Having Snubbed Islam Makhachev, Dana White Gets UFC Legend’s Backing on Jon Jones Verdict

Islam Makhachev took down Dustin Poirier in UFC 302 with a brilliant fight for all five rounds, and the Dagestani was declared the best P4P by fans. After he defeated featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284, even the Russian fighter expected himself to be crowned as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC rankings. And after the recent win, he definitely would expect to be called the best pound-for-pound on the planet.

However, during the UFC post-fight conference, Dana White declared that Jon Jones was the best P4P on the planet. Not only that, but Michael Bisping agreed with the UFC CEO, and he pulled out some receipts to show why.

Michael Bisping supports claims made by Dana White

A recent video clip by the former MMA champion is circulating social media and was also uploaded on Twitter. The video shows Bisping pulling out the two data sets of the opponents that ‘Bones and Makhachev have fought, respectively. He first clarified that he was not trying to insult Makhachev’s credibility but was just stating facts.

The tweet caption said, “Michael Bisping compares the resumes of Makhachev and Jones and agrees with Dana White that Jon Jones is the #1 PFP over Islam Makhachev: “I believe that currently, the pound-for-pound #1 on the planet is Jon Jones. The lightweight division is where it’s at, but it used to be the light heavyweight division. That was the glamor division, and that’s what Jon Jones went through back then.”

In the video, the UFC Hall of Famer clearly said that he was not insulting the Dagestani protege of Khabib Nurmagomedov. Bisping just kept the records of the two esteemed fighters side by side and compared the opponents they had defeated. Bisping agreed that Makahchev had indeed defeated Volk, who was one of the best pound-for-pound.

However, Volk was in the featherweight category. After that, Makhachev successfully beat Charles Oliveira and ended his reign, but Oliveira too lost many fights as well. Bisping pointed out that, compared to this, Jon Jones fought fighters like Cyril Gane, Dominick Reyes, Thiago Santos, and Daniel Cormier, to name a few, and these fighters were champions!

So according to the former MMA fighter, Makahchev defeated two featherweight fighters, whereas Jones defeated fighters from the heavyweight division. He even spoke to Adam Catterall, where the latter supported the decision of Makhachev being pound for pound. But Bisping was against this and said that Jones beat champion after champion even if he is not active now.

However, the fans think otherwise and refuse to abide by Dana White and Michael Bisping’s comments.

Islam Makhachev is retaining his top spot in the P4P rankings

At the UFC 302 post-fight press conference, White declared that Jon Jones was the best P4P in the world, but he also praised Makhachev, which did not sit well with fans. Despite the backlash, White firmly stuck to his choice of Jones and said that as long as Jones is active, there cannot be another P4P-best fighter. He said, “For anyone to call Islam the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world when Jon Jones is still f*cking fighting is nuts and shouldn’t be ranking in the pound-for-pound or doing any of the f*cking rankings ever if that’s what you think.”

The UFC CEO also stated that Jones had never lost a fight, and his rise to the heavyweight title and securing the title established him as the best P4P. However, the UFC’s latest ranking shows something very different and displays that Makhachev remained in the No. 1 spot with Jones being No. 2.

Even Jones commented after White’s praise and said that the “haters” were not going to like his comments, but White was a hard shell to crack. On top of that, the UFC head honcho had seen the rise of Jones firsthand.

Makahchev is making his legacy, while Jones has already created his. Who do you think is the best fighter among them?