Dana White split the world in two with his verdict on the pound-for-pound number-one. Despite the fact that Islam Makhachev won his third title defense and has just one single loss in his entire MMA career, White didn’t choose him. Instead, he went on to pick Jon Jones. Unsurprisingly, not everyone was happy with White’s opinion. 

After the UFC head honcho addressed the pound-for-pound rankings in the UFC 302 post-fight press conference, many in the combat sports community began thinking otherwise. One of them was Kamaru Usman. The former welterweight champion recently backed up Makhachev as the true P4P #1.

Kamaru Usman stands with Islam Makhachev

‘The Nigerian Nightmare’, on the set of the Pound4Pound podcast, revealed the true meaning of what it means to be P4P number one. He claimed that P4P was not about being invincible. Instead, it meant that whatever or whoever came in front of the P4P number one, he, or she would face him and give it their all. This was indeed reflected by Makhachev’s recent victory over Dustin Poirier at UFC 302. The Dagestani fighter kept struggling for four whole rounds before finally making his opponent tap out in the fifth. 

Usman said, “Pound-for-pound does not mean you’re invincible. You can’t be touched, you can’t be beat. Especially by guys in your own division that are your same size. Guys were saying, ‘Oh, he’s gonna take care of him in under 10 minutes.’ Jeez! I knew that they were gonna drill that. They were just gonna drill, getting up, working really, really hard against the fence, making a wrestler, a grappler truly earn those takedowns.”  

Poirier’s tough competition was not missed at all. The welterweight mixed martial artist commended ‘The Diamond’ for successfully defending himself against Makhachev’s takedowns and attempts to submit him multiple times. However, Makhachev’s grappling prowess was on a completely different level. “And I think Dustin Poirier did a phenomenal job of that. He touched Islam. But listen, Islam’s a dog. Islam stayed in there and Islam still went and got the finish,” the Nigerian fighter said.

With the skills that the LW champ displayed in the Octagon against Poirier, Usman seemed convinced that Makhachev was indeed the one who deserved the title of pound-for-pound number one. He opined, “So if that’s not what pound-for-pound means, I don’t know what it is. Pound-for-pound does not mean, oh yeah, you’re gonna walk through everybody. It just means your style will translate through every different division, every weight class.”

Usman wasn’t the only support that Makhachev received. The founder of the American Kickboxing Academy and Makhachev’s coach, Javier Mendez, also believed that it was his pupil who deserved to be at the top of the P4P rankings.

Team Khabib backs the LW champ for P4P #1

Javier Mendez in his recent appearance on the ‘Red Corner MMA’, refused to stand with the UFC CEO’s rejection of Islam Makhachev as the pound-for-pound king. The AKA coach believed that the lightweight champ proved himself to be worthy of every accolade that he has amassed till date. Mendez claimed that the Dagestani mixed martial artist did not falter even once during his bout at UFC 302.

The founder of AKA then revealed how impressed he was with the kind of performance Makhachev set on display in the Octagon. “He proved that he’s the real champion, and in my opinion, he is pound-for-pound,” the coach opined. Needless to say, the entire MMA community was left with gaping mouths with the title fight at UFC 302. The final-round finisher move was something many anticipated. But the way Makhachev executed the D’arce choke was nothing short of phenomenal.

To top it all off, Makhachev out-boxed Poirier. The Louisiana native came into the fight with the reputation of being arguably the best boxer in the division, and to some, in all of the UFC. During their trash talk at the press conference, Poirier egged on Makhachev to box with him, confident in his abilities to outperform the Russian on the feet.

However, after the fight, the significant strikes count stood at 88-74 in the Russian’s favor. He out-struck Poirier in all rounds but one! So not only did he dominate the grappling exchanges, but he beat Poirier at his own game! Is that not P4P worthy?

What do you think? Is it Makhachev or Jones who truly deserves the mantle of the P4P number one? Let us know in the comments down below.