Dana White just named his Mount Rushmore of UFC.
Topping the list of all-time greats is current heavyweight champion and former 205-pound titleholder Jon Jones, who also places No. 1 on White’s pound-for-pound list. Next up is ex-bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey for her role in ushering women into modern day mixed martial arts (MMA).
“Rowdy” wasn’t the first female MMA star, but she was certainly the biggest.
Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was also named by White. The former “king” of pay-per-view (PPV) cards carried Canada on his back for the better part of a decade. Last but not least is one-time featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who also held gold at 155 pounds.
I guess “Notorious” can finally say he beat longtime rival Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“I gotta go with Jon Jones,” the UFC CEO said emphatically during his interview on ESPN’s First Take. “You have to go with Ronda Rousey. Women would not be fighting in UFC if it wasn’t for her. You would have to put ‘GSP’ in there, and absolutely, positively, Conor McGregor. He elevated and changed the game, globally.”
He also changed the value of the company, globally.
Whether or not Jones, Rousey, St-Pierre, and McGregor remain atop White’s Mount Rushmore (even solid rock can be transformed) may depend on the next generation of UFC superstars and their impact on the fight game. Until then, that’s a pretty solid list, even if it ignores some of the other needle-moving trailblazers (like this ex-champ).