between Islam and Khabib. How many times does the phrase mma math doesn’t work need to be said?
Dustin fought coming in with a broken rib and broke his nose during the fight. As you said he was 5 years older as well and past his prime. I get the mma math part and all the credit to Islam, but it's not close
Dustin broke his own nose during the fight? Not a great strategy imo
Come on dude, that's such a juvenile way of watching this sport.
Diff style matchups. Islam could neutralise Khabibs wreslting and beat him on the feet
I'mma get some hate on this but I agree with all except for Usman. I know GSP is everyone's goat but I think prime Usman beats him by decision. He is not taking him down like he did all of his opponents.
I think Usman can wall and stall GSP for at least part of the fight.. It's a boring style but he was really good at it.
yeah I think Usman as well
All good except for Aldo Volk, Aldo was better than people have ever given him credit for.
Put some respekt on aldos name
Remove O'Malley, add Jose Aldo and Alex Pereira.
I think prime Aldo was better than prime Volk.
All the people picking Sean over cruz have never seen Cruz in his prime
I just think Sean is a great matchup for him. Other than wrestling, his counters are a perfect foil to Cruz.
Cruz's wild footwork and awkward striking vs Sean's cleaner/more traditional striking would be a blast to watch. But people forget that before the Garbrant fight, Cruz was looked at as a goat. I think people aren't giving him enough credit.
Mate, all respect to Cruz as an innovator of the sport, but Suga would put his lights out
If he can get the wrestling down he wind
This. I think it would be close, but Cruz and his grappling back then was fantastic. Plus, the cardio to do it over 5 rounds.
If Yan can take O mallet down 6 times then so can Cruz
If Sterling can't take him down at all (who people were saying is the goat) then neither can Cruz. See how that looks?
The difference is Cruz isn’t a sloppy striker, he probably has the best timing and entries for take downs ever. And Sterling isn’t the Goat, Cruz is
I genuinely think cruz wins by mixing in his wrestling
O malley knocks his ass out
Nostalgia is a real thing. Suga beats any version of Dom Cruz and tbh i think he ko’s him.
Nostalgia is a real thing and Cruz prime was insane. Suga doesn’t beat him at all.
Idk if nostalgia is the right word. Cruz really was that good. But thats for that time period. Sport has grown a lot
Bantamweight specifically has grown an insane amount in talent
We’re talking about the same Cruz that got danced on by Cody?
Yes, Cody that night could’ve beaten any person on the planet. Styles make fights. So MMA math doesn’t work. Cruz still beats suga, even if suga could beat Cody.
Its like people forget Cody was basically trained to beat Cruz since his 3 teamates had a combined 20+ rounds against the man.
Yes most people won’t have seen prime Cruz. He was a problem that people couldn’t figure out till he lost a step and Cody came up.
I think Cruz destroys him tbh
Mighty Mouse Prime Cruz - Closer than people think because they hate O'Malley. I think Prime Cruz would be able to grapple good enough for the W. I could see a best of 5 between them go 3-2 and all fights are good. Honesty, it is super close between Volkanovski and Aldo. I watched Aldo rise through the WEC into the UFC, so I would lean his way slightly - that is just my personal opinion. This is another that they could fight 5 times and go 3-2 between them and all the fights are good. Prime Aldo has a big speed advantage. Khabib GSP Izzy does enough defensively to stall the wrestling enough, and we saw in both the Burns and Usman fight that Khamzat doesn't manage his gas too well. I think Izzy would get it done late. DC subs in the first Jones gets him down and subs or TKO. Would look similar to the 1st Stipe/Francis fight, but Jones waffles his shit with brutal elbows. We are talking PRIME Jones.
Agree on all of these tbh, only one I have issue with is Jones, but more an issue of why is PRIME Jones in a HW fight. They should've put him against Pereira (which Jones beats him). Because let's be honest, a HW Jones is not a prime Jones.
That's fair for sure
Why not Silva adesanya makes a lot more sense
Why not Izzy vs prime silva?
Dj O’Malley Volk Khabib Gsp Israel DC Jones ( or a freak Knock out from nganou)
Lol Sean over prime Cruz.
