PHILADELPHIA – Dana White thinks he might just never get the opportunity to promote someone like Islam Makhachev ever again.
The UFC CEO believes fans might just be looking at a one-of-one in the UFC welterweight champion. Makhachev (29-1 MMA, 18-1 UFC), who won and defended the UFC lightweight title four times, is now making history at 170 pounds. Makhachev won the UFC welterweight title in November, and just completed his first title defense by outpointing Machado Garry (17-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) this past Saturday in the main event of UFC 330.
Apart from becoming one of the few to win UFC titles in two different weight classes, Makhachev also broke the record for the longest winning streak in UFC history. He's now got 17 wins in a row, breaking Anderson
Silva's 16-fight winning streak record, which had stood for 13 years.
"If he keeps going like he says he's going to keep going, I mean, it might never be beaten, at least while I'm alive," White told reporters at the UFC 330 post-fight press conference. "So it's very impressive what he did. And again, my thoughts on how Ian performed tonight, so like I said, you can flip that whole script and then drop it on Islam on how impressively he beat a big, strong, rangy guy who was doing damn good work. Islam did everything he needed to do to beat this guy. Like I said, there's weight classes for a reason, and tonight's matchup was a perfect example of that."
Makhachev has achieved so much in recent years, and many are having the discussion about where Makhachev stands on the "Greatest Of All Time" list. Makhachev has only lost once in his 30-fight career – which was a KO loss to Adriano Martins in 2015.
White thinks that defeat is hurting Makhachev in the GOAT talk, but regardless, he's getting up there with the all time greats.
"Well, I don't know what your opinion is, meaning all of you, but, you know, if he didn't have that one loss on his record, it would almost be a no-brainer," White said. "And this kid wants to fight all the time. He stays active, and after tonight and what he did tonight, he talks about three, four more fights, so I think what you do is you just let this guy's career play out. It's almost like what I keep saying about Zufa Boxing. Judge us at the end of this year, January of 2027. It's like when Islam's career is winding up and starting to wrap up, the more fights he keeps winning and the things he keeps, the records he keeps breaking, it'll all speak for itself."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dana White: Islam Makhachev's winning streak might never be beaten
