Morning Report: Michael Bisping says a win over Islam Makhachev makes Charles Oliveira the lightweight GOAT

Charles Oliveira has a lot on the line this weekend.

This Saturday, Oliveira looks to reclaim the lightweight title he lost on the scale when he takes on Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 280. But there could be more up for grabs than just the UFC lightweight title, because according to UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping, a win will move Oliveira ahead of Khabib Nurmagomedov in the lightweight “Greatest Of All Time” conversation.

“Greatest lightweight of all time? I think if Charles beats Islam this weekend, I that belongs to Charles now,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “I really do. I think he will have surpassed him, simply because he’s taken out all the top contenders. And it’s not Khabib’s fault, but you cannot deny the numbers, the momentum, the history that Oliveira’s making.”

Oliveira holds or has a share of many UFC records, including finishes, submissions, and bonuses won. He’s also near the top of the organization in wins, and while some of that can be explained by his long tenure in the UFC, “Do Bronx” is also on an incredible run at the moment too, with 11 straight wins, 10 by finish, including back-to-back stoppages of two of Khabib’s former title foes, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. The one major knock on Oliveira’s resume is that he’s lost eight times, seven by finish, whereas Khabib never tasted defeat in his entire career, which Bisping acknowledges.

“Here’s the case for Khabib: his record, 29-0, 13-0 in the UFC, and he was one of the most dominant fighters that the UFC had ever seen,” Bisping said. “In 60 career rounds, this man only lost two rounds. Round one against Justin Gaethje — very, very close — and round three against Conor McGregor — again, very, very close.”

But like Oliveira, Nurmagomedov does not have an iron-clad case for lightweight GOAT status with the main argument against him being that he retired too soon. And it seems this argument weighs heavy on Bisping who ultimately says that while Nurmagomedov’s reasons for retiring were honorable, it still factors in against him.

“Listen, we never saw him lose to anyone, and he was so dominant it’s hard to imagine him losing to anyone,” Bisping said. “All we ever saw was him win and dominate people. But he retired at 32 years old, after three title defenses and two and a half years as champion of the world. That’s fantastic but if he had stuck around longer would we have seen him lose the belt? Would we have seen him get challenged? We’ll never know, and that is one of the real arguments for Khabib not being the pound-for-pound No. 1.

“The reality is, the reason we ask the question, is because he didn’t stick around long enough. And we know why, it was a very honorable reason… but would he have beaten all these top new contenders? He’d have beaten some of them, but would he have beaten Charles? We don’t know. We can only imagine.”

UFC 280 takes place this Saturday, Oct. 22, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Results. Alexa Grasso outboxes Viviane Araujo to earn unanimous decision at UFC Vegas 62.

Bonuses. Jonathan Martinez cashes extra $50,000 for big win over Cub Swanson.

Rivalry. Kevin Holland not interested in training with Khamzat Chimaev: ‘I don’t know what the f*** he was thinking.’

KO. Deontay Wilder returns to the win column with brutal first round knockout of Robert Helenius.

Empathy. Deontay Wilder delivers tearful speech after Robert Helenius knockout: ‘I wanted to come to his aid.’

UFC Vegas 62 Post Show.

Jorge Masvidal on Leon Edwards, Nate Diaz.

UFC 280 Countdown.

Prelude to UFC 280.

Paddy Pimblett in Rome.

Alexander Volkanovski training to be a backup.

On To The Next One. Matches to make following UFC Vegas 62.

Uriah Hall clearing things up.

Valentina Shevchenko.

Luciana Andrade commenting on this whole thing.

Champions.

Jorge Masvidal responding to Leon Edwards.

Terrance McKinney.

OSP celebrating Tennessee’s big win.

Conor McGregor looking large.

N/A.

No matter how hard he tries, Volkanovski can’t make me interested in his lightweight aspirations. Dude, defend your belt. Or leave your division, then I’ll care. But there are too many lightweight in line, and too many featherweights you haven’t beaten.

Thanks for reading! See y’all tomorrow.

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