The topic of who the MMA GOAT is will always be debated in the world of combat sports and former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov decided to provide his own personal rankings.
For some observers and fans, the now-retired Nurmagomedov is up there himself in the GOAT rankings. For others, he still has plenty of work to do to reach the likes of current UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former welterweight king Georges St-Pierre.
But given that GOAT rankings will always be subjective, it’s always interesting to hear how certain fighters rank their peers in the debate.
So with that said, here’s Nurmagomedov’s top 15 (there are actually more than 15 given that he couldn’t separate many fighters) that doesn’t include himself:
1) Fedor Emelianenko/Jon Jones
2) Georges St-Pierre
3) Anderson Silva
4) Demetrious Johnson
5) Daniel Cormier
6) Henry Cejudo
7) Jose Aldo
8) Kamaru Usman
9) Israel Adesanya
10) BJ Penn
11) Royce Gracie
12) Randy Couture/Cain Velasquez
13) Dan Henderson/Shogun Rua
14) Mirko Cro Cop/Stipe Miocic
15) Dominick Cruz/Frankie Edgar
There are not many surprises with his list for the most part. For many observers, Jones is already the GOAT of MMA and his recent return to defeat Ciryl Gane and become a two-division champion at UFC 285 only further cemented his claim.
Fedor Emelianenko — although he never competed in the UFC — is regarded by many to be the greatest heavyweight of all time while others believe former two-time champion Stipe Miocic should hold that accolade.
While there might be some bias from Nurmagomedov given that Emelianenko is his fellow countryman, there’s certainly nothing wrong in believing “The Last Emperor” to be the greatest heavyweight of all time and a GOAT contender.
Interestingly, two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is at No. 9 with his recent win over Alex Pereira likely moving him up the ranks for Nurmagomedov.
It will be interesting to see how other fighters respond to Nurmagomedov’s list.
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