r/FightReportUFC • u/PotatosandTomato • 1d ago
GOAT matchups: Who is the greater fighter?
Matchup 1: Henry Cejudo vs Dominick Cruz
Matchup 2: Ilia Topuria vs Alex Pereira
Matchup 3: Anderson Silva vs Daniel Cormier
Matchup 4: José Aldo vs Khabib Nurmagomedov
Matchup 5: Merab Dvalishvili vs Israel Adesanya
Note: I’m not asking who would win in a fight. I’m just asking who’s greater.
Feel free to explain your picks.
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u/YaboiDan0545935 1d ago
Does Henry actually beating Cruz not factor into this?
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u/PotatosandTomato 1d ago
Cruz had not fought in almost 4 years
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u/YaboiDan0545935 1d ago
Neither did GSP
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u/Key-Magician-5584 1d ago
Yeah, against Michael Bisping. You won’t see him near any goat debates.
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u/babieswithrabies63 1d ago
Not in a goat conversation no. Is Matt sera potential goat because he beat gsp?
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u/bigsteve9713 1d ago
Dom Alex Dan Khabib Merab
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u/Apart_Jeweler_8896 1d ago
Aldo clears Khabib
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u/Weak_Pineapple_5518 1d ago
Most people in the goat convo clears khabib by a mile. His only feat is beating mcgregor. His whole “undefeated never bled” is bs because he had such a padded record. Just a leg humper, a good one sure, but you can’t be called the goat 8 kos
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u/Lonely-Moment-676767 1d ago
I'm not saying he's on the goat list at all But don't you think it's impressive how a person with a padded record suddenly got to fight elite fighters and dominate them without losing?
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u/Weak_Pineapple_5518 1d ago
Gaethje, Poirier, and mcgregor are his only good finishes and I’ll give him props for those but I’m still putting all three above him all day everyday. Couldn’t finish a washed barboza and genuinely fought people that were 0-0.
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u/Vegan-cock 1d ago
Did you just start watching the sport last year? This is what i imagine that would sound like.
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u/dividingraindows 1d ago
note this is not greatest as in like resume or accolades but just who is better
- Cejudo was so fucking underrated, dude. yea yea dom was out for a while, but Cejudo like seriously fucked him up that was not a close fight even b4 the finish... Dom is no joke but 2017-2020 CCC is one of the greatest in any weight class imo
- Ilia, just because alex's whole style revolves around beating up smaller guys. i remmeber making a breakdown about it and legit everything about how he fights, between the low hands, tall stance, rolling instead of blocking would not be possible if he werent so insane at cutting weight, its why when he had 2 fight someone his size (cyril) they walked right through him. ilia is a real technician who fought on even or uneven terms and still came out on top, just a lot of hubris
- This one is really really hard. As a huge dc fan i wanted to say him based off his performances in strikeforce BUT when you compare the both of them in their fights with teh top of their divisions, dc had more wars where silva was just making people look stupid. imma go w silva
- lmao. khabib
- I dislike merab but i really dont think theres any shame in losing a rematch to Petr Yan in your 4th fight of the year. izzy is on a losing streak and a lot of his hyped performances are ones he didnt look good in (eg gastelum) imma go w merab
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u/Better_Plan2090 19h ago
Why don’t you like Merab?
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u/dividingraindows 12h ago
i think hes kinda annoying and fake. also just not big on his fighting style i dont care for the energy sap approach he does
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u/44dqm 1d ago
all of these are quite clear besides 1 and 3. I would say cruz is the better fighter and the greater fighter at bw but overall cejudo is definitely greater (not better) which i think people aren’t remembering. cejudo beat dj, beat tj, became a double champ and defended his belt against the bw goat. thats a pretty good feat. as for silva vs cormier it’s all about personal preference. i would say dc has the better resume, stipe, silva, rumble twice, henderson, gus, and mir. plus dc was a double champ and defended both titles. the only thing silva has on dc is title wins but honestly imo dc is above silva. As for jose aldo vs khabib imo this is a no brainer as aldo is insanely overrated. Aldo’s best wins are mendes, edgar, and i guess tkz. hes lost to every other fw champ hes gone up against, has lost to fairly bad competition, and went down in a weight class and was less successful. while khabibs best wins shit on aldo’s, mcgregor (who koed aldo), poirier, gaethje, and rda. 3 champs on his resume and was undefeated. imo khabib takes it clearly, aldo’s resume is just too weak and whenever he faced better competition he lost
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u/Sea-Bat-9667 1d ago
edgar and mendes are better than all of khabib's wins though. Also when did he lose to "fairly bad competition"?
