The “0” is the Most Overrated Thing in Sports

Boxers and MMA fighters compete in some of the most brutal sports on earth, yet nothing motivates them more than protecting that shiny little zero at the end of their record. Forget brain damage; the real trauma is a loss listed on Wikipedia. They’ll take punches straight to the dome, but heaven forbid someone punches a “1” onto their record. 

In today’s world, being undefeated sells more than being exciting. Promoters treat losses like a virus. Young fighters pad their records against former Uber drivers to keep their “0” safe. Fans care more about spotless records than real competition. The sad result of this mentality: fewer exciting fights and more hollow legacies. Somewhere along the line, the fighting game became the “don’t lose” game. 

In all fairness, the “0” has financial benefits. Undefeated records sell pay-per-views, draw sponsors, and keep fighters marketable in a sport with short career spans. Fighters like Cody Garbrandt lost sponsors immediately after losing a single fight. But when all fighters start making career decisions out of fear instead of hunger, the sport itself starts losing. 

Dustin Poirier, a UFC fighter, perfectly understands that you have to fight the best to be the best. He fought anyone willing to step into the octagon. He’s gone to war with the most prolific strikers like Max Holloway while wrestling the most physically dominant grapplers, including Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev. 

Poirier has been knocked out and submitted, but every time he fights, it feels like the main event. His 2021 brawl with Justin Gaethje left both men drenched in blood and enshrined them in the record books as Fight of the Year. Fans will always cherish fighters like Poirier; the guy who could respond after a loss and somehow keep improving, the guy who was always willing to fight another day. 

Among fighting fans, the greatest of all time debate includes Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Sugar Ray Robinson, Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, and Demetrious Johnson. 

Only one fighter listed above can claim to be undefeated: Floyd Mayweather. He arguably holds the weakest case of them all. Mayweather retired from professional boxing with a record of 49-0. Later, Mayweather came out of retirement to fight a man who’d never boxed, Conor McGregor. It was like Ray Lewis versus a Kent State running back in an Oklahoma drill, yet it still took 11 rounds for Mayweather to finish him, ending his career a perfect 50-0.  

Mayweather’s career was so carefully managed, it made the FBI witness protection program look disorganized. He dodged big fights, denied rematches, and built a career on defense instead of danger. In the late 2000s, a boxer named Manny Pacquiao couldn’t stop winning. Fans knew he could be the one to finally dethrone Mayweather. However, Mayweather wouldn’t risk a fight that could tarnish his record, so he avoided a fight with Manny Pacquiao like the plague. 

Finally, after years of fans begging to see it, Mayweather accepted a fight against Pacquiao in 2015. Floyd outmatched Pacquiao with his signature “Philly Shell” defensive style, winning by unanimous decision. He didn’t just dodge punches in this fight; he dodged timelines. By the time Mayweather fought Pacquiao, both men were closer to AARP cards than their primes. 

Just a few short years after Mayweather’s retirement, his legacy precedes him. However, his legacy isn’t due to his undefeated record; he will forever be remembered as the man who came out of retirement to fight a YouTuber, the man who took 11 rounds to knock out an MMA fighter. The man who, time and time again, avoided the big fight to save his precious undefeated record. 

There is a group that has done much worse damage to their respective fighting sports than Floyd Mayweather. Khabib Nurmagomedov, a retired UFC fighter, is the “leader” of that group. Spend five minutes on MMA Twitter, and you’ll find someone with Khabib’s face as their profile picture explaining why he’s better than Jon Jones because of “his humility.”

Khabib retired with an impressive 29-0 professional record after only 13 fights in the UFC. This looks great on paper, but so does a resume that says “retired at 32.” Khabib imposed his will on every opponent, but he shouldn’t even sniff the greatest fighter conversation. During his short career, he only recorded two knockouts. Even with elite grappling and unmatched toughness, his one-dimensional style keeps him out of the GOAT conversation.  

Despite his domination, he retired before his chin ever met Father Time. It’s like dropping out of college with straight A’s after sophomore year, impressive, but the valedictorian still has class to finish. 

The best fighters in history didn’t stay perfect; they stayed dangerous. Muhammad Ali lost four times, Manny Pacquiao lost seven. Georges St-Pierre got choked unconscious once on live TV, then spent the next decade making sure it never happened again. None of them hid from risk; they sprinted towards it. The risk of losing is an even better opportunity to get better. 

A loss doesn’t end greatness; it proves you had the guts to chase it. The zero means you played it safe enough to never find out how good you really were. 

The “0” is like the cherry on top of a delicious sundae, nice to have, but it’s not what makes the sundae great. The greatest fighters aren’t remembered for being perfect; they’re remembered for being fearless. 

Ali lost. Tyson lost. Jones lost. GSP lost. But they all tested their limits and chased greatness anyway, something an undefeated record can never teach you. So let’s stop worshipping the zero. In fighting, as in life, perfection’s boring. People love to root for the guy who’s been knocked down, bloodied, and still gotten up and wanted another round. Those who fight, fall, and rise again—they’re the ones who deserve celebrations. They’re the ones who chased greatness, not perfection.