There are a lot of impressive records in mixed martial arts. The sport is still young compared to more mainstream sports, like football and baseball, and it is likely that most records currently held will eventually be broken.
Georges St-Pierre …
There are a lot of impressive records in mixed martial arts. The sport is still young compared to more mainstream sports, like football and baseball, and it is likely that most records currently held will eventually be broken.
Georges St-Pierre currently holds the record for most UFC wins at 19. A few spots down the list is Jon Jones, who currently has 15 victories in the UFC. It’s not hard to imagine 27-year-old Jones winning five more times in the UFC before he retires.
In fact, it’s hard to imagine him not winning five more fights in his career.
Records like this will one day be broken, furthered and perhaps, broken again. The controlled chaos of a mixed martial arts contest allows for some amazing things to happen, but it also gives us fluke occurrences.
And sometimes, we get both.
We are going to look at five records in MMA that are unbreakable. Unbreakable records don’t necessarily paint a picture of the apex of the sport, but they are still very impressive. Jones and Ronda Rousey are two of the sport’s best competitors. She’s the only person to win two UFC fights in under 20 seconds, which is one of many impressive stats on her resume.
MMA has gone on a wild journey in its first 22 years, and some crazy stuff has gone down. Let’s take a look at five unbreakable records that have been set.
Khabib Nurmagomedov has been flexing his Twitter game as of late.
In addition to being one of the fastest-rising talents in the ranks of the UFC lightweight division, the 26-year-old Dagestani has also proved to have chops on social media platforms as…
In addition to being one of the fastest-rising talents in the ranks of the UFC lightweight division, the 26-year-old Dagestani has also proved to have chops on social media platforms as well. English may be a second language to the Russian grappler, but his work within Twitter’s 140 character limit has been truly impressive.
“The Eagle” has used the online forum to take shots, make call-outs and troll fighters up and down the 155-pound ranks, and he kept things rolling in that regard with his upcoming opponent, Donald Cerrone. Nurmagomedov and “Cowboy” are set to collide at UFC 187 on May 23, with the winner figured to get the next shot at Rafael dos Anjos and the lightweight title. There is no love lost between the two fighters, and the AKA representative has used his Twitter account to consistently push the hard-charging striker’s buttons.
The most recent turn in the beef between Nurmagomedov and Cerrone came after the Jackson/Winkeljohn-trained fighter celebrated his 32nd birthday. The perennial 155-pound contender received plenty of love on Twitter, and his up-and-coming dance partner apparently didn’t want to miss out on the celebration.
While Nurmagomedov‘s tweet for Cerrone‘s birthday was the most recent barb launched between the two, it was simply one in a collection of many. The rising lightweight star has been relentless with his attacks on Cerrone since the bout was announced, and the former WEC title challenger has admitted his opponent’s trash-talking has gotten under his skin. Nevertheless, Cerrone is adamant he will take those frustrations out on Nurmagomedov during the UFC’s annual Memorial Day weekend show and hand the talented Russian his first professional defeat.
On the other hand, Nurmagomedov is confident things will go his way once the cage door closes. He believes his grappling and pressure will be too much for Cerrone to handle, and he will bring the surging contender’s seven-fight winning streak to an end in Las Vegas.
The best part of this entire ordeal is that there are several more weeks of build-up until the fight finally goes down, which should serve to generate plenty of heat and buzz before their eventual showdown at UFC 187.
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
Khabib Nurmagomedov, the No. 2-ranked contender in the lightweight division, is set to meet Donald Cerrone at UFC 187 on May 23. A win will likely put him in line as the next title challenger.
Nurmagomedov has all the makings of a champion—both i…
KhabibNurmagomedov, the No. 2-ranked contender in the lightweight division, is set to meet Donald Cerrone at UFC 187 on May 23. A win will likely put him in line as the next title challenger.
Nurmagomedov has all the makings of a champion—both in and out of the cage.
In the cage, he’s perfect with a spotless 22-0 record, with six of those victories coming inside the Octagon. He has dominated his opposition as he’s climbed the ranks of the UFC’s most talent-rich division.
