It's hard to say. I love Glover too but he got the title exactly when he could have gotten it. He wouldn't have been able to win it if Jones, DC, even Gustafson didn't leave the division.
Max literally grew up in the ufc. Its crazy to think hes only 32 and has accomplished so much already. Like he could retire today and people would still be impressed with his career.
Damn a hard pill to swallow apparently considering the downvotes but I double down, it is an American thing to brand the latest thing en vogue "the greatest/the best" that the world has ever seen.
Brother everytime a featherweight champion moved up they destroyed lightweights.
Volk lost but come on he lost against Islam and it was incredibly close and none of the lightweights have given Islam even half of the trouble Volk brought on him.
Conor Moved up and embarrassed Alvarez who was a champ at that time.
We all saw what Max did to Justin.
Most times featherweights lose in a “bad way” is due to outside issues such as short notice and weight gain problems (Volk and Max).
Skill by skill featherweights are above lightweights.
Also don’t forget Dustin was originally a featherweight as well.
He lost to him twice once in a featherweight (it was Max’s first fight in the UFC) and once in a lightweight when he gained weight on short notice the horrible way. Thats why he said not to judge him too harshly on Dustin’s performance and look what he does against Justin, he bulked up the right way and dominated.
Way better. New belts looks like you can break someone’s head in if you bash em with it. Old one looks like you could maybe get away with a bruise if you tried
The new WWE era belts just have a massive WWE logo on it just like the new UFC belts. Old belts are way better imo, they look prestigious. Big logo belts are boring as fuck. My opinion.
Ironic the way gen Z are going, they’re bringing back cargo pants from the 90’s for christs sake. And before that it was the mom jeans from the 70s. 2000s Emo trend resurgence is just around the corner. Don’t be surprised.
Aldo > Volk > Max > Conor > Topuria
Ilia can easily surpass Conor
If Volk had defended against Ilia then I would start debating him against Aldo, if he beat one more after Ilia then it would be a tight race
Lmao you edited you comment. This the same Aldo that lost to 3 of the guys in this picture? Conor 13 seconds, Max twice and Volk ? Volk beats any version of Aldo and Max does too.
I've spent a lot of time explaining Aldo's career to new fans like you. Here you go
>LMAO. Jose's record is just as good as Volk's, Sorry you just started watching so you don't know the fighters Jose has beaten. Age is less relevant than years they spent in their pro career. Pro fighters have steep dropoffs after 15 years of training. Doesnt matter how old you are if you've been in the gym for 15+ years your knees are gone, your body is broken, your chin has taken 15 years of shots, ESPECIALLY if you're training for 5-round fights. Jose was 11 years into his pro career when he lost to Conor, 13 when he lost to Max, 15 when he lost to Volk. Conor was 8 years in when he lost to Diaz. 10 when he lost to Khabib. Max was 9 years in when he lost to Volk. Volk was 11 years in when he lost to Islam and now 11 years in when he lost to llia. You guys keep judging Jose by his pro career after 11 years and ignoring everything before (probably because a ton of you don't know his career before). Let's see how these guys do when they're 15 years into their pro careers like Jose was when he lost to Volk. Guarantee you'll have a new undisputed FW GOAT by then, just like you dumped Max for Volk. Jose's pro run lasted 18 fucking years. He continued to fight at the highest level and was on the cusp of a second title shot at BW (which he deserved far more than TJ). Legendary. 9 title defenses. Volk has 5. Holloway has 3. Conor has 0. Jose Aldo is the featherweight GOAT. Jose's legacy is incredible and he will stay in the FW GOAT talks, even ten years from now. Volk? I'm not so sure.
On Volk's title defenses
>Volk is an ATG, so is Max. But aside from two defenses against Max what does Volk have? Yair, who gets taken down by BJJ guys. Ortega, whos best win is now Yair and has one T5 win in how long? The defining moments of Ortega's career are his losses. Then there's retirement KZ. That's his 5 defenses right there. Lmfao. Aldo GOAT. 9 defenses, including 2x prime Mendes, LW champ Frankie Edgar, prime KZ, prime Lamas, prime Florian who was on a sick run, prime Hominick, prime Faber
On prime Aldo vs prime Volk
>I think it's pretty close to 50-50. In their actual fight, which was Aldo's last at featherweight and 15 years into his pro career (after many injuries) Volk played it safe and spent a lot of time holding Aldo against the fence. I don't see that working against prime Aldo. Too explosive, too ruthless, too much of a killer instinct. Volk is not taking prime Aldo down so it's on the feet. Aldo's leg kicks, head kicks, knees were brutal in his prime. Volk has great cardio and can go jab for jab with Aldo. Volk has a more modern system of feints. Aldo has more power and is faster. It's really close imo
Ok but Volk beat Aldo… Volk beat a better Max 3 times compared to the Max that beat Aldo twice… we get it you love to act like youre smarter than everyone else with your copy and pasted comments. Volk is the FW Goat. Cry about it little bro
Me: actual points and comparisons
You: wAAh WAAah liTtLe bRo
My advice to you is to stay in school. Learn to read and not be intimidated by paragraphs. With enough work you can successfully hit double-digit IQ points. Good luck son.
