Islam Makhachev beat Ian Garry on Sunday at UFC 330, retaining his welterweight world title and extending his win streak to 17 wins, solidifying himself as the most dominant force in the company.
The Dagistani’s earned a hard fought victory by way of unanimous decisions over five rounds over the Irish welterweight in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
However, discussion over whether Makhachev is the greatest fighter in UFC history have arisen, especially when Dana White, the CEO of the UFC, was asked where the Dagistani places amongst the greats during a post fight press conference.
According to White, Makhachev would have been seen as the clear number one in his eyes if he did not have a knockout loss on his record.
The loss in question came in his second ever fight for the UFC against Adriano Martins in October 2015, at UFC 192 on the Daniel Cormier vs Alexander Gustafsson undercard.
Adriano Martins, aged 32 at the time went on to lose two more fights before ending his stint in the UFC.
Makhachev, aged 23, bounced back against Chris Wade with a unanimous decision the following year and has not lost since.
According to White, Makhachev, now aged 34, wants to fight 3-4 more times before retiring.
According to previous interviews and press conferences, White, still believes Jon Jones is the undisputed GOAT of the UFC due to his longevity, strength of resume and undefeated record.
Jon Jones, who is widely considered to be the greatest in UFC history, technically does have a loss on his record as well, but this loss came after getting disqualified for throwing an illegal elbow against Matt Hamill in 2009. An Elbow strike which has since been legalized.
Since then, impressive stoppage wins against Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida etc meant he became his own unstoppable force at his peak.
However, due to his controversies surrounding PEDS, arrests and long periods of inactivity has meant that his reputation has been somewhat damaged, leading fans to be reluctant when naming him at the GOAT.
Jones’ most recent win against Stipe Miocic in 2024 was also marred with controversy after he famously refused to fight Tom Aspinall for the UFC heavyweight title. A decision which drew heavy criticism from UFC fans alike as Miocic, while regarded as the greatest heavyweight UFC fighter of all time, was already 42 and on a steep decline. Whereas Aspinall was seen as the stronger, fresher challenger.
Names such as Anderson Silva, Georges St Pierre, Daniel Cormier, Fedor Emelianenko, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Demetrious Johnson are also frequently brought up in debate when discussing the GOAT. To Islam’s advantage, all of those names have retired, with Khabib being his longtime friend and training partner, he is learning from the best.
It remains to be seen whether White’s opinion will change in the future if Makhachev continues his dominance.
However, with potential fights against the likes of Michael Morales, and a highly anticipated showdown against number one ranked Carlos Prates which is projected to take place before the end of the year, the Dagistani looks to continue his dominance and momentum.