According to his FightMetric stats, Nurmagomedov averages just above seven takedowns per fight. In his last match, against now-champion Rafael dos Anjos, Nurmagomedov landed six takedowns in a decision win. His 35 total takedowns rank sixth in lightweight division history.
His grappling is some of the best in the division because of his relentlessness and tenacity. The American Kickboxing Academy lightweight is only getting better at the top-tier camp and will soon be able to add great striking to his repertoire.
He is already a contender. Once the final piece of the puzzle drops into place, we will be crowning a new champion.
Outside the cage, Nurmagomedov is doing all he can to make himself marketable. He is certainly not bashful. The lightweight contender has even crashed a press conference to try to garner some attention. If not for an injury, Nurmagomedov may have talked himself into the title fight.
On social media, Nurmagomedov has already carved out a niche as one of the best fighters to follow. Bleacher Report’s own Jeremy Botter said he would be the reigning Twitter champion if such a distinction existed.
He’s not wrong.
Nurmagomedov could be a valuable star for the UFC as it continues expanding throughout Europe. His dominance inside the cage makes him even more appealing. The Eagle has yet to lose a round in his UFC career. He ragdolls his opponents furiously from bell-to-bell.
His out-of-cage boasting is that of a champion. There are certainly loudmouths who are doing nothing more than trying to get attention, but Nurmagomedov is the exception. Look down the list of combat sport champions and you will see confident men and women who are not afraid to make waves. Nurmagomedov fits the mold.
He backs up everything he says.
Cerrone is coming off a stellar 2014 campaign, but he is taking on a different animal in two months’ time. Nurmagomedov is one of the toughest opponents, if not the toughest, he will have ever faced. The stylistic matchup also should give Cowboy fits.
The case for Nurmagomedov‘s 2015 title bid will either be closed by Cerrone or get its stamp of approval at UFC 187.
The smart money is on Nurmagomedov to wear 12 pounds of gold by year’s end. Believe what he says—he is not lying. His confidence is bathed in truth, and the proof is in his work. The Eagle is the future of the lightweight division.
Khabib Nurmagomedov, the No. 2-ranked contender in the lightweight division, is set to meet Donald Cerrone at UFC 187 on May 23. A win will likely put him in line as the next title challenger.
Nurmagomedov has all the makings of a champion—both i…
KhabibNurmagomedov, the No. 2-ranked contender in the lightweight division, is set to meet Donald Cerrone at UFC 187 on May 23. A win will likely put him in line as the next title challenger.
Nurmagomedov has all the makings of a champion—both in and out of the cage.
In the cage, he’s perfect with a spotless 22-0 record, with six of those victories coming inside the Octagon. He has dominated his opposition as he’s climbed the ranks of the UFC’s most talent-rich division.
According to his FightMetric stats, Nurmagomedov averages just above seven takedowns per fight. In his last match, against now-champion Rafael dos Anjos, Nurmagomedov landed six takedowns in a decision win. His 35 total takedowns rank sixth in lightweight division history.
His grappling is some of the best in the division because of his relentlessness and tenacity. The American Kickboxing Academy lightweight is only getting better at the top-tier camp and will soon be able to add great striking to his repertoire.
He is already a contender. Once the final piece of the puzzle drops into place, we will be crowning a new champion.
Outside the cage, Nurmagomedov is doing all he can to make himself marketable. He is certainly not bashful. The lightweight contender has even crashed a press conference to try to garner some attention. If not for an injury, Nurmagomedov may have talked himself into the title fight.
On social media, Nurmagomedov has already carved out a niche as one of the best fighters to follow. Bleacher Report’s own Jeremy Botter said he would be the reigning Twitter champion if such a distinction existed.
He’s not wrong.
Nurmagomedov could be a valuable star for the UFC as it continues expanding throughout Europe. His dominance inside the cage makes him even more appealing. The Eagle has yet to lose a round in his UFC career. He ragdolls his opponents furiously from bell-to-bell.