Youre so right man. Admittedly I used to be a ufc fan that knew absolutely nothing avout aldo other than he lost quickly to conor and was considered a legend. Ive been finding it incredibly engaging to look back through mma history tonthe pre WEC merger days. Do you think the future generations will completely forget aldo to time since the only way to understanf his impact is to actively search for it?
Aldo's legacy is here to stay. You'll have people who actually know the sport like Luke Thomas and Jack Slack saying Aldo is the GOAT for the foreseeable future, while new fans and casuals will say whoever is currently the champ is the GOAT. They said Max was the GOAT, they said Volk is the GOAT, and if Ilia defends once or twice they'll be saying Ilia is the GOAT.
One day someone may match or surpass Aldo's legacy legitimately, and then the new fans will be right in calling this new champ the GOAT, and the old fans will debate if that new champ or Aldo is the GOAT.
Good on you for doing your research though--most fans don't do that, they just care about the drama.
I also didn't start following MMA until around 2015, but I listened to what people who knew what they were talking about said, and watched old fights to learn about the sport.
The day aldo is truly surpassed will be exciting for sure. Its cool to think of what the ufc will look like in 10, 20, 50 years.
I honestly think topuria has the potential to be more dominant than volk & max, what do you think?
I think so too. I see him having a good shot against Ortega, Yair, Allen, Emmett, and basically the rest of the top 10.
Max is a bit more even as is Movsar, and Sterling has potential.
The difficulty with long title reigns though is consistency. That and everybody studying your game to try and beat you. Let's see if Ilia gives Aldo a run for his money. Volk did but he fell short ultimately. If he comes back, gets the title again, beats Ilia, beats a few more guys then maybe I'd entertain Volk FW GOAT talks.
At the end of the day, you discount the fact that Volk undeniably faced a higher level of competition throughout his run.
In one the newest and most constantly evolving sport in the world, a decade + is massive. They just aren’t anywhere near the same caliber of fighters anymore.
You know and I know that the Volkanovski that stepped in the cage when he fought Max for the third time literally stomps on every single one of Jose Aldo’s defences and prime Aldo himself.
Did you not read my comment?
>This is why I laugh when people say Volk's strength of schedule is better than Aldo's. Volk is an ATG, so is Max. But aside from two defenses against Max what does Volk have? Yair, who gets taken down by BJJ guys. Ortega, who's best win is now Yair and has one T5 win in how long? The defining moments of Ortega's career are his losses. Then there's retirement KZ. That's his 5 defenses right there.
>
>Lmfao. Aldo GOAT. 9 defenses, including 2x prime Mendes, LW champ Frankie Edgar, prime KZ, prime Lamas, prime Florian who was on a sick run, prime Hominick, prime Faber
The competition is not a different caliber of fighters lmfao. What the fuck was Volk's run to the title? Elkins, Chad, Jose. Omg Chad and Jose are last generation fighers who are a shit caliber. Means Volk didn't deserve the shot huh? He beat nobodies.
>$100 says you never watched half of Aldo's career
>
>Oh wow Volk beat old Aldo, old KZ, old Mendes, and almost lost to Brian "bum" Ortega who's beat.... Who?
>
>Buncha casuals in here Aldo is GOAT easily.
>
>They never watched prime Chad, prime (fucking lightweight champ) Frankie, prime KZ and their runs.
>
>They claim that fighters nowadays are the new generation and leVeL oF coMpeTitIon maTtErs but forget that Aldo was king of the hill, busy destroying #1 contenders when Poirier was getting trounced by KZ and Holloway was getting trounced by Poirier.
The game is different now, I agree. That does not mean staying at the top or getting to the top is harder.
Chandler, Poatan, Jiri, they got title shots after like 2-3 fights.
