5 reasons why Alexander Volkanovski is ahead of Khabib Nurmagomedov in the GOAT conversation

#4. Alexander Volkanovski has fought more elite competition

In his UFC career, Nurmagomedov fought against lesser competition than Alexander Volkanovski has, and at a lower volume as well.

The Russian legend is often credited with besting Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. He also faced Rafael dos Anjos and Al Iaquinta prior to these wins.

Nurmagomedov's bouts with McGregor and Iaquinta, however, require closer examination. When 'The Eagle' and 'The Notorious' finally clashed at UFC 229, it was clear to everyone that the Irishman was not in optimal condition.

While there is no doubt Nurmagomedov would've defeated any version of McGregor, the McGregor he did face was one returning to MMA after a two-year absence from the sport. A McGregor who openly drank whiskey at a pre-fight press conference days before the fight.

Furthermore, Iaquinta wasn't given enough time to prepare. He was the second late-notice replacement for the bout with Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 after Max Holloway could not be medically cleared to replace an injured Tony Ferguson.

Alexander Volkanovski, on the other hand, fought two-time featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes, two-time featherweight title challenger Chan Sung Jung, two-time featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega, former featherweight champion Jose Aldo and former featherweight champion Max Holloway.

Two of the aforementioned foes on Alexander Volkanovski's record are fighters widely regarded as the greatest featherweights of all time, whereas Nurmagomedov has never faced any fighter of such historical standing, least of all thrice as 'The Great' has with Holloway.

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#3. Volkanovski has proven himself against every style of opponent

Another point of intrigue Nurmagomedov's greatest critics narrow on is the near-total absence of strong grapplers and skilled wrestlers on the Russian's record.

With the exception of Abel Trujillo, whose wrestling skills were of little note, and Rafael dos Anjos, who is himself neither a strong wrestler nor an exceptionally dangerous submission specialist despite his Brazilian jiu-jitsu credentials, 'The Eagle' largely faced strikers during his UFC run.

His most impressive wins all came against strikers who used their grappling defensively, with the exception of Justin Gaethje, who has no defensive grappling to pair with his defensive wrestling.

The same cannot be said for Alexander Volkanovski.

'The Great' has faced a strong and explosive wrestler in Chad Mendes, superb strikers in Jose Aldo and Max Holloway, a heavy-handed power-puncher with an iron chin in Chan Sung Chung, and a deadly Brazilian jiu-jitsu submission specialist in Brian Ortega.

Alexander Volkanovski has proven his skill-set both offensively and defensively against a greater variety and breadth of competition, while Nurmagomedov has not. The Russian, as Kevin Lee once correctly pointed out, never faced a strong wrestler or grappler who was not fearful of wrestling and or grappling with him.