Ranking Islam Makhachev Among UFC's GOATs

Islam Makhachev is now part of a very exclusive club. After dominating Jack Della Maddalena to earn a unanimous-decision win at UFC 322, he is a two-division champion.

UFC 322 went down on Saturday night in New York City. Ahead of the card, Makhachev had already enjoyed a long reign as the promotion's lightweight champion, and by ending Maddalena's 18-fight win streak, he claimed the welterweight belt too.

Makhachev is now one of just 12 fighters to hold titles in two UFC weight classes, following in the footsteps of Randy Couture, BJ Penn, Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, Henry Cejudo, Jon Jones, Alex Pereira, and Ilia Topuria.

However, he has also entered an even more exclusive club after his second title win—a club that other two-division champions like McGregor and Cejudo never acquired membership for. He is now, inarguably, one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time.

Where does he stack up against the five best fighters in MMA history? The answer to that question is entirely subjective, but keep scrolling to see our top five.

5. Islam Makhachev

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This will spark some controversy, but after UFC 322, it seems more than fair to place Islam Makhachev on the list of the five best fighters in MMA history.

There are a few reasons we're comfortable placing Makhachev at No. 5, ahead of other candidates like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Jose Aldo, and Alexander Volkanovski.

For starters, it's easy to see why he deserves the spot over Nurmagomedov, who happens to be his mentor.

Nurmagomedov retired with a perfect 29-0 record in 2020. That looks great on paper, but the fact is he retired in his prime, when he had beaten just three world-class lightweights at the height of their powers: Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje.

Makhachev has already beaten better fighters in Volkanovski (twice) and Charles Oliveira, and has strengthened his resume with wins over Della Maddalena, Poirier, and Dan Hooker. He's beaten higher-quality opposition than his predecessor. He also has more title defenses—though one came against Renato Moicano on a day's notice, which hardly counts.

As for Aldo, Makhachev has not been an MMA champion for as long as the Brazilian, who ruled over the featherweight division for years. However, he has now accomplished more than Aldo has in the UFC, as the South American spent much of his heyday competing in the WEC. He has also yet to experience any late-career losses, as Aldo did.

The reason he makes the top five over Volkanovski? As noted, he beat the Aussie legend twice.

4. Anderson Silva

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When Islam Makhachev beat Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322, he tied Anderson Silva's record for the longest win streak in UFC history, at 16.

The reason he remains behind the Brazilian on our list, despite that, is simple. The bulk of Silva's win streak occurred during his legendary reign as UFC middleweight champion. Much of Makhachev's win streak, meanwhile, came against very low-level opposition, such as Chris Wade, Nik Lentz, Kajan Johnson, and Thiago Moises.

Silva wouldn't have looked twice at fighters like that in his heyday. Makhachev has spent much of his prime fighting them.

One argument for putting Makhachev ahead of Silva is that the latter ended his UFC career with a long string of losses that clearly affected how fans remember him. He also failed a drug test in the latter phases of his UFC career, which raises some questions.

Still, there are only a few fighters in MMA history who were as dominant against top-flight foes as "The Spider" was in his prime. Makhachev still has time to surpass him, but he's not there yet.

3. Jon Jones

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Jon Jones might have the greatest resume in MMA history.

The former two-division champion spent years beating the best of multiple generations of light heavyweights, and he capped off his title reign in that division with a quick sit on the heavyweight throne.

If we were basing this list on resumes alone, he has a strong argument for the No. 1 spot, but Jones failed multiple drug tests in his prime, one of which actually caused a knockout win over fellow two-division champ Daniel Cormier to be overturned.

It's for that reason alone that he is not at the top of our list, and never will be. There are too many asterisks on his resume, too many questions about his incredible results.

Could Makhachev one day surpass him to crack the top three? It's possible, but he'll need to keep competing and winning against world-class opposition for years, which seems unlikely.

2. Demetrious Johnson

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While Anderson Silva and Islam Makhachev hold the record for the longest win streaks in UFC history, former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson holds the record for most consecutive title defenses, at 11.

That alone puts him in the running for the top spot on this list, but there's even more to his greatness than that.

At his best, Johnson was arguably the perfect MMA fighter. His striking was stellar. His grappling was even better. His clinch work was game-changing. His gas tank never ran dry. He was strong, explosive, blindingly fast, and he had perhaps the best fight IQ we've ever seen in a cage or ring, which led to many jaw-dropping wins, most notably a wild, flying arm-bar against Ray Borg.

Johnson's late-career success in ONE Championship, which came against significantly bigger opponents, is not a factor in his place on this list, which focuses on UFC results only.

However, his legacy was set in stone before he even moved to the Singapore-based promotion. He is one of the greatest fighters ever, and unlike a few others on this list, he never failed a drug test.

The only point against him is that a few of the wins in his legendary title reign—including the one over Borg—came against somewhat dubious opposition. That is the reason he's at No. 2.

Our No. 1 fighter had a slightly shorter title reign, but he fought slightly better opposition.

1. Georges St-Pierre

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It's hard to believe Georges St-Pierre isn't a shoo-in for the No. 1 spot on everyone's GOAT list. The Canadian MMA legend's resume has it all.

Like all of the aforementioned men on this list, he was incredibly well-rounded and used his versatile skill set to expose his opponent's weaknesses with stunning results.

However, unlike Jones and Silva, he never failed a drug test. And unlike Makhachev and Johnson, he beat almost exclusively world-class opposition throughout his unforgettable welterweight title reign.

In fact, his reign as welterweight champion was so impressive that by the time he submitted Michael Bisping at middleweight to become a two-division champ in 2017, his place atop this list was pretty much already set in stone.

Of course, like anybody else in our top five, there are points to be made against him. For one, his willingness to play into his opponent's weakness sometimes led to slower-paced fights and a few more decisions than anyone wanted.

Still, his resume is unimpeachable: wins over Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, BJ Penn, Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Jake Shields, Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz, Johny Hendricks, and Bisping—all in their primes and all with a flawless drug-testing record.