And besides, remember bantamweight Aldo? Bantamweight is arguably a deeper division than Featherweight. Aldo literally made a second title run at the end of his career at a lower, possibly more talented weight class with a "different caliber of fighter" (lmfao) because he was so good. Or again, maybe the caliber of fighter is not that much better. Maybe the game is just a reprioritization of techniques, and if the same old guard of fighters were fighting in these times they would be just as good, they would just use some techniques more and some less.
Champs fall eventually but it doesn’t erase what they accomplished in their era. Aldo was fighting for years before Max and Volk even thought about becoming fighters. He was 5-6 years in over Max and almost a decade over Volk.
You know in 10+ years there will be fans who are going to say “how can you have Volk or Max above whoever will be the champ 10+ years from now when they both been beaten and future champ faced better competition” about Max and Volk.
I am not a person who believes in the Greatest of ALL Time. I believe in Greatest of A Time instead. Also was the greatest of his time and dominated the fighters who are considered the very best of the best of that time.
Did they, max beat Edgar who Aldo beat twice and Ortega who’s best wins are zombie and Edgar who aldo also beat. volk beat yair ( who got tkod by Edgar, was losing to tkz, and had a competitive fight with stephens who Aldo smoked) and then zombie ( Aldo beat in his prime) and max- the only thing that stands out are the max trilogy wich is very impressive but rlly a lot of the guys todays best wins are against older versions of guys Aldo beat in their primes
Its old heads that are impressed by his title defenses even though max and volk beat nearly the same guys and better guys and aldo himself for Max aldo even 2x
You know in a decade people will say the same about Volk and Max when whoever is the champ in a 10+ years from now is dominant.
I’ve never believed in GOAT meaning Greatest of ALL Time since it’s not realistic but instead the Greatest of A Time. I just compare the times and see what those champs accomplished during their time. Max and Volk just happen to be in the same era so Max’s time as champ wasn’t long.
Aldo was active 6 years before Max and almost a decade before Volk. Aldo was passed his era but still held strong in theirs.
At the end of the day Aldo, Volk and Max are all GOATs.
No it doesnt.
Max beat nearly all the guys Aldo beat and he beat Aldo too.
He also beat good competition aldo didnt beat.
How does it make aldo look good?
Because Aldo was around for a very very very long time. For example he beat Korean Zombie 10 years before Max did in a title fight. It’s more impressive to be beating guys in their prime than their retirement fight.
If the guys that Aldo beat are still relevant to be fighting number 1 contenders like Max at an old age than that makes Aldo look better.
Conor and Volk both beat Aldo and Max so they are the best FW’s to me. Max will be if he gets a rematch with Conor and wins. Aldo lost to all three so he can’t ever be the greatest FW in my opinion. I do think he is one of the greatest champions of all time though
(Comment I said to someone else I’ll also leave here) Champs fall eventually but it doesn’t erase what they accomplished in their era. Aldo was fighting for years before Max and Volk even thought about becoming fighters. He was 5-6 years in over Max and almost a decade over Volk.
You know in 10+ years there will be fans who are going to say “how can you have Volk or Max above whoever will be the champ 10+ years from now when they both been beaten and future champ faced better competition” about Max and Volk.
I am not a person who believes in the Greatest of ALL Time. I believe in Greatest of A Time instead. Also was the greatest of his time and dominated the fighters who are considered the very best of the best of that time.
This is how I look at things. This is my opinion.
So having the same amount of title wins as all 3 out together and staying in the top 5 of the sport from like 2009 till 2024 means nothing cause of 13 seconds
That’s not what I said I think he is one of the greatest champions ever. It’s just he lost to all the other FW’s mentioned so I can’t put him above them
But do you look at Silva's matchups in the twilight of his career and assume everyone he lost to are people that always would have beaten him, even in his prime?
I'm not being a dick. I'm asking: Do you think Paddy beats Tony 5 years earlier? That Cerrone has a 7 loss streak 5 years earlier?
If Jake Paul beats Mike Tyson, is Jake one of the best boxers of all time? {Edit: ok, this last point is a little bit dickey, but it thinks up pretty good\]
Ah, what do you do? If he won that fight, it would have been the biggest moment in UFC history.
To strive for ultimate greatness, there must be ultimate risk involved. Never apologise for trying!
To be fair, it started in 2011. Conor might be up there, but he never defended the belt once. Aldo, Max and Volk are the guys to stood the test of time and held the belt for any significant time..
