Khabib Nurmagomedov: The Great Divide is a recurring feature here at MMA Fighting in which two of our staff debate a topic in the world of MMA
Written content from Alexander K. Lee via MMA Fighting
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As Khabib Nurmagomedov looks to go 29-0 this weekend at UFC 254, now is as good a time as any to look back on how he got there and how much he’s achieved in his 12-year career. Not only does Nurmagomedov have an unbeaten mark and a win over Conor McGregor that broke pay-per-view records, he’s also only lost a single round since joining the UFC in 2012.
It’s a legendary run that has rightfully placed Nurmagomedov in the thick of any discussion about the greatest fighters of all-time, but just how high on the mountaintop does he currently reside? MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew and Alexander K. Lee discuss whether Nurmagomedov is truly the best or if there’s still work to be done.
THE DEFINITION OF GREATNESS
Meshew: We can keep this short. Khabib is the GOAT. The end. Seriously though, I don’t think we’re quite there yet, but I do think it’s close to being that simple.
Arguments about the Greatest of All-Time are always fraught with problems, mostly stemming from the fact that “greatness” is a subjective term and subjective things can’t be argued definitively (At least not usually. There are certainly subjective opinions, like “Brad Pitt is handsome,” or “The Fast and the Furious is a cinematic masterpiece.” Sure, those aren’t technically facts but to say otherwise would be ridiculous.) But in the case of MMA, I believe we often overthink this conversation because Greatness should be easy to define.
Greatness isn’t who made the most money (Conor McGregor), or who beat the most former champions (Jon Jones), or who had the longest winning streak (Anderson Silva), or who defended his belt the most (Demetrious Johnson), or who won the most titles (a bunch of people with two). All of those are factors are parts of the whole that make up Greatness. Greatness in the context of MMA is nothing more or less than the level of dominance a fighter shows over his or her peers for an extended period of time. If it were a math equation, it would look like this: Read more from MMA Fighting
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