His out-of-cage boasting is that of a champion. There are certainly loudmouths who are doing nothing more than trying to get attention, but Nurmagomedov is the exception. Look down the list of combat sport champions and you will see confident men and women who are not afraid to make waves. Nurmagomedov fits the mold.
He backs up everything he says.
Cerrone is coming off a stellar 2014 campaign, but he is taking on a different animal in two months’ time. Nurmagomedov is one of the toughest opponents, if not the toughest, he will have ever faced. The stylistic matchup also should give Cowboy fits.
The case for Nurmagomedov‘s 2015 title bid will either be closed by Cerrone or get its stamp of approval at UFC 187.
The smart money is on Nurmagomedov to wear 12 pounds of gold by year’s end. Believe what he says—he is not lying. His confidence is bathed in truth, and the proof is in his work. The Eagle is the future of the lightweight division.
There was a bittersweet quality to Rafael dos Anjos’ victory over Anthony Pettis at UFC 185.
It was as if, even as he was winning the lightweight title, Dos Anjos couldn’t win.
The new champion turned in a commanding performance on Saturday…
There was a bittersweet quality to Rafael dos Anjos’ victory over Anthony Pettis at UFC 185.
It was as if, even as he was winning the lightweight title, Dos Anjos couldn’t win.
The new champion turned in a commanding performance on Saturday night, succinctly dragging all of Pettis’ weaknesses out of the dark recesses of our memories and putting them on full display. He beat Pettis up on the feet, stifled his flashy, sometimes garish offense with workmanlike forward pressure and took him down at will.
Against fairly long odds, Dos Anjos won every single painstaking round, suddenly and utterly changing the trajectory of the 155-pound division before our very eyes.
Yet, somehow we couldn’t enjoy his triumph for what it was. We couldn’t even appreciate it in the moment without already spinning it forward, wondering aloud if he’ll prove to be more than just a transitional champion.
“You know who’s watching this fight and getting excited?” UFC color commentator Joe Rogan asked in the early stages of the fourth round.
Play-by-play announcer Mike Goldberg already knew the answer: “KhabibNurmagomedov?”
“That’s right,” Rogan said, “because he is the best grappler in this division and he has done to Dos Anjos what Dos Anjos is doing to Pettis.”
A round later, Rogan brought up Nurmagomedov again, saying he was likely “licking his chops” at the prospect of having Dos Anjos as champion. So, even as the 30-year-old Brazilian earned a 50-45 sweep on all three judges’ scorecards and began filling his post-fight interview with bland religious platitudes, the message was already out there.
This guy might not be here all that long.
How unspeakably frustrating must this reception have been for Dos Anjos? Here he was winning the UFC title under career-making circumstances and it still wasn’t quite good enough.
The greatest moment of his life hadn’t even fully passed and conventional wisdom was already suggesting he was just keeping the UFC title warm for Nurmagomedov.
Unfair? Maybe. Unfounded? Not quite. Truth is, the skepticism shouldn’t really be a surprise. Few had Dos Anjos pegged as the lightweight class’ next breakout star.
Through his first three years in the UFC he was no better than a .500 fighter, cleaning up against also-rans like Rob Emerson and Terry Etim, but faltering when matched against mainstays like GleisonTibau or Clay Guida.
Even after it all seemed to click for him, his ceiling didn’t appear as high as other up-and-comers. He put together a 5-0 run during 2012-13, only to have the streak halted in crushing fashion by Nurmagomedov in April 2014.
That bout seemed to be the final word on Dos Anjos’ fitness as a contender. He just couldn’t keep Nurmagomedov off of him, smothered by the undefeated Sambo specialist’s near peerless grappling attack en route to a unanimous-decision loss.
There was no shame in this—the same thing has happened to Nurmagomedov’s other 21 opponents, too—but it felt as though Dos Anjos had slipped a step behind the rest of the elite fighters in his division.
Even after he regrouped for three more wins, his rise to contender status was slow and quiet. In fact, it probably would’ve been Nurmagomedov fighting Pettis at UFC 185 had he been healthy enough to make the date. Unfortunately, Nurmagomedov was still out tending to a torn meniscus when Pettis emerged victorious over Gilbert Melendez at UFC 181, and so Dos Anjos got the next shot.
