Jon Jones gets a lot of hype from UFC CEO Dana White about being the pound-for-pound best fighter in the UFC, but Islam Makhackev has his supporters as well.
One of those is American Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez, who laid out the reasons why Makhachev deserves the No. 1 space he currently holds in the official UFC pound for pound rankings.
“How many fights does Jon Jones have in the last four years?” Mendez asked on the Hablemos MMA podcast (via MMA Junkie). “Tell me. How many? If you said six or seven, okay. But how many does he have? Two in four years. You need to fight more than that. If Islam were to do the same, I’d put Jon Jones at No. 1, but [Jones] hasn’t fought.”
“If he had been active, then it’s a different conversation. But he’s barely fought. That why, that reason alone, I put Islam at No. 1.”
Mendez made sure to clarify he was talking about pound for pound status, not GOAT (Greatest of all Time) designation.
“The pound-for-pound conversation is now,” he said. “I’m not going around saying that Islam is the greatest of all time. I’m just saying he’s the pound-for-pound best right now. That’s all. I’m not saying anything else.”
Jones’ longevity at the top of the sport makes him a GOAT discussion favorite, and he’ll cement his position as GOAT even further if he ends up fighting Tom Aspinall in 2025. As for Islam Makhachev? A dominant win over the extremely tough Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311 on January 18th would put a lock on his P4P status.