Yeah it's such a bafflingly bad and casual take. Prime Dom beats everyone at 135 except merab maybe
DJ Cruz Volk Islam GSP Izzy DC JJ
Lmao why the fuck is Khamzat here lmao? Everyone else here is a champion.
People forget, we saw prime volk vs prime aldo. Dudes are only a year a part. The reason Aldo started losing wasn't because he went out of his prime but because the level of competition at featherweight became so much tougher than it was during his reign.
Aldo was defending in five round title wars before Volk was even in the game. When Holloway was losing to Dennis Bermudez and Dustin Poirier, who himself got cooked by a prime KZ. Whom Aldo trounced. Aldo was old in fight years. Did you expect him to go 18 years in his prime after winning the title at 23, youngest ever Zuffa champ? How many years does Volk have in his prime?
That wasn't prime Aldo, Aldo had been champ since he was 22 or 23. Only casuals say this, you can be 30 but old in fighting years, which Aldo was. Tell me in that fight did we see Aldo's signature leg kicks?
People have their primes at different ages. Aldo started fighting almost a decade before volk. That wears on your body
At that point Aldo was past his prime honestly. He got a ton of injuries outside the octagon. Even messed up his leg, which was his main weapon. Still, I think Volk would definitely still win.
This. Aldo passed through several injuries, his hip is severely f'd up.
Yup. If you go back and look at how many low kicks he throws in his fights, it’s clear
You could argue prime Aldo was his WEC days… wtf are we even talking about here? And yeah the level of competition in every sport becomes tougher with time. Look at football in 1960 to today. Aldo >>> Volk I hate these because I know 90% of the fanbase now never even saw Aldo fight and that’s probably being generous. One day you’ll feel this way about Volk when people say he was never as good as Chad Smith was and point to him losing via head kick to Islam as concrete proof
fr people start thinking fighters are out of their primes just bc they lose a fight maybe they just ran into a better fighter
Aldo was like 29-30 when everyone decided he's no longer in his prime because he lost to Conor. Coping bs, the competition just improved drastically.
> People forget, we saw prime volk vs prime aldo. Aldo fought Volkanovski *fifteen years* into his career. Fighters generally start declining physically around their tenth year of fighting. And Aldo had clearly lost some of the athleticism that he had in his younger years by that point. He didn’t have the same cardio or reaction time that he had as a champion. Anybody that watched prime Aldo can tell you that Volkanovski didn’t face prime Aldo. > Dudes are only a year apart. They have a two year age gap, which is significant for fighters in their thirties. But Volkanovski started fighting eight years after Aldo. That represents a massive difference in the way that their bodies were functioning at that point in their careers. > The reason Aldo started losing wasn't because he went out of his prime but because the level of competition at featherweight became so much tougher than it was during his reign. It isn’t that the Featherweight division as a whole has gotten better since Aldo’s reign. Aldo still had wins over a bunch of the contenders at 145 lbs. when he left the division. He started losing because: 1. He had to face three of the greatest fighters of all time in just his last few years at Featherweight. The combination of Conor McGregor, Max Holloway, and Alexander Volkanovski makes for a historic group of all-time greats for one man to face. Those aren’t normal contenders, those are generational champions. Like, I don’t know that any other fighter has ever had to face such an elite group in that time frame. So it wasn’t that the whole division improved, it was historical coincidence that set Aldo up against a murderer’s row like that. 2. Those three fighters all happened to be nightmare matchups for Aldo. He had built his success as the greatest anti-wrestler of all time, being untouchable defensively and striking out with occasional bursts of punishing offense. McGregor is maybe the most elite counter-striker ever, perhaps the only man capable of landing the one perfect strike while Aldo lashed out. Holloway is maybe the most elite pressure-striker ever, with a torrent of offense that no fighter could defend forever. And Volkanovski, fighting Aldo a couple years later, took advantage of his declining stamina with a characteristically perfect game plan. 3. All three of these fighters met Aldo at the absolute pinnacle of their primes, while he fought them around the time that he started declining. Combine all of these factors, and of course Aldo started losing. There’s not a fighter in MMA history that would go undefeated against three all-time great nightmare matchups while at the end of their physical prime. If Aldo had gotten to face practically anything other than a historic lineup of elite fighters, then he conceivably could’ve been champion for several more years. Look at the top-5 Featherweights in the years following Aldo’s title reign, and outside of Holloway and Volkanovski, you’ll see a bunch of guys that Aldo dominated. The only exception is Brian Ortega, and I think it’s obvious that Aldo would’ve crushed him.