He wasn’t really supposed to win. He’d looked impressive in his most recent performances—including back-to-back victories over Benson Henderson and Nate Diaz—but Pettis was flying too high to be stopped.
Or so we thought.
Dos Anjos’ victory was the kind that only became obvious in hindsight. He came equipped with the perfect game plan and executed it flawlessly, making us question everything we thought we knew about the lightweight pecking order.
Nobody saw it coming.
Well, nobody except Nurmagomedov, who told MMAFighting.com’s Marc Raimondi the week of the fight he thought Dos Anjos would “smash” Pettis. Now that he’s been proved right, Nurmagomedov—who is rapidly becoming one of the best talkers in the UFC’s most competitive weight class—has his eye on the title.
First, though, he still has to take on Donald Cerrone in a presumptive No. 1 contender bout at UFC 187.
“I feel I am the No. 1 lightweight in the world,” Nurmagomedov told Fox Sports’ Damon Martin this week. “I am very focused for my next fight versus ‘Cowboy’ (Cerrone). I will come back strong, beat Cowboy…and after that I want my fight against Rafael dos Anjos because he has my belt.”
It seems as though most observers are on board with that analysis. If and when it happens, Nurmagomedov will almost certainly be the betting favorite against Dos Anjos. Most people have a difficult time imagining their second bout going much differently than the first, and expect another grappling tutorial from the Russian.
Of course, this line of reasoning jumps to some fairly substantial conclusions. A lot could still happen to foul up Nurmagomedov‘s plan.
For starters, it was revealed in the wake of UFC 185 that Dos Anjos defeated Pettis with a torn MCL. He also suffered a broken nose during the fight, and his recuperation from both will put him out of action for at least three months.
Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov could lose to the streaking Cowboy, or could suffer another injury that makes it hard to line his schedule up with the champion’s.
But if that rematch does get made, make no mistake: Dos Anjos will have two tough battles on his hands.
First, he’ll have to figure a way to deal with Nurmagomedov’s remarkable wrestling attack.
Second, he’ll have to win over his many doubters and prove he’s fit for the crown.
Khabib Nurmagomedov should change his name to Nostradamus after prophesying that Rafael dos Anjos would wipe the floor with UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis at UFC 185.
“I think [Dos Anjos] smashes [Pettis] in striking, and I think he smas…
Khabib Nurmagomedov should change his name to Nostradamus after prophesying that Rafael dos Anjos would wipe the floor with UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis at UFC 185.
“I think [Dos Anjos] smashes [Pettis] in striking, and I think he smashes him on the ground,” Nurmagomedov said in an interview with Marc Raimondi of MMAFighting.com.
Before Saturday night, when Dos Anjos defeated Pettis by unanimous decision, those comments were seen as absurd to the highest levels. “Showtime” Pettis, Mr. Wheaties himself, had lived his career inside the Matrix, pulling off maneuvers that would make Morpheus reexamine his idea of “The One.”
People were already talking about superfights with Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor, despite Pettis only having one successful UFC title defense on his resume. That’s how good this guy is.
Yet Dos Anjos, the most unlikely of contenders, would be the one to unravel everything, reminding MMA fans that paper-laden predictions would be better used as toilet paper.
Just as Nurmagomedov predicted, Dos Anjos smashed Pettis in the stand-up and on the ground in Saturday’s main event. In hindsight, the bout was so lopsided that it’s hard to even consider it an upset.
Perhaps the only thing upsetting was the fact that nearly everyone overlooked Dos Anjos, even those giving him a slight chance to pull off the unthinkable. Very few saw that kind of performance coming.
After the fight, Nurmagomedov took some time to gloat over his prediction on Twitter:
Nurmagomedov defeated Dos Anjos by unanimous decision nearly a year ago at UFC on Fox 11. He is expected to fight Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in May to determine the next contender for the UFC title.
The future title picture hinges on the health of Dos Anjos, who admitted to fighting on a torn MCL during the UFC 185 post-fight press conference.
JordyMcElroy is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon and FanRag Sports.
