In recent months, UFC CEO Dana White has been the target of critics for various reasons, but the main issue arose when White criticized the top three pound-for-pound rankings, where Jon Jones was placed in 3rd position, while Islam Makhachev was ranked 1st. This ranking infuriated White, who expressed his displeasure with the organization’s list. In an interview, the UFC CEO crowned the heavyweight champion as the greatest fighter, stating, “As long as Jon Jones is still fighting, active and in the rankings, nobody [else] is pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world.”

This statement sparked controversy, with fans accusing White of favoritism towards Jones. Now, another UFC fighter, Sean O’Malley, has come forward, dismissing White’s notion and revealing who he believes is the greatest and best fighter of all time.

Sean O’Malley debunks Dana White’s claim

Sean O’Malley is currently gearing up to defend his bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC’s highly anticipated event, UFC 306, dubbed ‘Riyadh Season Noche UFC,’ during the week of Mexican Independence Day. While promoting his fight, he sat down for an interview with Helen Yee of HelenYeeSports, where the host asked him a controversial question: “In your opinion, who do you consider the greatest fighter right now?”

Without hesitation, Sean O’Malley responded, “Greatest fighter right now? Probably Islam. Yeah, Probably Islam.” When an amazed Helen Yee asked O’Malley the reason behind his choice, the champion weighed in on Jon Jones’s prolonged absence from the octagon, saying, “I mean, Jon Jones is up there. It’s just, you know, the picture right now, you go back four or five years, and Jon’s fought once in the last 4-5 years.”

O’Malley might have a point. While Jon Jones’ record is undeniably impressive, his appearances in the UFC have been infrequent. He last fought consecutively until 2020 against Dominick Retes, winning the bout. However, he was absent from the octagon for three years before returning to challenge Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight title at UFC 285. His scheduled fight against Stipe Miocic was subsequently canceled because of a shoulder injury.

Now, putting the past behind him, Jones is rumored to be returning in November against Stipe Miocic at Madison Square Garden, where they were initially slated to face each other last year. However, this news isn’t pleasing for the current interim heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall, who recently positioned himself as the deserving opponent for Jon Jones. Sean O’Malley also shared his thoughts on this situation.

O’Malley Backs Jon Jones-Stipe Miocic showdown

When the Jones-Miocic fight unfortunately fell through last year, Dana White faced a serious problem regarding the success of the event. To salvage it, he decided to set up an interim title fight between Brit Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich, in which Aspinall emerged victorious. Since then, Aspinall has called out Jon Jones, appealing to Dana White to make the fight happen for the unification of the title. This appeal gained support from many MMA fans and personalities, but White ignored it, leading to significant backlash.

In his latest podcast episode with coach Tim Welch, Sean O’Malley analyzed Jon Jones’ potential fight against other heavyweight contenders, including Tom Aspinall, and explained why the Stipe Miocic fight makes more sense. O’Malley noted that Miocic was first in line to face Jones, so he deserved it. He claimed, “I feel like Jon Jones versus Stipe has been a thing for so long. It’s like, what are you going to tell Stipe? ‘Hey, we’re making this like it’s never happened before.”

What are your thoughts on Sean O’Malley’s remark on the greatest fighter? Do you agree with him that Islam Makhachev is currently the GOAT? Drop your views in the comments below.