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The Russian defended his welterweight title for the first time at UFC 330, picking up his fifth defense overall in the UFC after a dominant run at lightweight. His latest win, a decision victory over Ian Garry, served as a record-breaker, with Makhachev now the leader for most consecutive wins in promotional history.
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Chris Weidman, Dustin Poirier and Jorge Masvidal have offered their takes on where he stands among the sport’s greatest fighters.
Chris Weidman questions Islam Makhachev’s title defenses as Dustin Poirier backs Jon Jones for UFC GOAT
In the latest episode of “Deep Waters,” Weidman, Poirier and Masvidal shared their thoughts on whether Makhachev has earned the right to be called the greatest fighter in UFC history.
“I am not saying that yet,” Weidman said, responding to the question about Islam being the GOAT now. “Because I’m still old school… Title defenses mean a lot and you go back to Anderson Silva or Demetrious Johnson if we’re ever talking about GOAT… I don’t know if he’s there yet.”
Poirier then chimed in, giving a definitive answer for who he considers the GOAT.
“To me, Jon Jones.”
Masvidal, meanwhile, pointed to the level of competition Makhachev faced during his lightweight title reign. While the former BMF champ acknowledges Alexander Volkanovski as one of the greats, he emphasized that many of his 155-pound title defenses came against former featherweights.
“Two of those title defenses at lightweight were to a ‘45er,” Masvidal said before Weidman pointed out that Charles Oliveira also previously fought at 145 pounds.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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