The strongest fighter in the world, regardless of weight category, according to the Sherdog rating, from Monday, February 10, is Khabib Nurmagomedov. The well-known MMA portal placed the current UFC lightweight champion above the light heavyweight belt division champion John Jones after the American defeated Dominic Reyes in an equal match at a tournament in Houston. Nevertheless, the Absolute Fighting Championship itself did not follow the example of journalists and left the Russian on the second line of the pound-for-pound rating.
It is worth recognizing that Sherdog had reason to move Jones from the first line that he had occupied for a long time. Many did not agree with the decision of the judges who gave him the victory in the battle with Dominic Reyes, and considered that John had lost the championship title. But if the title still remained in the hands of the American, then his reputation was dealt significant damage. Probably, the leaders of the well-known portal also felt that such an ambiguous result did not correspond to the level of the best fighter on the planet, because of which they decided to place Nurmagomedov on top.
In fact, it was Habib who remained the only opponent of John in the fight for the throne. A series of 28 victories and dominant performances in confrontations with Conor McGregor, Edson Barboza and Dustin Porrier spoke for him. None of them managed to make Nurmagomedova worthy of competition and lost in fairly one-sided fights. By and large, the same can be said about all the battles of the Eagle, with the exception of certain episodes in the battle with Michael Johnson and the battle with Gleyson Thiebau. But then the Russian was not yet so skillful, and the Brazilian was later convicted of doping.
One of Nurmagomedov’s potential competitors was Henry Sehudo, who has an impressive track record. It means a victory over the UFC champion in the number of title defenses Demetrius Johnson, as well as success in a duel with the lightweight king TJ Dillashaw, who was not helped even by illegal drugs. But only 17 fights in his professional career and two defeats seriously hit the reputation of the Olympic wrestling champion.
Unconditional superiority in the octagon has become the reason that over the past year and a half Nurmagomedov was perceived solely as one of the strongest fighters in the world. And this despite the fact that he took the title in the confrontation with the 11th rating number by Al Yakvinta, and held the first defense against McGregor who did not go into the cage for two years. The confidence with which he was successful made him one of the main MMA stars in the world and made him perceive him as no less a great athlete than the same Jones, Daniel Cormier or Georges Saint-Pierre.
Nevertheless, the decision to name Nurmagomedov the best fighter of mixed martial arts, regardless of weight categories, cannot be considered unambiguously true. That is why the right to life has both the choice of Sherdog to put him in the first position of the rating, and the UFC verdict to leave him behind Jones. This is influenced by several factors at once, each of which can become decisive in this matter.
You need to understand what exactly is meant by the status of the best fighter pound-for-pound. In that case, when it comes to this particular moment, then the decision of Sherdog can be called justified. Not the most confident performance of Jones was sufficient reason for Nurmagomedov to deprive him of his leadership. At least until March, when Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero enter the cell. At the moment, the New Zealander has in his asset a win-win series of 18 battles and, depending on the degree of certainty of victory over the Cuban, should have a chance to get around the Russian.
In the event that the achievements of a fighter over a longer period are considered, then the UFC position seems more logical. Yes, Jones did not have the best fight in his career and was in the balance of losing the title, but even this is not able to cross out all his merits. John is the champion of the championship in the number of successful title fights (14), as well as belt defense (11). During his career, he dealt with six former and future champions of the organization, the holder of the Bellator title and two ex-applicants for the middleweight belt. If we take dry numbers, it is much more than the dominance of Habib over the middle peasant Yakvinta, who did not grab the stars from the sky of Porrier and was disconcerted by McGregor.
With the exception of the Irishman, Habib did not meet top-level rivals in his career, which John can boast of. But if McGregor approached the full-time duel in frankly poor form, then Cormier and the same Alexander Gustafsson were in excellent condition at the time of the battle with Jones. And this is not counting the fact that Daniel is a much more versatile athlete than Conor, which has repeatedly confirmed.
Given these factors, Nurmagomedov can be on the first line only if Jones suffers an unconditional defeat. As long as the reigning light heavyweight champion holds the belt and his unbeaten run continues to grow, Habib has no real chance to surpass his achievements and, as a result, beat him in the ranking. And this has its own logic, taking into account how John himself returned to the throne. Before him, Cormier was located on it, which was allowed to be removed only by a knockout performed by Stipe Miocic.
Thus, the position of the UFC on this issue is also more than logical. Unlike Sherdog, the leadership of the promotion does not cut off the shoulder, but pays tribute to the well-deserved champions. Nurmagomedov needs to further confirm his greatness and deal with competitors. Suffice it to recall that at one time Jones was also behind the back of another legendary fighter - Anderson Silva - and escaped because of her only when the Brazilian lost to Chris Weidman.