Featherweight is a division the place a number of males can lay a declare to being the best to ever do it. To start with, you’ve gotten the Brazilian King, Jose Aldo who completely dominated the featherweight division since its inception. Then you’ve gotten the person who took Aldo’s place because the long-reigning monarch of 145lbs, Max Holloway. The final and most up-to-date candidate to be added to the potential GOAT listing is present featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
This listing will have a look at a number of variables equivalent to combating kinds, normal of competitors confronted in addition to legacies of every fighter with a purpose to decide who might be thought-about the GOAT at this second in time.
Who’s the Featherweight GOAT?
Combating Type – Jose Aldo
The King of Rio was notorious for his electrical hanging abilities. Preferring to maintain issues on the ft, in contrast to lots of his countrymen on the time, Aldo utilised all kinds of strikes all wielded with pinpoint accuracy and to devastating impact. Time and time once more Aldo delivered spotlight reel knockouts, equivalent to his finishes towards Chad Mendes, Cub Swanson and Jeremy Stephens to call however a number of. Few have proven as a lot ability and selection of their hanging repertoire as the previous featherweight champion. Together with having otherworldly hanging talents, Aldo possessed a critically excessive stage of grappling and had among the many highest proportion of takedown defence throughout his time within the UFC. He could be greater than able to outstriking virtually all his opponents on the ft and they might by no means have the ability to take him all the way down to the mat. Basically the proper recreation plan for nearly each combat he participated in.
Combating Type – Max Holloway
If we had been to explain Max Holloway in a phrase, that phrase must be relentless. Holloway is actually dogged in his strategy to fights. A striker by nature, he differs vastly from the likes of Jose Aldo and makes use of a closely boxing-orientated type.
Although Holloway’s largest weapon is maybe not his fists however as a substitute his fuel tank. He has the ability that only a few fighters have. One thing that permits him to take care of a ridiculously excessive tempo all through the length of the combat. Whereas not possessing knockout energy, Holloway has been profitable in merely swarming his opponents.
A method that may be evidenced by his possession of each data for many strikes landed and most important strikes landed. In each circumstances considerably forward of 2nd place. His insane cardio is additional complemented by his insane sturdiness and out of his 7 losses, not a single one has come from a KO. It could most likely be affordable to imagine that Holloway is in rivalry for probably the most strikes taken report in addition to landed.
Combating Type – Alexander Volkanovski
Volkanovski is just highly effective. His stature to his hanging to his grappling is all simply so highly effective. Primarily a striker, Volkanovski has displayed a superb technical capacity in his recreation and transitions fantastically between grappling and on the ft work. He’s more than able to touchdown large pictures in a wrestling scramble or doling out some floor and pound.
He’s equally as proficient as merely shifting across the octagon and doing steady injury with a jab. He has proven that his cardio is among the many most elite in not solely the division however fairly presumably your entire organisation. Volkanovski is just good at all the pieces and his type of combating has been vastly profitable in utterly nullifying his opponent’s strengths, leaving them at his mercy.
Respective competitors
With regard to competitors, all three have confronted very related issues. Maybe the most important distinction between Aldo and the others on this listing is because of the truth that Aldo was competing a lot earlier on within the lifespan of MMA towards the pioneers of the decrease weight divisions notably within the WEC days. But ultimately in fact there was fairly a substantial little bit of overlap by way of opponents confronted for all three.
All of those males confronted the perfect of their division throughout their time as champion and there may be not one specific particular person who might be stated to have taken a straightforward route or path to the title. Maybe it’s value drawing consideration to the early profession of Max Holloway merely to commend the Hawaiian. At one level Holloway was the youngest fighter on the roster and signed to the UFC in solely fifth professional combat. His early years are affected by names who would go on to develop into a few of the largest in your entire sport. These embody Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor and Charles Oliveira.
In actual fact, all three people have fought one another. With Holloway defeating Aldo twice and Volkanovski defeating each Aldo as soon as and Holloway thrice. This creates an fascinating lineage of types the place it seems the title of GOAT is nearly getting handed down via the ages and maybe within the subsequent technology of fighters one could also be Holloway and Volkanovski.
Legacy
Jose Aldo
Actually an fascinating side of the GOAT dialog, legacy is topic to vary dramatically after a single combat or occasion. The one fighter out of the three who’s not lively is Jose Aldo so his legacy is cemented proper now.
An astonishing seven defences of the UFC belt in addition to two of the WEC strap places him far forward because the longest reigning champion. An 18-fight win streak and virtually a decade of being undefeated actually made him really feel like an invincible fighter who has only a step forward of everybody else within the division.
