Khabib Nurmagomedov is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in MMA history. He retired with an undefeated record of 29 wins and zero losses, and as both the undisputed UFC lightweight champion and pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, with the record number of title defenses in his weight class.
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s success inside the octagon has led to comparisons to other dominant mixed martial artists and caused some fans to field questions about his standing in the GOAT argument. But many have argued against him being the GOAT. That list of skeptics now includes bantamweight contender Marlon Vera.
Jon Jones is currently scheduled to face all-time great heavyweight Stipe Miocic in the former’s first 265-pound title defense. Ahead of the bout, ‘Chito’ retweeted a picture taken over a decade ago in 2011, featuring countless legends who were champions at the time, like Anderson Silva, Dominick Cruz, and Georges St-Pierre.
Jones is among those pictured in the image, which then forwards to 2023, to show that out of the seven champions pictured, only ‘Bones’ remains a titleholder, with five of them no longer competing in the UFC. ‘Chito’ used this to point out how ridiculous he finds it that some still hail Nurmagomedov as the GOAT.
Nurmagomedov’s standing against Jones has been a topic of conversation ever since the former’s retirement. Unfortunately, he retired early, with many feeling that he didn’t face enough elite competition to accurately gauge how good he truly was.
In fact, many, including Jones himself, have pointed out that ‘Bones’ has had more UFC title fights than ‘The Eagle’ has had UFC fights.
Why did Khabib Nurmagomedov retire?
The MMA world was left shocked by Khabib Nurmagomedov’s retirement in 2020. After finishing Justin Gaethje in round two at UFC 254, ‘The Eagle’ announced his departure from the sport in his post-fight interview.
Prior to the bout, his father and coach Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov had died due to COVID-related complications.
Having promised his mother that he would no longer fight without his father in his corner, Nurmagomedov walked away from MMA and has since resisted every attempt to coax him back into the octagon.