Sean O'Malley shares hilarious reaction to Khabib Nurmagomedov's GOAT list
Last week saw MMA fans driven into discussion by former UFC lightweight kingpin Khabib Nurmagomedov, who took to Twitter to post his ‘MMA GOAT top 15’.
My mma GOAT top 15
1) Fedor/Jones
2) GSP
3) AndersonSilva
4) DemetriousJohnson
5) DanielCormier
6) HenryCehudo
7) JoseAldo
8) KamaruUsman
9) Adesanya
10) BJPENN
11) RoyceGraice
12) Couture/Velasquez
13) Hendo/Shogun
14) CroCop/Miocic
15) Dominic Cruz/Frankie Edgar
Khabib’s list was greeted with plenty of reactions, with some fans asking why certain fighters weren’t in the list, while others were stunned that ‘The Eagle’ hadn’t included himself.
@TeamKhabib YOU FORGOT SOMEONE. https://t.co/8ehIFaQXCy
@TeamKhabib Frank Shamrock , Ken Shamrock, Matt Hughes
@TeamKhabib Where's Khabib on the list though?
One of the most humorous responses, though, belonged to current bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley, who spoke about the subject on his TimboSugarShow on YouTube.
After discussing the list with his co-host Tim Welch – including the issue of Khabib Nurmagomedov, having two #1 ranked fighters in Jon Jones and Fedor Emelianenko – O’Malley poked fun at a notable former UFC fighter.
“It’s hard with all...with that list, hard to put him (Stipe Miocic) up there...so where do you think Paige VanZant fits into all of this?” [21:10 onwards]
VanZant, of course, garnered plenty of hype during her early days with the UFC, beating the likes of Felice Herrig and Bec Rawlings.
However, after a hiatus of nearly two years following her 2016 loss to Michelle Waterson, VanZant suffered two losses in her following three bouts before departing the promotion in 2020.
After locking up the first-round submission, @amandaribasufc hugged @paigevanzant 🤝 #UFC251 https://t.co/LXMrI6Urb6
She has since competed in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, has appeared in All Elite Wrestling, and is now probably better known for her popular OnlyFans page than her fighting career.
How many fighters actually appeared on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s GOAT list? Did Sean O’Malley make the list?
While Khabib Nurmagomedov’s ‘GOAT list’ was numbered #1 to #15, ‘The Eagle’ actually included no fewer than 20 fighters, including 17 current or former UFC champions.
Interestingly, Khabib did not include himself on the list, nor did he include any of his opponents, with fighters like Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier missing out.
Only one fighter who never competed in the UFC – Fedor Emelianenko – made the cut for ‘The Eagle’, but the Russian PRIDE legend was put in the top spot alongside current UFC heavyweight king Jon Jones.
Sean O’Malley, unsurprisingly, did not make the cut. This is probably because ‘Sugar’ has not quite reached the peak of his powers yet, as he has not yet competed for a UFC title. After his victory over Petr Yan last year, though, there’s every chance that O’Malley could find himself on a list like this in the future.
Watch Sean O’Malley defeat Petr Yan below