Dana White Picks Jon Jones Over Khabib Nurmagomedov as MMA GOAT

UFC

March 27, 2024

Dana White has given his verdict on the MMA’s greatest of all time debate.

Former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and reigning heavyweight champion Jon Jones are arguably the two frontrunners in the race for the MMA GOAT along with others like Demetrious Johnson and Anderson Silva. For White, however, there is no question Jones holds the No. 1 spot. “Bones,” who made 13 successful defenses of the light heavyweight belt, returned from a lengthy hiatus to claim the heavyweight crown with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane at UFC 285. Jones career record stands at 27-1 with one no contest, but his lone defeat was a controversial disqualification loss to Matt Hamill.

“He’s never been beat,” White told Lex Fridman. “He destroyed everyone at light heavyweight, which at the time was the toughest weight class in the company, in the sport. And then he moved up to heavyweight, won easily at heavyweight. And when you look at the guy and you look at what he was doing outside of the Octagon at the same time, which shouldn’t be part of it, shouldn’t be part of the equation. But when you do, wow. You can hate him all you want, Jon Jones is the greatest of all time.”

Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov retired from the sport with a perfect 29-0 record, which included 13 UFC appearances. “The Eagle” retired from the sport after defending his strap for the third time at UFC 254 in 2020, keeping his promise to his mother to not fight after the death of his father. While White acknowledged Nurmagomedov as one of the leading contenders in the GOAT debate, he believes the Dagestani icon retired too soon.

“I think Khabib had the potential to be in the running for that, he just didn’t stick around,” White said. “First of all, he had injuries that you know… He should have been where he got a lot sooner had he not had the injuries that he had and the setbacks in his career but there’s no doubt, Khabib is one of the all-time greats.”