Michael Bisping has revealed his three-man GOAT list and explained why former UFC lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov cannot be considered among the greatest fighters of all time.
During a recent appearance on the Pain Game podcast, Bisping asserted that Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, and Jon Jones are the three greatest fighters in MMA history. ‘The Count’ added that an asterisk must be placed by the names of Silva and Jones for their failed drug tests, making GSP his overall pick for MMA GOAT.
Nurmagomedov is considered the greatest fighter by many fans after retiring with a perfect 29-0 record. ‘The Eagle’ holds several high-profile wins over the likes of Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje but in the opinion of Bisping, he didn’t do enough to establish himself among the elite before walking away from the sport.
“Yeah, he took himself out of it,” Bisping said. “And if you look, yeah, he didn’t fight the best until the end of his career. When you compare that with GSP or Jones or Anderson, their run against world-class competition was far longer. But for Khabib, I know it was because of his father passing away, and he made a promise to his mother. So, it’s different circumstances.”
“But for those reasons, I think when you look at the resumes, even though he was undefeated, the resumes don’t really stack up,” Bisping added. “And I say that with tremendous respect to Khabib – Far being from me to downplay his career because I would never dream of doing that.” (Transcribed by Sportskeeda)
Nurmagomedov retired from MMA in 2020 after successfully unifying the lightweight division against Gaethje with a second-round submission win. Despite the desperate pleas of Dana White, the 33-year-old cemented his retirement earlier this year and the lightweight title became vacant and has since been won by Charles Oliveira. Nurmagomedov is staying busy in retirement by launching his own MMA league. The native of Dagestan is currently touring the UK, meeting with his fans and footballing heroes.
Do you agree with Michael Bisping?