Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley talked about his top 10 MMA athletes of all time. Woodley made it clear that Khabib Nurmagomedov is not on his list.
Determining who is the Greatest of All Time in MMA is always an interesting thing to debate. A lot of people find it hard to name one single person to be on top and often name either Khabib Nurmagomedov, Jon Jones, or Georges Sti-Pierre, Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva, or Demetrius Johnson as the GOATs. However, one name that’s always sparked a heated debate would be former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
‘The Eagle’ is the most often discussed but at the same time a lot of people disagree with it, including Tyron Woodley. The 40-year-old discussed this topic during his recent appearance with his former boxing opponent Jake Paul.
Woodley talked about various topics with the social media star in his podcast. When asked about his top 5 MMA athletes of all time, Woodley said that Jon Jones is the best but Anderson Silva is the greatest.
“I think Jon Jones is the best fighter we’ve seen. I think Anderson Silva is a GOAT because he did it in a really respectful way.” Woodley said.
Woodley named several other names such as Demetrious Johnson, Georges St. Pierre, and Carlos Condit. When asked about Khabib Nurmagomedov, Woodley stated that the Dagestan born is not even on his top 10 list.
“On my top 10 list, probably not. But I f**k with Khabib, I respect him a lot. I think he’s a good fighter. I don’t see the wrestlers with good hands fight him. So I can’t really jump on a train for him as a pound for pound. I like guys for what they stand for, how they fight, how consistent they are, and what they did for the sport.” Woodley explained.
Khabib Nurmagomedov retired in 2020 with a clean record consisting of 29 wins and 0 losses. The 34-year-old has only lost two rounds in his UFC run. On the surface this is pretty much a very impressive achievement. However, half of his opponents were inexperienced athletes. He also barely competed against athletes in their prime except for his 3 title defenses.