Khabib Nurmagomedov was a generational talent. Though he proved how good he was in his relatively short UFC run, he had to retire early. Thus, he remains a what-if story in the MMA world. Chiefly, in terms of GOAT status.
The former lightweight champion fought in four lightweight championship bouts. Consequently, fans rule him out in the GOAT discussion, since some fighters have double-digit wins in the same regard. That said, ‘The Eagle’ has a massive fan base. Hence, they rate him above any other fighter in the UFC history.
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A popular meme caught the attention of Nurmagomedov’s coach, Javier Méndez. Subsequently, he liked the post, which had Nurmagomedov in the last position, yet celebrating his bottom place.
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The post had fighters ranked with their title wins; #1 Jon Jones, 14 #2 Georges St-Pierre, 13, #3 Demetrious Johnson, 12 #4 Anderson Silva, 11, #5 Jose Aldo, #6 Stipe Miocic, and on the bottom position featured the former lightweight champion, Nurmagomedov with four title fight wins.
Though the list is not the correct interpretation of how many championships fights these UFC fighters have won as fighters like Kamaru Usman, Tyron Woodley, Israel Adesanya, and others have more title wins than Nurmagomedov. Yet the list is reasonably accurate.
Read More – Who is The Best UFC Fighter of All Time?
Thus, it was interesting to see Nurmagomedov’s coach give the post his approval.
Nevertheless, the coach knows his athlete and how much work he had put into his UFC run. Nurmagomedov was untouchable in his UFC run. Therefore, it’s entirely possible that he could’ve surpassed these athletes if not for the unfortunate circumstances.
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Is Khabib Nurmagomedov the greatest talent of all time?
Khabib Nurmagomedov lost just two rounds in his 13-fight UFC tenure. Fighters like Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, and Georges St-Pierre are top fighters on everybody’s GOAT list. They have lost more rounds in a single contest on at least one judge’s scorecard than Nurmagomedov has lost in his entire UFC run. Thus, his raw talent inside the Octagon was unparalleled.
One concern that the fight fans raised during his run was his ability to not finish fights. But towards the end of his career and that too in championship fights, ‘The Eagle’ battered the likes of Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje.
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