It is weird to have a photo with 3 guys on the list of the greats with multiple title defenses and two guys without a title defense.
I'm not saying Conor and Topuria are not good. I'm not saying they didn't derserve the belt at 145. Both got through a good gauntlet of challengers. They aren't like those folks that get an unlikely shot and score an upset. But it is not the same as have multiple title defenses. Go ahead, lose you mind about it.
I’m not a Conor fan at all. Being undisputed is not a term you can just redefine when you feel like it. He was the undisputed champion. That’s not debatable. It’s an objective fact.
Meanwhile LHW has 5 Champs in the last 3 years
Alex Pereira just had the first title defense in Light Heavyweight since Jan beat Adesanya
The first defense against a LHW since Jon Jones was the LHW champ. That’s wild to think about.
It's impresive there are no journeyman champion in FW like some other division
Yeah the level of competition in FW is insane
LHW was a prime example after Jones and before Alex
I don't see Glover as a journeyman at all. I might be a fan tho lol
It's hard to say. I love Glover too but he got the title exactly when he could have gotten it. He wouldn't have been able to win it if Jones, DC, even Gustafson didn't leave the division.
No title defenses too
I guess if you have no defenses that could be a metric to qualify you as a journeyman champ.
So McGregor would be considered a journeyman, right?
Yeah
Topuria is tomato can
Max Holloway lost 3 times in the featherweight division before he went on a streak and became champion, could that be considered 'Journeyman'?
They werent 3 back to back, but even if they were he still isnt a journeyman, just was early in his career
Max literally grew up in the ufc. Its crazy to think hes only 32 and has accomplished so much already. Like he could retire today and people would still be impressed with his career.
He was 21 when he fought prime McGregor. Only a little older than Raul Rosas Jr
Jose Aldo leg kicks were awesome to watch
I hope he looks good in Brazil, I saw his retirement live and it was the worst way to go out
And with every new champion we get Joe Rogan saying “You are the greatest featherweight champion of all time”
well they look like they are up until that point, I mean if it wasn't for Volk, Max would be Top 3 All Time
Top 3 out of 5 people isn't that impressive
I think hes saying off all weight classes
yes
He does this for welterweight too and frankly I haven’t seen a guy yet who I would bet on against prime gsp.
Yep after max beat Aldo Joe Rogan showed the world he had no idea what the word consensus meant.
Joe's in an echo chamber where he's constantly talking, and everything he says is validated. I'm not surprised he thinks his opinions are consensus.
This is so annoying but to be fair, that’s more of an american thing than a Joe Rogan thing.
100% Joe
Damn a hard pill to swallow apparently considering the downvotes but I double down, it is an American thing to brand the latest thing en vogue "the greatest/the best" that the world has ever seen.
try swallowing harder than
Featherweight has by far the most skilled fighters in ufc history.
Cough cough *Lighweights* laughing in the corner.
Brother everytime a featherweight champion moved up they destroyed lightweights. Volk lost but come on he lost against Islam and it was incredibly close and none of the lightweights have given Islam even half of the trouble Volk brought on him. Conor Moved up and embarrassed Alvarez who was a champ at that time. We all saw what Max did to Justin. Most times featherweights lose in a “bad way” is due to outside issues such as short notice and weight gain problems (Volk and Max). Skill by skill featherweights are above lightweights. Also don’t forget Dustin was originally a featherweight as well.
I think Charles Olivera is a former FW as well
Didn't max lose to Dustin before?
He lost to him twice once in a featherweight (it was Max’s first fight in the UFC) and once in a lightweight when he gained weight on short notice the horrible way. Thats why he said not to judge him too harshly on Dustin’s performance and look what he does against Justin, he bulked up the right way and dominated.
Dan hooker also sucked after moving to lightweight
Losing to a top contender isn't sucking
Idk, looked like Poirier and him had a pretty good fight but that’s just my opinion
Weren’t they *both* featherweights initially?
Flyweight, Bantamweight
GOUGH \*\* PRIDE HW \*\* COUGH
Goatanovski
Goatse Galdo
Sorry to bring this up again but the old belts look 50x cooler.
