“He tapped 8 times” – Khabib Nurmagomedov explains why Charles Oliveira is not in conversation for greatest lightweight of all time


“He tapped 8 times” – Khabib Nurmagomedov explains why Charles Oliveira is not in conversation for greatest lightweight of all time

Khabib Nurmagomedov talks about Charles Oliveira being in the GOAT conversation

Khabib Nurmagomedov thinks it is a little too early for Charles Oliveira to be in the greatest lightweight of all-time conversation.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov is believed by most MMA fans to be the greatest lightweight to ever grace the UFC octagon. “The Eagle” went 29-0 in his career and retired as the pound-for-pound champion in the world. Nurmagomedov is considered to be the GOAT, not only because of his immaculate resume but also because of his performances inside the octagon where he was barely dominated by any of his opponents.

Khabib retired too soon following the devastating death of his father/mentor, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. Khabib defended his title only 3 times as a champion. Oliveira on the other hand has become a dominant force in the UFC in recent years as he has turned his career. Oliveira became the champion last year and has defended his belt once against Dustin Poirier. In his most recent title defense, he was stripped off the title as he failed to make championship weight.

“He impresses me like little bit but every fight he goes down,” said Khabib talking to Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA. “This is a little bit bad for him. Every fight he goes down.” In the last three fights, Oliveira has come back from losing the first half of the fights which according to Khabib is not an indication of pure dominance.

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Paddy Pimblett Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov

“He always goes down which is a little bit questionable. Nobody ever touch my face and all the time he go down, people cannot compare me and Charles Oliveira,” said Khabib talking to ESPN MMA. “He tapped in UFC 8 times, please come on. He tapped against Jim Miller, Anthony Pettis, Max Holloway, it was all Charles not Khabib.”

However, Khabib still believes Charles can be in the conversation for the greatest if beats the likes of Islam Makhachev, and Beneil Dariush, and he also makes sure to never fail in the weigh-ins. Charles became the first champion to lose the UFC belt at the scales after he missed weight by 0.5 pounds at UFC 274.

Do you agree with Khabib that Charles is not higher than the Dagestani in the rankings of GOAT lightweight fighters?

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