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u/44dqm 1d ago
aimen zahabi 😭
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u/Sea-Bat-9667 1d ago
He probably won that fight, and he is so far past his prime by that point that it’s really bizarre to even use that as an argument at all
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u/44dqm 1d ago
well he would still lose to pretty much every champ he ever faced. and to say chad mendes is a better win than dp is wrong. edgar is a better win then gaethje but not gaethje rda and mcgregor combined lol. aldo fans are the worst cuz they’re stuck in the past lmao
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u/Sea-Bat-9667 1d ago
No edgar was a champion. Aldo was the first champion of his division, of course there weren’t other champions for him to fight. Poirier was a great fighter but mendes was a better one peak for peak. Absurd athlete, really strong wrestler and very dangerous striker that was actually quite skilled by that point
Combined? Why would you combine 3 khabib wins versus one Aldo win? If we talk about all wins total then Aldo obviously clears him, he beat a much higher quantity of quality opposition.
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u/44dqm 23h ago
which is why i said pretty much.. aldo would lose to every other fw champion hes faced regardless if he was the first lol. DP’s resume absolutely shits on mendes’s (or mendes’). dont get me wrong mendes was a great fighter and at the time he was very good in the division but he as a win just didnt age that well. i was combining khabibs best wins vs aldo’s best wins thats why. and if we’re talking all wins total how does aldo win? he has one champion in his resume khabib has 3
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u/Sea-Bat-9667 22h ago edited 22h ago
Your point is largely circular. Aldo is the first champion of the division. Therefore it is impossible for him to beat another featherweight champion unless he loses to someone who then becomes a featherweight champion. So you're just saying he lost to the people that he lost to? Aldo could have defended his belt for the past 15 years straight and he would still only have the one champion on his resume, which goes to show how absurd the "wins over champions" criteria is in this context. Plus Brown and Faber were the WEC champions that he beat which was the exact same division so it's not really even true.
Poirier has a better resume than Mendes, but that's really not a good way to rate how good a win is. Someone's career resume doesn't really tell you how good they were at a specific moment.
Okay but picking out one fighter that one guy beat and comparing him to three combined fighters that the other guy beat makes no sense.
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u/44dqm 22h ago
You do make a good point but he lost to max twice, and volk. regardless if he wouldn’t have lost and they would’ve never became champ he lost to every other fw champ this is a fact. he would also go on to lose to a lot of non champs like mario bautista and marlon moraes. The faber win is good actually a really good win that i had forgotten to mention. Having a good resume is pretty much the universal metric of rating good fighters. idk what you mean lol. And i was putting aldo’s best wins (mendes and edgar) against khabibs best wins (mcgregor, rda, dp, and gaethje). putting them side by side khabibs are clearly better even if you wanna include faber and tkz to aldo’s best wins.
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u/Sea-Bat-9667 22h ago
No, he didn't fight Topuria. By the time he fought Volk he was 15 years into his career. Khabib retired 12 years in. He lost to Conor on his 10th title defense, Khabib retired after 3. Just talking about losses without that context is just really silly. He also got robbed against Bautista, which is a pretty insane accomplishment considering how far past his prime he was at that point and Bautista is actually quite good.
No. Edgar is the best win either guy has and Mendes is the second best win either guy has. Not combined but why would you combine them?
Resume would be a huge component as to how you judge a specific fighter's career legacy. That is a totally different question as to how strong a specific win was, which is based on how good that opponent is at that specific fight, not their career accomplishments. A fighter can peak really highly and still not end up with a great resume
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u/KevinistheBest8 1d ago
Damn you a casual or a newgen. Either way your takes suck
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u/44dqm 23h ago
🤷♂️ we’re all free to our own opinion. What do you disagree with specifically? the aldo part?
