At the UFC 242 tournament in Abu Dhabi, Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov won the 28th consecutive career victory and the 12th under the auspices of the Absolute Fighting Championship. The current undisputed lightweight champion not only defended his title in the fight with Dustin Porrier, but also outlined his claims to first place in the ranking of the strongest promotion fighters, regardless of weight category (Pound-for-Pound, P4P). The athlete said this at a press conference, urging the organization to show respect and give it this honorable status.
Undoubtedly, Nurmagomedov had reasons to claim this title. Firstly, among the current champions, he ranks third in terms of the duration of ownership of the title (518 days). In this indicator, he is second only to Max Holloway (826 days), who holds the featherweight belt and Amanda Nunez (1155 days), who reigns supreme in the women's lightest division. Secondly, he shares the second line in the number of victories in a row, having an equal number with Tony Ferguson, and second only to John Jones (16).
Thirdly, on the eve of the tournament in the UAE, Nurmagomedov already held second place in the P4P rating. This became possible after former leader Daniel Cormier suffered a crushing defeat from Stipe Miocic and fell six positions down. On the "throne" he was replaced by the worst enemy in the person of the same Jones, who continues to "clear out" the light heavy category. Thus, the main question was whether Khabib was worthy to beat John and be at the head of the ranking table, regardless of weight category.
Not only a lot of statistical factors speak in favor of Habib, but also the style in which he cracked down on his opponents. None of them could make him worthy of resistance and, at best, hardly survived to the final gong. This happened with Edson Barboza, who for three rounds was forced to endure a real beating, as well as Al Yakvinta, who was a little luckier. The Russian was so confident in his success that the last rounds almost completely practiced in shock equipment and did not use his main weapon - the fight.
In addition, his assets include victories over the stars of mixed martial arts and former champions. Conor McGregor, who had already managed to become the first-ever single-time holder of titles in two weight categories, can be attributed to the first category. The second can include Dustin Porrier and Rafael Dus Anjus, but with few reservations. The American was only a temporary holder of the title, and the Brazilian became one a year after the defeat from Nurmagomedov. It is worth adding that during this period he has evolved very much, becoming a much more skilled and versatile athlete.
In light of this, one cannot help but return to McGregor and Porrier. Nurmagomedov is often criticized for the fact that recently he fought exclusively with drummers, which correspond to reality. With all due respect, neither Conor, nor Dustin, nor Edson Barbosa are wrestling experts, and therefore have practically no chance to impose competition on the Russians. In the case of the latter, even the brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu does not help him in this.
Of course, it’s impossible to blame Habib for this, because he is not responsible for the technical equipment of the fighters and is not to blame for the fact that the nominal wrestler Kevin Lee lost to Tony Ferguson and could not become a temporary lightweight champion. But the fact remains: Nurmagomedov met mainly with the masters of the rack, and some of them were not in good shape at the time of the battle.
Here it is worth recalling again about McGregor, who continues to rightly be considered the strongest opponent of Nurmagomedov. Like others, he could not fight him in the stalls, but he was much superior in the rack. However, on the eve of the fight at UFC 229, he had in his liabilities almost two-year downtime, which could not but affect his performance. Conor moved slower, was less accurate, and his cardio failed even in the second five-minute period.
Yes, Jones’s track record is not ideal, which can be seen as a point in favor of Nurmagomedov. But you need to understand that the only defeat of the American was the result of the unskilled work of the referee. Steve Mazzagatti was obliged to prematurely stop the fight with Hamill, but hesitated. As a result, John used a forbidden elbow and was disqualified, and Matt suffered beatings for more than a minute and left the cell with serious cuts on his face.
It is worth noting that Jones rivals were noticeably more serious. For 11 years in the UFC, he “mowed down” the entire division and in the vast majority of battles he looked no less confident than Nurmagomedov. Of course, taking into account the amendments to the difference in style, after all, John preferred the rack, but did not forget about his own struggle.
Most of his opponents at the time of the fight were either in their best shape, or were completely under the influence of illegal drugs. It is enough to recall his duel with Vitor Belfort. For the legendary Brazilian that fight was the first in four years as part of the light heavyweight, but he approached him in more than perfect shape. At that time, the UFC allowed the use of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), which the athlete actively used.
In addition to Belfort, Jones has five ex-UFC champions on the track record, each of which at that moment was far from recession. Rashad Evans has not yet begun to actively age and regularly receive injuries, Quinton Rampage Jackson has not yet gone to Bellator, Lioto Machida has not passed his peak, and Mauricio Rua was considered a rising MMA star. As for the fifth, Daniel Cormier, he still continues to perform more than successfully and seriously claims to be one of the greatest representatives of mixed martial arts in history.
You can safely add to the list of top opponents Alexander Gustaffson, who fought three times for the UFC light heavyweight title, as well as the current Bellator champion Ryan Bader. In January 2019, the American shocked Russian fans by crushing Fedor Emelianenko, and in 2011 was completely defeated by Jones.
In favor of Jones says the number of victories under the auspices of the largest MMA promotion of the planet. Habib has only 12 fights won, while his distance rival is 19. According to this indicator, he takes sixth place in the UFC, second only to Jim Miller, Michael Bisping, Georges Saint-Pierre (all - 20 each), Demian Maye (21) and Donald Cerrone (23). It is worth noting that even the unique Saint-Pierre was defeated twice, both times ahead of schedule, and the rest lost at least nine times.
Undoubtedly, Jones has repeatedly stumbled over his career. In addition to the suspension for the use of prohibited drugs, one can recall an accident involving a pregnant woman and a conflict with a police officer. But he managed to be punished for all his misconduct and is currently the strongest fighter in the UFC. Which actually confirmed the rating of the organization, published on Tuesday, September 10. And to challenge him, Nurmagomedov needs to at least defeat Ferguson and hold a rematch with McGregor. It is no coincidence that Dana White said at a press conference after UFC 242 that the Russian is in a couple of fights from becoming the greatest in UFC history.