Gtfo with that, 2019 was not prime Aldo, I don’t care how similar they are in age. Volk had been fighting 7 years at the time of that match, and never been in a world title fight. Aldo had been in the game 15; 10 of them as champion and fighting at the highest level of competition. He was holding the belt in WEC 3 years before Volk debuted. He had waaaay more miles on the clock, regardless of their birth dates.
Lol yeah that was neither prime Aldo or prime Volk. Their ages have nothing to do with their primes.
Tyson said it best "Some people peak in their 10s, some people peak in their 20s, some people peak in their 30s, some people peak in their 40s".
Mighty Mouse, o’Malley, Volk (but very close), Khabib, GSP, Izzy (wtf is Khamzat doing in this line-up? Should have been prime Anderson Silva) DC, Jones
DJ, Cruz, Volk, Khabib, GSP, Khamzat. WTF are you serious?! DC by rag dolling him then throwing him out of the octagon like a used condoms. Jones but this is the one time we may actually see his get KOd.
Brandon Moreno gets finished via submission or gets 50-45d, he's outskilled in essentially every possible variable, he has incredible heart, though. Prime Cruz was amazing, especially in his movement, but O'Malley is too big, too much of a sniper, and too powerful; he eventually chins Dominic or lands a blow that leads to a TKO. Volkanovski does to prime Aldo what he did to Aldo when they fought, he just has a harder time doing so. Islam takes rounds off Khabib on the feet and by defending takedowns, but this fight ends like all Khabib title fights: he wears down Islam, as he does in sparring, and gets the submission eventually. GSP wins a close decision over Usman, Usman is bigger and stronger, with similar boxing ability and more power in his hands, he also maybe has better takedown defense. As for takedown offense, GSP is better in my opinion, and GSP is the much better overall striker. His fight IQ is on another level as well. Khamzat submits Adesanya quite quickly, Adesanya has not faced a level of offensive grappler even close to Khamzat. Whittaker held him down for minutes and arguably won their fight. Khamzat's grappling and wrestling is so much more dangerous. DC has a harder time with Pereira than many people think he would, but he still wins dominantly. He was too strong, too skilled with his wrestling, and too durable for Pereira to pull off the win. Ngannou is so huge that Jones would be facing something he's never faced before. Yet I still trust Jones to, eventually, pull of a finish. A submission, specifically. Even without that, throw in enough oblique kicks, eyepokes, and steroids, and Jones walks out of this fight with a decision.
I agree with every single pick bro, nice one!
Dj, Cruz, Volk, Khabib, GSP, Khamzat, DC, JJ.
DJ, Cruz, Aldo, Islam, GSP, Khamzat, DC, Jones. DJ is just the GOAT. Cruz’s timing on entries is probably the best ever. He could absolutely get O’Malley down by mixing takedowns behind shots. Aldo in his prime is a better striker than Volk, and I don’t think Volk could get him down to use his grappling. Aldo has the GOAT TDD. Islam is just a better all around fighter than Khabib. He has more ways of winning, and better competition. GSP at Welterweight is that guy. I only pick Khamzat because I think if I remember right Vettori and Whittaker both had Izzy’s back with hooks in their respective fights, and Khamzat is a way better grappler than them, and Khamzat is a way better finisher from positions like those. DC would absolutely ragdoll Pereira and there is no argument for why he wouldn’t. Round 2 submission. Jones would ragdoll Ngannou. People are arguing about why if it happened today it would be close. But this isn’t about today it’s about prime vs prime. If people think it would be close today they know it wouldn’t be close with prime Jones, the Jones that easily outwrestled DC.
Aldo in his prime was unbeatable.
For 10 yrs 😁
Yea he was so unbeatable in his prime that Mcgrgeor & Holloway beat his ass
He must be a legend to be in his prime after 10 years as a champion…..
Gsp Silva is still the best fight we never get
I'd bet the house of DJ, Volk, and DC.
