Daniel Cormier believes fellow UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov's flawless career separates him from the rest.
Nurmagomedov (29-0) retired as an undefeated and undisputed UFC lightweight champion with three title defenses in 2020. Many argue that Nurmagomedov retired too early, but Cormier thinks he's the greatest of all time regardless.
With the unpredictability of fighting, Cormier explained how Nurmagomedov going through an entire career without a single blemish on his record is extremely difficult. He believes Jon Jones and Anderson Silva failing drug tests rules them out of the debate.
"I don't include Jones and Anderson Silva," Cormier said in an interview with ALF Global (h/t Red Corner MMA). "I don't think if you have any type of drug-testing
issues, you don't get to be in the GOAT conversation. For me, it boils down to Khabib and Georges St-Pierre, but I think Khabib because he's undefeated. In fighting, it's so easy to lose – especially in Russia because when you're 5-0, 6-0, you're fighting absolute killers. You're fighting killers early. It's easy to make a mistake and lose. Think about this: Jon Jones, for as good as he is, he has one loss. Why? He made a mistake.
"Khabib never made a mistake, never got himself disqualified, never got caught in a submission. He made no mistakes. Twent-nine times to walk into that octagon against the best guys in the world and win 29 times? I don't even really know why more people don't share this opinion because Georges St-Pierre has two losses. Demetrious Johnson, one of the greatest, he has losses. This guy never lost. Everybody lost, but he never lost. Even Islam, as good as he is, made one mistake, and he's as close to Khabib as anyone. To never lose is crazy, especially in the beginning of his career when he didn't have great striking. He was really relying on his wrestling, and he never lost."
Nurmagomedov's protege, UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev (28-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC), is on his own path to greatness. Makhachev broke the UFC lightweight record for most title defenses and will aim to break the UFC record for most consecutive victories when he makes his first 170-pound title defense against Ian Machado Garry (17-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) in Saturday's UFC 330 main event at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia (Paramount+).
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Daniel Cormier confused why more people don't consider Khabib Nurmagomedov GOAT
