Perfect statistics: can Nurmagomedov be considered the greatest fighter in UFC history?

UFC 254 Abu Dhabi is the latest in a series of Fight Island tournaments and one of the top mixed martial arts shows of the year.

Khabib Nurmagomedov practically did not notice the resistance from the American Justin Gaji and defended his lightweight title for the third time.

However, the main event of the evening was the Russian's announcement of his retirement, which really shocked the MMA community.

Over the past three and a half months, there has been a lot of talk about Nurmagomedov's departure from sports, citing the death of his father as one of the main reasons.

Khabib himself has repeatedly noticed how important he played in his life, as well as in the training process.

Therefore, it was very difficult to predict whether the Russian fighter would find the strength, and most importantly, the motivation to continue performing.

Especially in light of the fact that even before the death of Abdulmanap, he repeatedly declared his desire to hang gloves on a nail in the next couple of years.

Thus, purely theoretically, one could assume that the fight with Gatji would be the last for Nurmagomedov.

Considering the situation in the family, outstanding achievements and the rapid achievement of a critical age for performing in the light weight categories, leaving might seem logical.

However, the words of the fighter himself about the desire to win 30 fights in his career distracted him.

This has been repeatedly stated by both Khabib himself and Abdulmanap.

Therefore, it was assumed that the Russian would first fulfill his father's dream, and only then leave MMA.

Nevertheless, Nurmagomedov surprised everyone again and announced his retirement immediately after the 29th career victory.

It is difficult to predict whether any of the representatives of the promotion knew about this decision of the Russian, but during the official press conference, Dana White looked surprised and upset.

The head of the promotion could hardly find words, but nevertheless supported the champion's decision.

For nearly nine years in the UFC, Nurmagomedov managed to achieve a lot.

He has won 13 straight wins, won the lightweight title, and has taken over future and former belt holders, as well as the most popular representatives of his sport.

In no time, Khabib became a superstar and one of the highest paid fighters in mixed martial arts history.

On this indicator, only Conor McGregor can argue with him.

Already, Nurmagomedov holds a number of records among representatives of his weight category, and on Tuesday he will certainly rise to the first line of the UFC fighters rating, regardless of the weight category (Pound-for-Pound).

Throughout history, only a select few have conquered such a bar, and Khabib can become the one who breaks the more than a year's hegemony of John Jones.

In addition, no one has previously managed to win the title in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and leave the promotion undefeated.

Anderson Silva lost his 11th title defense while Georges St-Pierre stumbled twice early in his UFC career.

Jones could boast of an impeccable track record, but this was prevented by the judge Steve Mazzagatti.

In 2009, he actually deprived him of his victory over Matt Hammil and provoked John's disqualification.

Therefore, it is not surprising that some experts are now calling the Russian the greatest fighter of all time.

This opinion has already been expressed by UFC commentator Joe Rogan and head of promotion Dana White, and Khabib's former partner in the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) Daniel Cormier said that he considers the Russian the strongest champion in the history of the Absolute Fighting Championship.

Nevertheless, there are likely to be people who will not agree with this state of affairs.

Of course, Nurmagomedov has achieved a lot in mixed martial arts and will forever be remembered as one of the most dominant champions in history, but he can hardly be considered the best fighter in UFC history.

And the reason is not that Khabib refused to follow the popular trend and chase belts in several divisions, or relied on knockouts that were not loved by the public.

The point is solely that his stay at the top was too short.

Nurmagomedov's career began in September 2008 and lasted just over 12 years.

At the same time, for the first three years he performed at the national level, where he practically did not meet serious competition.

In January 2012, he made his UFC debut and subsequently spent almost nine years in the largest organization.

True, for two years he was recovering from severe knee injuries and during this period he never entered the octagon.

Thus, the real duration of Nurmagomedov's career in the Absolute Fighting Championship is just under seven years.

For comparison, all fighters who, in one way or another, claim to be the greatest in history, this figure is much higher.

Saint-Pierre made his debut in the promotion in 2004 and performed actively for nine years, and in 2017 made a triumphant return.

Silva joined the organization two years later and regularly fought until the worst injury in 2013, after which he had six more fights.

And Jones entered the UFC in August 2008 and is still considered one of the strongest in the world.

But all of the above fighters are united not only by the fact that they fought for a long time under the auspices of the promotion, but also did it against the strongest representatives of their division.

All three won champion titles in the shortest possible time, after which they did not give them to anyone for a long time.

The same Jones and Saint-Pierre still do not know defeats in title battles, and Silva lost twice.

Jones currently leads the UFC history in terms of title wins.

Only one less for Saint-Pierre, and Anderson has 11. The top three also includes Demetrius Johnson (13), but Mighty Mouse can hardly be considered among the candidates for the title of the greatest fighter of all time.

And this despite the fact that he is definitely included in the short list of the most technically advanced and intelligent athletes in the history of martial arts.

He was just unlucky to be in the lightest division, where he had practically no competition and vivid confrontations.

Such statistics only confirm the fact that a fighter must not only climb to the top, but also hold out on it for a long time.

Otherwise, McGregor, Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya would have long been mentioned among the candidates for the title of the greatest.

The Irishman became the first ever champion in two weight classes, the fighter of Nigerian descent already has 11 consecutive victories in the championship and two successful belt defenses.

The same number of times the title was defended by the New Zealander, however, an ideal record (20 - 0) can be attributed to the list of his achievements.

However, now none of them has the right to compete on equal terms with the trio represented by Jones, Silva and Saint-Pierre.

McGregor did not carry out a single title defense, suffered a crushing defeat from Nurmagomedov and only appeared in the Octagon three times in the past four years.

Usman cannot boast of a lack of defeat, and his fighting style is hardly impressive.

As for Adesanya, at the moment he lacks serious competition and stellar opponents.

Undoubtedly, in status, Nurmagomedov more than noticeably surpasses the above-mentioned three and deserves to be included in the pantheon of the greats.

But in order to compete for first place, perhaps he needed to stay in MMA for at least three to four years.

During this period, he could well have carried out five or six belt defenses and removed all questions in the dispute for the title of the greatest.

35 straight wins, a successful rematch with McGregor, and ten title fights - such a track record could be an unattainable bar for followers for years to come.