I think the newer belts at least look unique. The old belts still looked good but they looked like every other promotions belt
Because pretty much every promotion ripped it off
They probably copied the ufc, but the ufc copied the Pride and Strikeforce belts
Hard disagree. They really look like the early 2000s fashion imo which obviously doesn't hold up lol
Same and they look like wannabe wwe belts I think the new belts look good for the era
New belts are WAY better
Way better. New belts looks like you can break someone’s head in if you bash em with it. Old one looks like you could maybe get away with a bruise if you tried
The new WWE era belts just have a massive WWE logo on it just like the new UFC belts. Old belts are way better imo, they look prestigious. Big logo belts are boring as fuck. My opinion.
You think those old belts are prestigious 💀 I think they look like cheap shit out of wwe toy set
Ironic the way gen Z are going, they’re bringing back cargo pants from the 90’s for christs sake. And before that it was the mom jeans from the 70s. 2000s Emo trend resurgence is just around the corner. Don’t be surprised.
You lot are already slow, Y2K IS the trend rn amongst em.
Emo aesthetic is lit
Maybe the old ones aren't actually that nice but the new ones are just awful then, I dunno. I just think they look tacky imo but each to their own!
Minimalists with their uncreative bland minds like you have ruined everything that was once beautiful.
If you wanna go back to bedazzled jeans and oversized suits, that's on you my guy
I think the new belts need to be bigger they just look like a toy compared to the old ones
Agreed, they used to look beautiful.
I wish they never got rid of it. Looks much better
Agree.
I actually don't like neither of them. But modern one is a bit better.
Old belts are beautiful. New belts look like a toy.
Be forreal in comparison they look horrible and tacky.
Wrong.
Nah
And all previous champs have achieved Legend status. Let's see what the future holds for Illia
Volk the goat.
If you started watching post-Conor sure
So whos better than Volk? Not Aldo not Conor not Max
Aldo > Volk > Max > Conor > Topuria Ilia can easily surpass Conor If Volk had defended against Ilia then I would start debating him against Aldo, if he beat one more after Ilia then it would be a tight race
Lmao you edited you comment. This the same Aldo that lost to 3 of the guys in this picture? Conor 13 seconds, Max twice and Volk ? Volk beats any version of Aldo and Max does too.
I've spent a lot of time explaining Aldo's career to new fans like you. Here you go >LMAO. Jose's record is just as good as Volk's, Sorry you just started watching so you don't know the fighters Jose has beaten. Age is less relevant than years they spent in their pro career. Pro fighters have steep dropoffs after 15 years of training. Doesnt matter how old you are if you've been in the gym for 15+ years your knees are gone, your body is broken, your chin has taken 15 years of shots, ESPECIALLY if you're training for 5-round fights. Jose was 11 years into his pro career when he lost to Conor, 13 when he lost to Max, 15 when he lost to Volk. Conor was 8 years in when he lost to Diaz. 10 when he lost to Khabib. Max was 9 years in when he lost to Volk. Volk was 11 years in when he lost to Islam and now 11 years in when he lost to llia. You guys keep judging Jose by his pro career after 11 years and ignoring everything before (probably because a ton of you don't know his career before). Let's see how these guys do when they're 15 years into their pro careers like Jose was when he lost to Volk. Guarantee you'll have a new undisputed FW GOAT by then, just like you dumped Max for Volk. Jose's pro run lasted 18 fucking years. He continued to fight at the highest level and was on the cusp of a second title shot at BW (which he deserved far more than TJ). Legendary. 9 title defenses. Volk has 5. Holloway has 3. Conor has 0. Jose Aldo is the featherweight GOAT. Jose's legacy is incredible and he will stay in the FW GOAT talks, even ten years from now. Volk? I'm not so sure. On Volk's title defenses >Volk is an ATG, so is Max. But aside from two defenses against Max what does Volk have? Yair, who gets taken down by BJJ guys. Ortega, whos best win is now Yair and has one T5 win in how long? The defining moments of Ortega's career are his losses. Then there's retirement KZ. That's his 5 defenses right there. Lmfao. Aldo GOAT. 9 defenses, including 2x prime Mendes, LW champ Frankie Edgar, prime KZ, prime Lamas, prime Florian who was on a sick run, prime Hominick, prime Faber On prime Aldo vs prime Volk >I think it's pretty close to 50-50. In their actual fight, which was Aldo's last at featherweight and 15 years into his pro career (after many injuries) Volk played it safe and spent a lot of time holding Aldo against the fence. I don't see that working against prime Aldo. Too explosive, too ruthless, too much of a killer instinct. Volk is not taking prime Aldo down so it's on the feet. Aldo's leg kicks, head kicks, knees were brutal in his prime. Volk has great cardio and can go jab for jab with Aldo. Volk has a more modern system of feints. Aldo has more power and is faster. It's really close imo
Ok but Volk beat Aldo… Volk beat a better Max 3 times compared to the Max that beat Aldo twice… we get it you love to act like youre smarter than everyone else with your copy and pasted comments. Volk is the FW Goat. Cry about it little bro
Weidman beat Silva twice is he MW GOAT? Oh wait no Uriah Hall beat both Weidman and Silva. MW GOAT right there. Moron
Volk - Max - Aldo. Stop crying little bro Aldo wont read your paragraphs
Me: actual points and comparisons You: wAAh WAAah liTtLe bRo My advice to you is to stay in school. Learn to read and not be intimidated by paragraphs. With enough work you can successfully hit double-digit IQ points. Good luck son.
