Khabib’s Team Drags Jon Jones Through Dirt; Confronts Dana White’s GOAT Status for HW Champ

Dana White never ceases to talk about Jon Jones whenever the GOAT debate pops up. When asked about Khabib Nurmagomedov, he prefers to put ‘Bones’ above the undefeated Hall of Famer. However, ‘The Eagle’s former manager Ali Abdelaziz begs to differ with White and he has reasons for his claims about Nurmagomedov being the real GOAT.

Khabib Nurmagomedov retired too early, and that’s what bugs Dana White from putting him at the top of the list of greats. He wanted to see him do more, compete against more top fighters, something that Jon Jones has done. But Ali Abdelaziz has provided his reasons for Nurmagomedov’s status as the GOAT while taking a subtle dig at Jones.

Ali Abdelaziz takes aim at Jon Jones while claiming Khabib Nurmagomedov is GOAT

During a recent interview with ‘TMZ‘, Ali Abdelaziz opened up about his honest thoughts about Dana White calling Jon Jones the greatest of all time. He refuted that statement, claiming that this is one of the few claims from the UFC CEO that he disagrees with. He said, “I agree with Dana White on everything. This one, I don’t agree with him on.”

He further mentioned former baseball player Barry Bonds, who talked about deserving a place in the Hall of Fame last year but hasn’t been added to the list till now. However, Ali Abdelaziz reminded people that he had cheated during his time as a professional player, which was an ode to Bonds’ steroid use. Although he did not take Jon Jones’ name, it was a clear indication that he was also pointing to the fact that ‘Bones’ had troubles with doping violations as well.

“Barry Bonds is still not in Hall of Fame… But Barry Bonds cheated. Khabib never cheated,” claimed Ali Abdelaziz. To prove his claim about Khabib Nurmagomedov being the GOAT, his former manager also gave a shout-out to the statistics of ‘The Eagle’ MMA career. “[Khabib] lost one round in his whole career, over 100 rounds he fought, never been dropped, never have a bloody eye, never have a bloody nose. He’s the man that has never been touched,” Abdelaziz added.

As we’ve mentioned earlier, Dana White wanted Khabib Nurmagomedov to fight for a few more years. But the decision to retire did not just come about all of a sudden for nothing. Ali Abdelaziz believes Nurmagomedov had problems and circumstances to deal with that led to his retirement.

Abdelaziz does not want to see ‘The Eagle’ return

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager admits that just like Dana White, he wanted to see the undefeated icon continue to fight for a few more years. However, the untimely passing of his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, during the pandemic was a tough period for the Dagestan native. That’s when Nurmagomedov decided to hang up his gloves to fulfill the promises he made to his father.

“I think Khabib retired early, too. I agree with him [Dana White]. But this is [because of] his father’s situation, the trauma he went through, the promises he made,” Ali Abdelaziz told ‘TMZ’. Despite his wish to see him continue, the 46-year-old manager believes that the time has passed for Khabib Nurmagomedov to consider a return to the UFC.“Honestly, now, at this point, I don’t want to see Khabib come back, but he is undefeated [and] on top. He’s the greatest of all time.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov is the only fighter who has a massive fan base, arguably similar to the fan base of Conor McGregor. He may not be fighting anymore, but he is still offering his guidance and experience to other fighters from Dagestan who are in the UFC and to those who aspire to be in the UFC.

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