Dana White was put in an uncomfortable position at the UFC 311 promotional press conference. A media member asked him the difficult question about who the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world is: Islam Makhachev, who is ranked No.1, or Jon Jones, whom the UFC CEO himself hails as the world’s best.
The reporter specifically asked whether Dana White will finally acknowledge the reigning lightweight champion as the best fighter in the world if he overcomes Arman Tsarukyan in their UFC 311 clash. However, it seems like there’s nothing that can convince White to place Makhachev ahead of Jones as long as the latter is active.
“Listen, Islam knows I love him, man, but you know how I feel about that. Jon Jones is undefeated for however many years and boo all you want, I don’t give a sh*t. And f**k you for asking that question.”
Check out Dana White answering the media member’s question (22:27):
Both Makhachev and Jones are on excellent runs of form. Makhachev recently tied the lightweight division’s title defense record after submitting a game Dustin Poirier in round five of their UFC 302 encounter. Furthermore, the Dagestani star has defeated nothing but champions over his last four fights.
He submitted Poirier, who is a former interim lightweight champion, knocked out ex-featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski in their rematch, beat him via unanimous decision in their first bout, and submitted former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira to capture the divisional crown.
Jones, meanwhile, has just defended his heavyweight title with an emphatic TKO win over all-time great heavyweight and former champion Stipe Miocic. Before that, he submitted a former interim heavyweight champion in Ciryl Gane with ease.