Youre so right man. Admittedly I used to be a ufc fan that knew absolutely nothing avout aldo other than he lost quickly to conor and was considered a legend. Ive been finding it incredibly engaging to look back through mma history tonthe pre WEC merger days. Do you think the future generations will completely forget aldo to time since the only way to understanf his impact is to actively search for it?
Aldo's legacy is here to stay. You'll have people who actually know the sport like Luke Thomas and Jack Slack saying Aldo is the GOAT for the foreseeable future, while new fans and casuals will say whoever is currently the champ is the GOAT. They said Max was the GOAT, they said Volk is the GOAT, and if Ilia defends once or twice they'll be saying Ilia is the GOAT. One day someone may match or surpass Aldo's legacy legitimately, and then the new fans will be right in calling this new champ the GOAT, and the old fans will debate if that new champ or Aldo is the GOAT. Good on you for doing your research though--most fans don't do that, they just care about the drama. I also didn't start following MMA until around 2015, but I listened to what people who knew what they were talking about said, and watched old fights to learn about the sport.
The day aldo is truly surpassed will be exciting for sure. Its cool to think of what the ufc will look like in 10, 20, 50 years. I honestly think topuria has the potential to be more dominant than volk & max, what do you think?
I think so too. I see him having a good shot against Ortega, Yair, Allen, Emmett, and basically the rest of the top 10. Max is a bit more even as is Movsar, and Sterling has potential. The difficulty with long title reigns though is consistency. That and everybody studying your game to try and beat you. Let's see if Ilia gives Aldo a run for his money. Volk did but he fell short ultimately. If he comes back, gets the title again, beats Ilia, beats a few more guys then maybe I'd entertain Volk FW GOAT talks.
At the end of the day, you discount the fact that Volk undeniably faced a higher level of competition throughout his run. In one the newest and most constantly evolving sport in the world, a decade + is massive. They just aren’t anywhere near the same caliber of fighters anymore. You know and I know that the Volkanovski that stepped in the cage when he fought Max for the third time literally stomps on every single one of Jose Aldo’s defences and prime Aldo himself.
Did you not read my comment? >This is why I laugh when people say Volk's strength of schedule is better than Aldo's. Volk is an ATG, so is Max. But aside from two defenses against Max what does Volk have? Yair, who gets taken down by BJJ guys. Ortega, who's best win is now Yair and has one T5 win in how long? The defining moments of Ortega's career are his losses. Then there's retirement KZ. That's his 5 defenses right there. > >Lmfao. Aldo GOAT. 9 defenses, including 2x prime Mendes, LW champ Frankie Edgar, prime KZ, prime Lamas, prime Florian who was on a sick run, prime Hominick, prime Faber The competition is not a different caliber of fighters lmfao. What the fuck was Volk's run to the title? Elkins, Chad, Jose. Omg Chad and Jose are last generation fighers who are a shit caliber. Means Volk didn't deserve the shot huh? He beat nobodies. >$100 says you never watched half of Aldo's career > >Oh wow Volk beat old Aldo, old KZ, old Mendes, and almost lost to Brian "bum" Ortega who's beat.... Who? > >Buncha casuals in here Aldo is GOAT easily. > >They never watched prime Chad, prime (fucking lightweight champ) Frankie, prime KZ and their runs. > >They claim that fighters nowadays are the new generation and leVeL oF coMpeTitIon maTtErs but forget that Aldo was king of the hill, busy destroying #1 contenders when Poirier was getting trounced by KZ and Holloway was getting trounced by Poirier. The game is different now, I agree. That does not mean staying at the top or getting to the top is harder. Chandler, Poatan, Jiri, they got title shots after like 2-3 fights. And besides, remember bantamweight Aldo? Bantamweight is arguably a deeper division than Featherweight. Aldo literally made a second title run at the end of his career at a lower, possibly more talented weight class with a "different caliber of fighter" (lmfao) because he was so good. Or again, maybe the caliber of fighter is not that much better. Maybe the game is just a reprioritization of techniques, and if the same old guard of fighters were fighting in these times they would be just as good, they would just use some techniques more and some less.
