2024 was a͏ magical year for the͏ promot͏ion. ͏From th͏e star studded ͏UFC͏ ͏300 event to the marquee UFC ͏306͏ at The Sphere, the MMA ͏c͏ommunity ͏w͏itnessed a flurry of fi͏ghts th͏at kept th͏em capti͏vated throughout the y͏ear.͏ ͏Amidst the excitement, new GOAT c͏ontenders emerged, des͏erv͏i͏ng ce͏l͏ebrat͏ion for their͏ remarkable achi͏evements within the ͏spor͏t.

Fr͏o͏m ba͏ck-to-back vi͏ct͏or͏ies ͏for Alex P͏ereira to Ilia Topuria’s legendary knockout run, it’s time to take a look at thre͏e ch͏ampi͏ons ͏who entered ͏the GOAT debate last year. Let’s get started!

UFC light heavyweight Alex Pereira

Arguably the biggest star within the promotion right now, Alex Pereria became the talk of the town last year by defending the light-heavyweight belt three times in a row. ‘Poatan’ knocked out Jamahal Hill at UFC 300, then moved forward to defeat Jiri Prochazka for the second time with another knockout at UFC 303. He continued his dominant streak by knocking out Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307. Interestingly, Pereira achieved dual-championship status within just 12 fights in his MMA career.

S͏o, does this make him a GOAT? Well, former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion of the world, Daniel Cormier believes so, “If Alex can be a guy that wins a third belt, that dude better be in the conversation as greatest of all time,” Cormier told MMAJunkie this week. “And hell, he’s only done it – he’s only got like 11 fights in his entire career [he has 12].”

Well, that’s not all, Dana White considers Alex Pereira to be the biggest star he’s had in recent times but the light heavyweight champion himself believes that Jon Jones is the man who should be called an actual GOAT, “Like Dana White says, he’s the man,” said Alex Pereira in a conversation with the Helen Yee.  It must be noted that Pereira has one of the highest knockout ratios within the light-heavyweight division as of now. Now let us move from the light heavyweight division to the featherweight division ruled by Ilia Topuria.

Ilia Topuria, the featherweight boogeyman

Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, are the two names within the featherweight division that have been feared by fighters for years but both of them had to submit to Ilia Topuria. The Spanish fighter came in like a storm in the featherweight division defeating everybody back-to-back and that’s what he did when he knocked out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 and months later knocked out Iron Chin, Max Holloway at UFC 308.

Knocking out two of the biggest featherweight fighters back-to-back has enticed the fans to bring Ilia Topuria back at the GOAT debate. Some MMA influencers like MMAGuru even believe that Topuria has a stacked resume which is better than Conor McGregor or Khabib Nurmagomedov, “The difference is insane, we need to start rethinking who we just chuck around the term “goat” for. Ilia is straight in at the deep end. Khabib was in the kiddie pool with floaties on for nearly 6 years.”

After dealing with the featherweight division, Ilia Topuria is looking at the lightweight division with glimmering eyes. Interestingly, the featherweight boogeyman has made plans to dominate the 155 lbs division as well, “[In the next three years] probably a three-weight world champion,” said Ilia Topuria. He further added, “Yeah, this is my goal. You’re not gonna see me in the welterweight division like this, skinny. You’re gonna see me different. Yeah, that’s the goal, move up to the lightweight division, get that belt, and then move up to the welterweight division.” 

Well, becoming a three-division change is not a small task. No one in the UFC’s decades-long history has ever been able to grab three belts back-to-back, but it appears that ‘El Matador’ has a different plan in mind.

Lightweight king Islam Makhachev

The lightweight division is arguably the most competitive in the entire UFC and to dominate it for years is not a task for the faint-hearted. But when you’re Islam Makhachev, things are a bit different. The Dagestani fighter has been a champion since October 22, 2022, and has defended his belt against literal GOATs of the game. Regardless, the fighter fought only once last year, and against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302. Despite, fighting only once, Makhachev has drawn attention to himself as his victory against Poirier helped him to achieve the record for the longest winning streak in the UFC’s lightweight division with 13 straight victories.

Interestingly, former bantamweight champion of the world, Sean O’Malley believes that Islam Makhachev should be counted as a GOAT, “I think Jon’s fought once in the last 4-5 years. Jon Jones is up there for greatest of all time, but right now who’s the greatest… I think it’s Islam,” said O’Malley while having a conversation with the media.

It must be noted that Islam Makhachev needs just one title defense to break Khabib Nurmagomedov’s record of three title defenses. His upcoming match has been scheduled against his former opponent, Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311.

Regardless, what do you think of these fighters, and their presence in the GOAT conversation? Do you think they deserve to be there? Do you have any other fighters in mind? Do let us know in the comments down below.