UFC President Dana White Calls Khabib Nurmagomedov The 'MMA GOAT' Ahead Of Jon Jones

UFC president Dana White has branded Khabib Nurmagomedov the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and named him the MMA GOAT ahead of Jon Jones.

Khabib, 32, extended his unblemished MMA record to 29-0 with a sensational win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 on Saturday.

And the 'Eagle' asked UFC to put him top of the organisation's pound-of-pound rankings -- ahead of Jones -- after announcing his shock retirement from MMA.

White, 51, has previously said that there is "no debate" that UFC legend Jones is the GOAT of MMA.

But the UFC chief has since taken to social media and insisted that Khabib very much lays claim to the status of MMA GOAT in his eyes.

White tweeted: "congrats @TeamKhabib you accomplished EVERYTHING you set out to do [sic]. You are the P4P best fighter in the world and you truly are the G.O.A.T of the sport. #29-0."

Speaking after UFC 254, White called Khabib "one of the toughest human beings on the planet" and said people need to consider "putting him up there at GOAT status."

The UFC president explained: "He was in the octagon, we were all just standing around listening and you know, you could tell, I can tell, it almost smelled like an upset tonight.

"The way he reacted at the weigh-ins, the way he acted when he was walking out tonight. He didn't look like himself, taking deep breaths. But wow.

"What this guy's been through, we were all lucky that we got to see him fight tonight. And I'm hearing rumours of other things that I didn't know about that you guys will hear about when he comes out later.

"Apparently, he was in the hospital and he broke his foot three weeks ago. So he has two broken toes and a bone in his foot that is broken or something like that. That's what his corner was telling me. Never told anybody, walking around.

"So, I mean, he is one of the toughest human beings on the planet and he is just the No 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

"And seriously, you have to start putting him up there at GOAT status with whoever else you think is the GOAT."

Jones, 33, reacted to Khabib's retirement announcement by saying that he's willing for the 'Eagle' to take the top pound-for-pound spot until he 'captures the heavyweight title'.

However, White's comments didn't sit well with Jones and he made it clear where he stands on the GOAT and pound-for-pound debate.

Topics: Khabib Nurmagomedov, Jon Jones, UFC News, MMA News, UFC, eagle, MMA, Dana White

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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