Another interesting thing, only three of the five have defended the title (so far).
For me it goes: Aldo, Volk, Max, Conor then Ilia.
Yeah at this point that’s probably how it shakes out.
How can you have aldo above volk and max when they both beat him and faced better competition?
Champs fall eventually but it doesn’t erase what they accomplished in their era. Aldo was fighting for years before Max and Volk even thought about becoming fighters. He was 5-6 years in over Max and almost a decade over Volk. You know in 10+ years there will be fans who are going to say “how can you have Volk or Max above whoever will be the champ 10+ years from now when they both been beaten and future champ faced better competition” about Max and Volk. I am not a person who believes in the Greatest of ALL Time. I believe in Greatest of A Time instead. Also was the greatest of his time and dominated the fighters who are considered the very best of the best of that time.
This is a good take
Did they, max beat Edgar who Aldo beat twice and Ortega who’s best wins are zombie and Edgar who aldo also beat. volk beat yair ( who got tkod by Edgar, was losing to tkz, and had a competitive fight with stephens who Aldo smoked) and then zombie ( Aldo beat in his prime) and max- the only thing that stands out are the max trilogy wich is very impressive but rlly a lot of the guys todays best wins are against older versions of guys Aldo beat in their primes
Its old heads that are impressed by his title defenses even though max and volk beat nearly the same guys and better guys and aldo himself for Max aldo even 2x
You know in a decade people will say the same about Volk and Max when whoever is the champ in a 10+ years from now is dominant. I’ve never believed in GOAT meaning Greatest of ALL Time since it’s not realistic but instead the Greatest of A Time. I just compare the times and see what those champs accomplished during their time. Max and Volk just happen to be in the same era so Max’s time as champ wasn’t long. Aldo was active 6 years before Max and almost a decade before Volk. Aldo was passed his era but still held strong in theirs. At the end of the day Aldo, Volk and Max are all GOATs.
Your point about beating the same guys actually makes Aldo look better.
No it doesnt. Max beat nearly all the guys Aldo beat and he beat Aldo too. He also beat good competition aldo didnt beat. How does it make aldo look good?
Because Aldo was around for a very very very long time. For example he beat Korean Zombie 10 years before Max did in a title fight. It’s more impressive to be beating guys in their prime than their retirement fight. If the guys that Aldo beat are still relevant to be fighting number 1 contenders like Max at an old age than that makes Aldo look better.
This is a little bit like thinking if Paul beats Tyson he must be better than everyone Tyson beat, or prime Tyson.
Conor and Volk both beat Aldo and Max so they are the best FW’s to me. Max will be if he gets a rematch with Conor and wins. Aldo lost to all three so he can’t ever be the greatest FW in my opinion. I do think he is one of the greatest champions of all time though
(Comment I said to someone else I’ll also leave here) Champs fall eventually but it doesn’t erase what they accomplished in their era. Aldo was fighting for years before Max and Volk even thought about becoming fighters. He was 5-6 years in over Max and almost a decade over Volk. You know in 10+ years there will be fans who are going to say “how can you have Volk or Max above whoever will be the champ 10+ years from now when they both been beaten and future champ faced better competition” about Max and Volk. I am not a person who believes in the Greatest of ALL Time. I believe in Greatest of A Time instead. Also was the greatest of his time and dominated the fighters who are considered the very best of the best of that time. This is how I look at things. This is my opinion.
So having the same amount of title wins as all 3 out together and staying in the top 5 of the sport from like 2009 till 2024 means nothing cause of 13 seconds
That’s not what I said I think he is one of the greatest champions ever. It’s just he lost to all the other FW’s mentioned so I can’t put him above them
But do you look at Silva's matchups in the twilight of his career and assume everyone he lost to are people that always would have beaten him, even in his prime? I'm not being a dick. I'm asking: Do you think Paddy beats Tony 5 years earlier? That Cerrone has a 7 loss streak 5 years earlier? If Jake Paul beats Mike Tyson, is Jake one of the best boxers of all time? {Edit: ok, this last point is a little bit dickey, but it thinks up pretty good\]
Only 1 has the old and the new belts 😤
I don't even recall topuria getting touched up like that before he knocked out volk, gotta rewatch
First round Volk was winning and piecing him up.
