Khabib Nurmagomedov reveals how he ranks among the GOATs of MMA
With a record of 29 wins and 0 losses, Khabib Nurmagomedov has a strong argument when it comes to discussing the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.
However, Khabib does not want to be considered the greatest of all time, but simply one of the greatest of all time.
In a recent interview with ESPN MMA's Brett Okamoto, Nurmagomedov discussed the topic of GOAT status within MMA and where he believes he fits into it.
"After that moment, 24th of October, 2020, I was on the top. After that, what happened I don't care. I don't want to put my name like, call me greatest of all time. No, I am one of the greatest of all time. I am on one level with Fedor, Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, Demetrious Johnson, Georges St-Pierre. I am on one level. I don't wanna call this guy greatest, he's number two, he's number three. One of the best," said Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Khabib Nurmagomedov talks being P4P number one in the world
While Khabib Nurmagomedov is happy to be considered one of the greatest fighters of all time rather than the singular greatest, he still maintains that following his victory over Justin Gaethje, there was no fighter signed to the UFC who was better than him.
"At that moment, I was number one pound-for-pound fighter. Nobody can say nothing. It was not Kamaru Usman. It was not Jon Jones, who fights very close fights with all these light heavyweights... He show against them, very bad performance.. But what about me, I was mauling everybody," stated Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Khabib tells no word of a lie. He clinically defeated every single lightweight he went up against. These included some of the best 155-pound fighters of all time, including Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor.
Unfortunately, one of the few fighters Khabib Nurmagomedov did not compete against was the man who won Nurmagomedov's vacant title, Charles Olivera.
It is too early to tell if Olivera will become a similarly dominant champion to Khabib, but if he should, maybe that would be enough to draw 'The Eagle' out of retirement.