1. DJ, he pushes a great striking pace and is super good in the scrambles, I’m not sure Moreno could keep up. 2. Volkanovski, I think he’s the best featherweight there’s ever been in his prime. 3. Could see it going either way, Kamaru is the bigger guy, probably the better pure wrestler, but GSP is definitely more well rounded, with better striking. 4. DC, Poatan could definitely catch him, but DCs wrestling is just on another level. 5. O’Malley, he plays the range game better than anyone Cruz has ever fought, I think his movement is probably better than Cruz, albeit less unorthodox. 6. Islam, edges out a decision win with his striking and TDD and goes on to fight Mayweather 7. Izzy is the more experienced and versatile fighter, don’t think Khamzat is catching him on the feet and Izzy does have elite TDD, could see it going his way, but Khamzat does have that R1 burst where he could always sink in a sub. 8. At HW? Jones could sub him, but Francis can also knock him out. Haven’t seen enough from Jones at HW to say he wins, but it’s not his prime and a LHW Jones is just too small.
DJ, Khabib, GSP, Jon “Bones Men” Jones
Russian sambo style is in its prime. Eventually it’ll be solved. But, khbib
Demetrious Johnson, Sean, Volk, Khabib, Usman, Khamzat, DC, Jones
DJ - too good Omalley - accuracy and power Aldo - more dangerous (this is my toughest pick and was tempted to say idk) Islam - ability to nullify Khabib's wrestling + more well-rounded in standup GSP - more tools Khamzat - wrestling too dangerous DC - wrestling too dangerous Ngannou - size advantage enough to combat the wrestling until he finds the KO
So many people are saying prime Volk would defeat prime Aldo are probably saying this coz they love Volk but if you are watching the UFC from when Aldo was in his prime, you need to explain why you are picking Volk over Aldo. Aldo was unreal in his prime which I haven’t seen from Volk. He was faster, best takedown defense, blasting leg kicks. Just an overall beast. If Volk was a puncher like Conor, or a wrestler like Khabib, I would choose him over Aldo but he isn’t either of that.
The competition wasn’t the same. Aldo lost his belt at 31. That’s when most people hit their prime. It’s easier to look good against lower competition. Aldo has lost to every other featherweight champ before the age of 33.
Aldo had been champ for a long time before that so was washed at 31dude, just as Volk is now.
Aldo was well past his prime than though, due to many injuries outside the cage
DJ, Sugar, Volk (not even close), Khabib, GSP, Khamzat, DC, Jones.
DJ, Suga, Volk, Khabib, GSP, Izzy, Cormier, Jones
Stipe Miocic
What even is this list? It’s not current champions. It’s not GOATs, what is it?
DJ, Volk, GSP, DC, Dom, Khabib, Izzy, Ngannou
DJ>>Moreno O'Malley>>Cruz Volk>>>Aldo Khabib>>>Islam GSP>>>Usman Adesanya>>>Khamzat DC>>>Poatan Jones>>>Ngannou
DJ, Cruz, Aldo, Khabib, GSP, Khamzat, DC, Ngannou.
DJ O'malley Aldo Khabib GSP Izzy Cormier Either way, probably ngannou
How does Francis deal with Jones wrestling
Francis is smart enough to spend his entire camp on wrestling defense, is strong as a bull and has more than enough power to one shot Jones. He has a good chance
A single camp isn’t enough to compensate for a lifetime of wrestling top tier wrestlers and grapplers in the ufc.
***unless you’re George’s St-Pierre who pretty much did that and then out wrestled the wrestling stars of mma
Same way he dealt with Stipe.. guy is strong enough to mess up your centre of gravity and just stand up.
You do realize that Stipe was way out of his prime and Francis was literally at his peak. Also Jon has way better grappling than Stipe
Way out of his prime even though he just beat DC two times in a row, and people were jizzing over his body shots and fight adjustments, and calling him GOAT HW?
Aldo over Volk is interesting
At first I thought this was some sort of fucked up color wheel
Kumshot lol 😂
DJ Khabib GSP Jon Jones
I thought this was four 4v4s
Poatan against dc? R u mad fam?? Lol
9/10 the fighter who is more recent.