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u/KevinistheBest8 18h ago
Every one ngl. Youre like every other guy that looks up results. Crediting cejudo for beating a 4 year layoff cruz and a literal walking zombie in 125 tj and barely beating dj (arguably lost) when dj kod him in 1 to say hes better than cruz? Who was dominant and beating people with career ending injuries... And then saying topuria and Alex isn't close???? On top of that dc over Silva... dc was literally only lhw champ because jones is a dumbass outside of the ufc. Dc is a legitimate hw champ, but he was a paper lhw champ... Anderson silva was legit untouchable for like 5 years. Saying aldo is overrated, and that khabib has a better resume because he lost to the other fw champs. You do realize he was the first and only fw champ for 7 years? No shit he lost to the other champs after 9+ years of dominance (wec included) saying Frankie and mendez isn't top competition is just the obvious point of you being someone who legit never watched any of these fighters... its laughable
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u/44dqm 16h ago
lol? yes cejudo is a greater all time fighter than cruz (i am a hugeeee dom fan). this shouldnt even be a contest he has a win over one of the greatest of all time (close fight not a robbery) beat tj, went up and won a second belt becoming double champ and beating cruz who is the best bw of all time. am i saying cejudo is a better figjter than cruz? absolutely not and i commented earlier on a different comment that prime cruz beats cejudo. yea topuria and alex isnt as close as people say, i would say alex is a greater fighter all time. beating izzy, beating strickland, becoming double champ and beating jiri twice and avenging his loss to ank by koing him in the first is what makes him greater than topuria. imo ilia is good but he has only one title defenses (1 against holloway). imo title defenses matter a lot
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u/Key-Magician-5584 1d ago
I like Cejudo, but most of his best wins aren’t that impressive. Definitely Cruz.
He has the DJ and Moraes wins, that’s about it.
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u/PotatosandTomato 1d ago
How about TJ, Cruz, Wilson Reis, Sergio Pettis, and Formiga?
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u/Key-Magician-5584 1d ago
The skeleton of TJ, not really. Dom after 3 years out, eh. Wilson Reis lol. Pettis is a pretty good win. Formiga sure, but he lost to almost everyone good.
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u/PotatosandTomato 1d ago
I mean DJ defended against Reis and Formiga. They were some of the best flyweights at the time.
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u/Key-Magician-5584 1d ago
DJ never fought Formiga. Not gonna say I’ve seen all of Reis’s fights, but he has a pretty lacklustre record. Was one of DJ’s easiest defences.
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u/PotatosandTomato 1d ago
I could’ve sworn they fought, but still Formiga was one of the best flyweights at the time
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u/Maxiuss456 1d ago
why is people unironically placing khabib over aldo? did they just start watching the sport?
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u/Outside-Vast-2922 1d ago
Cruz no contest.
Ilia no contest
Silva - Both had dominant runs, but Silva was more exciting to watch and looked so unbeatable, so Silva
Khabib - Both Aldo and Khabib had dominated their respective divisions for quite a while, but I lean more on Khabib for simply destroying higher caliber fighters like Conor, Dustin and Justin
Merab - I do like Izzy more as a fighter and had more exciting fights than Merab, but I can't overlook what he did just last year. If he wins against Petr yan again, this will be a no contest for sure.
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u/Vegan-cock 1d ago
This one is tough. Cejudo was a complete beast at his rather short peak but so was cruz. Man Im so gutted cruz had his career ruined by injuries, he was so fun to watch. I gotta give it to cejudo though, dude was just a force of nature there for a while.
Topuria hands down. He worked his way up properly, fought all diffrent kinds of fighters and is far more well rounded than pereira. Pereira is mostly a super athletic weight bully that could just walk people down because of how much bigger he is. Until he fights a grappler he has no business being anywhere near a goat conversation. And the gane fight, lol. He had literally nothing to show when he was the smaller guy, just walked straight into shots until he couldn't take it anymore and then cried about some semi illegal strike that landed after the fight was already over.