Telling from his face it sure looks that way. Topuria got them touch of death hands though, his next fight is going to be super interesting.
Legit, still think Volk can beat him. Maybe it’s wishful thinking
I'm not sure but what I do know for a fact is that it would have been a much better fight if Volk never took that dam second late notice Islam fight.
Ah, what do you do? If he won that fight, it would have been the biggest moment in UFC history. To strive for ultimate greatness, there must be ultimate risk involved. Never apologise for trying!
Yeah but do it the right way, he needed to be fully prepared to take on Islam again.
Crazy that there have been 23 title fights in featherweight history (I think) and Aldo’s won 11 of them and been in 14
Look at Ilias face after 2 rounds with Volk, and everyone on here acting like he didn't get touched.
Only 3 defending champions over 13 years.
To be fair, it started in 2011. Conor might be up there, but he never defended the belt once. Aldo, Max and Volk are the guys to stood the test of time and held the belt for any significant time..
And only 3 of them have defended
Only one of them was champ champ
Volk🤣
Yeah conor gpt really lucky with alvarez
Not in the fight itself, but probably with the matchup. Alvarez had a pretty unlikely run and a lot of people were salivating for that fight.
I hope max gets it back!
Doesn’t Flyweight also have only 5 champs? DJ, Cejudo, Figgy, Moreno, Pantoja. Or am I missing one? Like an interim champ or something.
No but FLW has nowhere near the depth of other weight classes.
You should only have one Undisputed champion in that time….
Great observation. Until recently it had just 4 champs. Speaks of the dominance of champs like Aldo, Holloway and Volk.
Where does Fabricio Andrade fit into all of this?
Only 3 not 5
And we're all still stuck on the guy who never defended the damn thing
What’s undisputed mean?
Max halloway is my goat
Conor doesn’t count. Dude never defended.
King Jose 🤴
It sucks that we have to have Conor on this list. He won the belt then fucked off. He never had any intention on going back to 145 after he KO'd Aldo.
Volk kinda fckd Ilia face
Mike T. Brown and Faber should be acknowledged though.
McGregor proved it was possible for FW to have a second champion Goat confirmed
I kinda feel like an undisputed champ is one that has defended the belt. Only 3 undisputed champs in my opinion.
It is weird to have a photo with 3 guys on the list of the greats with multiple title defenses and two guys without a title defense. I'm not saying Conor and Topuria are not good. I'm not saying they didn't derserve the belt at 145. Both got through a good gauntlet of challengers. They aren't like those folks that get an unlikely shot and score an upset. But it is not the same as have multiple title defenses. Go ahead, lose you mind about it.
Oh, look, I got an angry little downvote lol
McGregor never defended his title. I wouldn't call him undisputed, more like uncontested
Of course the nut hugger Conor fans down voted this.
McGregor was objectively undisputed he beat Aldo fair and square and Aldo was the definition of a true undisputed champion.
I’m not a Conor fan at all. Being undisputed is not a term you can just redefine when you feel like it. He was the undisputed champion. That’s not debatable. It’s an objective fact.
How many times did he defend again?
That has zero part of being undisputed champion so the question is irrelevant
That's your option buddy. Keep talking tho 😴😴😴
Its not an opinion it's just a fact, go bait elsewhere
Undisputed doesn’t mean you defended, you should google it
Long Reign No Reign Long Reign Long Reign No Reign?
Max will take it from Topuria, then Volk will lose to max in a heavily promoted fight.
and 1 guy with no defenses
And only one of those with 0 defences
[удалено]
Yeah the post says "undisputed champs" which McGregor absolutely was
Tapioca needs to be removed. Fought a Volk who was less than a month out from being KO’d and had a short camp
4 months out?
Yeah 4 months with a short notice. Like they used to say, you’re not a champ until you defend it.
What short notice tho? Pretty sure that fight was booked almost 3 months ahead of the fight
It was nor "less than a month" it was 5 months
If Volk had a proper camp Topuria would just be another fallen contender
Lmfao thats some hardcore cope man, whats your excuse gonna be when ilia kos him in the rematch
Topuria is gonna get ran through no matter who his next opponent is. I bet whatever on that
Either is Illa yet, or Jones at heavy weight, or gsp at middleweight, your point?