Henry Cejudo isn't quite ready to call Islam Makhachev the greatest of all time.
Makhachev (29-1 MMA, 18-1 UFC) notched his first welterweight title defense by defeating Ian Machado Garry in Saturday's UFC 330 headliner at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. In his UFC lightweight title reign, Makhachev defended his belt a record four times before vacating his belt for a move up to welterweight.
With the win over Machado Garry (17-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC), Makhachev also broke the UFC record for most consecutive victories, which has Cejudo putting him in the top five of the GOAT list.
"It's a little premature," Cejudo told MMA Junkie Radio of calling Makhachev the GOAT. "To say 'the GOAT,' that's Jon Jones. That's crazy for people to still doubt that.
I don't think unless he's going to go on a tear and fight for many years to come, which I don't think, but I would probably put him ahead of GSP (St-Pierre). The only reason why I would put him ahead of GSP is I think GSP cherry-picked a little bit when he fought Michael Bisping for that title at 185 pounds. Stop me when I lie. I've got Jon Jones, never lost. What is it? Sixteen, 17 title fights. You've got Demetrious Johnson with 11 consecutive title fights, and then I would go Anderson Silva with 10 title defenses. And then I would probably go either GSP or Islam Makhachev at 4.
"And this isn't based on somebody being cool and nice or having an action. This is all based on freaking numbers, and the simple fact that Islam defended that title, which GSP never defended his double championship. Dude, that's big. That's huge. My opinion, if Islam Makhachev was to lose this fight with Ian Garry and never defended that title, I would be ahead of him. Because what I could say based on merit, I defended the flyweight title and the bantamweight title, and that puts you in a rare condition. I don't put Ilia Topuria ahead of me either because he never defended that title. You know what I'm saying? There's something prestigious when you can say, 'Hey, I won both belts and I defended both belts.' That's special."
When being corrected that St-Pierre has nine consecutive title defenses, not eight, Cejudo changed his tune.
"So then I would go Jones, Demetrious, Silva, GSP, and then Islam Makhachev," Cejudo said.
Daniel Cormier disagrees with Cejudo's list. He believes due to Jones and Silva's past with failed drug tests, they're immediately disqualified from the GOAT list. Cormier called Khabib Nurmagomedov the GOAT, but Cejudo doesn't rate him very highly after retiring early.
"I mean, we had USADA," Cejudo said. "How long was Jon Jones suspended for whenever that tainted substance? I don't know. I haven't really given that stuff that much stock, but I mean, what I do know is what he's been able to do now even at that age. Even him not getting in trouble or what not and then coming back at heavyweight. And look, he's just been dismantling people. I mean, if you can't say he's the greatest of all time, then sh*t, who is? King Kong? Like, it's ridiculous, man, but he's definitely up there.
"If you guys want to talk about Khabib, too, and I love Khabib," Cejudo added. "I think Khabib is the most dominant fighter of all time, but it's short lived. Like, he'd be lucky to crack into the top 20. There's so many good fighters, man, like Randy Couture. The unsung hero, bro. I had Randy Couture at five, and Islam kind of got in there, but man, like he's 'The Natural.' He is the GOAT that I feel like people have truly erased him from history, and I feel like it's my job to freaking resurrect his name, bro, because what he was able to do at his age, I mean, it's absolutely ridiculous. He's so underrated, and it bothers me."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Henry Cejudo: It's 'a little premature' to call Islam Makhachev the GOAT