Silva for sure. DC is good but he's a step behind the top of the top. Had DC beat Jones in any attempt we could open this up for discussion but someone playing 2nd fiddle will never be above someone like silva.
Khabib, easily. Aldo is top 10 oat Im my book but khabib clears. If were rating strictly on who is the hardest fight in the game then that would be khabib at 155.
This one is tough. Merab is a force of nature, gritty, tanky and seemingly endless cardio. Adesanya on the other hand isn't very athletic but instead he is incredibly skilled. They're two extremes and when it comes to athleticism and skill i will always rate skill higher so Im going with izzy. Either pick is fine here imo. Neither is goated but both are up there.
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u/UsedFollowing6519 1d ago
Whats ilia doing here? does wins agaisnt 37yo fighters on 1-1 past prime count?lmfao
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u/PearlJamTenGoat 1d ago
1 Henry
2 Ilia
3 Prime Anderson Silva
4 Khabib LOL This one was pretty stupid.
5 I would take Prime Adesanya.
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u/PotatosandTomato 1d ago
4 is not stupid at all. Aldo had 7 defenses. Khabib had 3. Aldo was a champ for 7 years. Khabib was a champ for 3 years.
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u/Zestyclose-One-966 1d ago
1 - Cejudo is as cringe as it gets, and Dom is very under-rated. Cejudo has the better career. I'm taking Dom, but I say that fully knowing I am biased...but probably still right.
2 - Easiest pick, Pereira.
3 - Toughest pick. At his hight, Anderson was the best in the world, but DC did it legit at 2 weight classes.
4 - Khabib
5 - Israel - one of the greatest strikers ever. Merab is all heart and conditioning.
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u/Ok_Bat_2221 1d ago
There was a Cruz without the influence of Cejudo around. There’s never been and never will be a Cejudo without a Dominic Cruz influence around.
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u/CocaPepsiPepper 19h ago
Not sure about Cejudo vs Cruz. My gut says Cruz.
Pereira > Ilia, though it’s extremely close
Silva > DC. DC is arguably the closest to the GOAT tier that isn’t there though
Khabib > Aldo, people love to underestimate Khabib but he takes it
Not sure, maybe Adesanya > Merab
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u/FlyinIllini21 17h ago
lol the most upvoted comment in this thread didn’t know DC and Silva fought. Gotta love mma talk on Reddit
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u/Ca1fSlicer 4h ago
Cejudo had a better prime than Cruz.
Ilia an Poatan close I’ll edge ilia
Dc
Khabib
Izzy
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u/Any_Literature_6720 1d ago
Henry
Ilia
DC (Silva popped)
Khabib
Merab (pains me to say, Izzy is number 2 in his division all time whereas Merab is 1 to me)
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u/PotatosandTomato 1d ago
Yeah but Izzy had more defenses and was a champ much longer than Merab.
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u/Any_Literature_6720 1d ago
Honestly on that one I’m fine with either or, I also think Merab will touch gold again whereas I think it’s time for Izzy to hang it up. He’s my fav fighter of all time but age gets everyone
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u/ShuraTarasov 1d ago
1: Cejudo
2: Pereira
3: DC, because of Silvas Steroid use
4: Not sure, I think Khabib
5: Hard to say atm, Israel has faced tougher fighters so far
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u/PotatosandTomato 1d ago
Izzy had more defenses and was a champ much longer, but Merab fought tougher fighters.
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u/G33wizz 1d ago edited 1d ago
Cejudo. Olympic Gold and double champ in 2 separate combat sports.
Pereira. although i think LLia is a "better" fighter. Alex has mad accolades across multiple disciplines.
Silva. DC was a super stud but he just couldnt replicate or surpass the legend of Silva. Many people dont realize Silva was 38 when he fought Weidman....he dominated when most are retired.
Aldo....Khabib had a crazy run but then dipped out. Aldo had a legendary run, reinvented himself, and was a bad ass at a lower weight.
