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Khabib Nurmagomedov Dismisses ‘Goat’ Debate- Says He’s on the Same Level as Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre and Others

Published 07/14/2021, 12:15 AM EDT

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Ever since the inception of the UFC, fans have always clamored about who the best ever is. It is a debate that fans across all sports have and the UFC is no exception to that norm. While there have been many champions in the UFC, a few individuals have separated themselves from the other champions in terms of their achievements inside the octagon. 

The likes of Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov all make a strong claim for being the best to ever do it. In a recent interview with Brett Okamoto, Nurmagomedov shared his thoughts on the ‘GOAT’ debate. He went on to add where he feels he fits in alongside the likes of Jones, Silva, and others. 

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He said, “I don’t want to put my name, like oh, call me the greatest of all time. No, I am one of the greatest of all time. I am on one level with Fedor (Emelianenko), Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Demetrious Johnson, Georges St-Pierre. I am on one level. I put my name on one level. I don’t want to call this guy greatest, this guy number two, he’s number three. I am one of the best.”

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Would a second belt have cemented Khabib Nurmagomedov as the consensus greatest ever?

‘The Eagle’ has had one of the most dominant if not the most dominant runs in the UFC. Not only was he undefeated as a UFC fighter, he barely lost any rounds in his active career. Moreover, ‘The Eagle’ made world-class fighters look ordinary and defeated them with ease. 

However, most of the names he has pitted himself against have all competed at or are about to compete in different weight classes. The likes of ‘GSP’, Silva, and now Jon Jones have all ventured into other weight classes. And some have even gone on to become champions in two different weight classes. 

In a sport where becoming a two-weight world champion is now the new benchmark for fighters to be considered ‘great’, Nurmagomedov has never and probably will never compete at a different weight class.

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Do you think Khabib Nurmagomedov would have been considered the consensus greatest of all time if he had captured the belt in another weight class? Let us know in the comments below!

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Written by:

Kevin Binoy

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Kevin Binoy is an MMA author at EssentiallySports. He earned a Bachelor's degree from Fergusson College and has been covering sports professionally for over two years. Besides working with the MMA writing team, Kevin is a core member of the organization's web stories team and is responsible for delivering engaging MMA web stories.
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