Throughout his first title reign, Aldo defended his belt towards the likes of Chad Mendes, Frankie Edgar, Chan Sung Jung, Ricardo Lamas and Urijah Faber. Finally, Aldo would famously be knocked out by trash speaking Irishman Conor McGregor in simply 13 seconds at UFC 194. McGregor would later depart the featherweight division and Aldo would regain the title beating Frankie Edgar at UFC 200.
It’s in his first defence of his second title reign that he would lose the belt to Max Holloway. Aldo definitely wouldn’t have a foul UFC profession after this, he would transfer all the way down to bantamweight after failing to regain the crown at 145 lbs but finally he did not seize the magic that when made him the invincible titan throughout his title reign.
Max Holloway
Holloway was seen as the person who correctly dethroned Aldo. Regardless of the King of Rio’s loss to McGregor the short and sudden nature of the combat led many to consider that it was only a fluke.
Many believed that if the combat had performed out additional Aldo would have accomplished to McGregor what he did to all of the others who had challenged earlier than. Max Holloway was the primary man to have interaction in a multiple-round combat with Aldo and beat him in a fashion that left no room for hypothesis and talks of a fluke.
Even within the subsequent rematch the combat performed out the very same means. It was clear that Aldo was not the highest of the pile at featherweight. Holloway was then seen because the unbeatable king and he laid out devastating beatdowns on his challengers.
Frankie Edgar and Brian Ortega had been each utterly outmatched by Holloway and he seemed to be ranges forward of the remainder of the division. That was till the looks of Alexander Volkanovski. After dropping his belt, Holloway has continued to beat each single contender within the Featherweight division delivering one sided beatdowns but he merely can not appear to determine defeat present champion Alex Volkanovski.
Alexander Volkanovski
Volkanovski fought Aldo and former world title challenger Chad Mendes on his option to getting a title shot earlier than lastly getting his likelihood on the belt at UFC 245 in 2019.
Volkanovski would decide up a call win and was the primary to decisively beat Max Holloway in years. A rematch noticed a a lot nearer combat with Volkanovski nonetheless being awarded the win but many followers and pundits alike felt the bout might have been scored in Holloways favour. A 3rd combat was made to settle the rating the place Volkanovski finally put the rivalry to mattress with a dominating show and once more picked up a unanimous choice win.
Volkanovski has defended his belt towards Holloway twice and in addition towards Ortega and Jung. He’s set to make one other defence towards excessive flying Mexican striker Yair Rodriguez. What’s extra, Volkanovski has challenged for the light-weight title on this timeframe with a combat towards Islam Makhachev going towards his favour in the long run, but his inventory has solely raised with these within the MMA group.
Conclusion: GOAT = Jose Aldo
All thee are wonderful fighters with a superb historical past and pedigree. Instantly although, we must rule one among them out of the GOAT debate. Sadly for Max Holloway, his reign of three defences is just too quick in comparison with the 4 presumably quickly fie of Volkanovski and the seven of Jose Aldo. In a hypothetical world if Holloway had by no means confronted Volkanovski and remained champion but continued to have the identical performances he has had towards different fighters since dropping the belt he could be a fairly presumably the unquestionable reply for the dialog. Since dropping the belt he has dominated the likes of Calvin Kattar, Yair Rodriguez and Arnold Allen. But the truth that these fights weren’t for a title does damage his declare because the division’s biggest. As does his three losses to Volkanovski.
Which implies that we’re left to select from Jose Aldo and Alexander Volkanovski.
Newer followers could not keep in mind and even realise the power of nature that Aldo was. Dominating the featherweight division earlier than the UFC even had one, Aldo’s 9 defences of the premier featherweight belt in MMA (2 of the WEC, 7 within the UFC) is unprecedented and the way through which he did so was merely breathtaking.
Whereas somebody who began watching within the final 5 years or so, could merely consider him as a strong prime 5 fighter at bantamweight he actually was a generational expertise. Due to the loss to McGregor and the dip in type within the later phases of his profession, he’s typically disrespected when discussing the best of the Featherweight division. The sheer size of time that he reigned supreme and the way through which he dispatched his opponents left me with no different alternative than to present it to Jose Aldo.
That isn’t to say that Volkanovski is much behind. Boasting the excellence of beating each Jose Aldo and Max Holloway, Volkanovski shall be hoping to realize a fifth title defence at UFC 290 which can put him solely two behind Aldo’s divisional report. If he continues his run of type that he’s been having fun with all through his UFC profession and notably if he finds additional success at Light-weight then there isn’t any motive that he can not overtake Aldo within the not so distant future.
This can be a considerably contentious subject so if you happen to disagree and have a distinct rating or perhaps a totally different candidate let me know within the feedback under.
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