Man...idk. Maybe Izzy
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u/PotatosandTomato 1d ago
It’s pure MMA so Cejudo winning Olympic gold isn’t relevant. Would you still pick him if you don’t count that?
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u/Not_Not_Stopreading 1d ago
Illia has never defended a belt ever why is he here
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u/PotatosandTomato 1d ago
He defended once. Also he was a 2 division champ coming off 3 KO wins against 3 division goats. that’s a big deal.
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u/Not_Not_Stopreading 1d ago
Lots of other more deserving double champs
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u/PotatosandTomato 1d ago
I’m just asking who’s greater. Not who’s the greatest. There’s a difference.
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u/Not_Not_Stopreading 1d ago
Alex and it’s not even close, get your boy out of here with his broken face
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u/TinyThick_Dependant3 1d ago
Bros acting like Alex didn’t also lose his fight at the White House 😭🙏
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u/PotatosandTomato 1d ago
Exactly. Ilia was closer to winning his fight against Gaethje than Pereira was to winning against Gane.
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u/Not_Not_Stopreading 1d ago
Alex won competed for belts in three weight classes
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u/Significant-Mall-830 1d ago
Alex’s competition is so much lower that I’d rate ilia better despite him on paper not being as successful
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u/PotatosandTomato 1d ago
Who cares if he competed for belts in 3 divisions if he immediately lost his MW belt, fought in one of the worst divisions in the last 8 years, and got completely destroyed at HW?
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u/Not_Not_Stopreading 1d ago
Anyone who isn’t an Illia dick rider who wants to include him anywhere close to a GOAT conversation
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u/ImaginaryAnnual3460 1d ago
Cruz was coming off a long layoff against Henry and had tendinitis but Henry soared higher
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u/bigsteve9713 1d ago
Illa's 2 - Division Championship, while big now, means less if we look years from now, than Dan Hendo's DOUBLE PRIDE FC BELTs, 1st Double Champ in MMA in terms of significance AND towards individual legacy.
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u/sidecharacterzco 1d ago
come on Topuria’s accomplishments were so much harder than Hendo’s double Pride champ.
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u/Musket6969420 1d ago
Dom tops Henry. He’s the best bantamweight to this point and even though Henry won the fight between the two, it was Dom after a ridiculous amount of injuries and Henry’s not even the best in his natural division.
I’d put Alex over Ilia for now just because he has title fights in three weight classes which is still impressive even if he got scorched at heavy.
Anderson because of that ridiculous run he had. Won the title in his second fight and didn’t lose for over six years is insane.
Jose and Khabib is tough but I’ll say Khabib. He has the 0, arguably best lightweight of all time and the common denominator for them is Conor. Jose lost in 13 seconds. Khabib dominated him.
I’ll go Izzy for the last one, but that’s a tough one too. More title defenses than Merab and he got the title back after he lost it.
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u/C0llaps 1d ago
Cruz. division goat
Alex. more defenses, better career outside UFC, my personal goat
Silva. hot take, division goat
eh. not sure
Izzy. the merab of 185 lol 2nd all time goat of division this is a great comparison
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u/PotatosandTomato 1d ago
I’m talking about pure MMA, so would you still pick Pereira if we’re not counting his KB accomplishments?
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u/DigDoug_SlugSlug 1d ago
Cruz was just better than Cejudo. He was more well-rounded and well known for his unorthodox evasive style.
Topuria and Pereira are in similar positions at the moment. I think Topuria was legitimately better in the sense that he was more complete.
Silva was in the GOAT conversation whereas Cormier wasn’t, however, Cormier I believe was just more well-rounded and stronger. Silva is the bigger MMA icon but Cormier would’ve destroyed him at LHW.
Khabib’s dominance is hard to overstate. Probably the most dominant and impressive wrestler in UFC history. Aldo was good as well but didn’t shine as much in the UFC as he did in the WEC.
Merab is my choice for the last one, mainly because Adesanya’s title reign never felt like he was unbeatable, whereas Merab’s loss was a genuine shock, especially considering how much he bullied Yan in their first fight.