The UFC’s stardom of fighters overtime and in this new generation are really all becoming well known superstars from their fights in the octagon. It is uncommon to find a collection of fighters referred to as the greatest of all time competing in the same era and currently, this situation exists within the UFC. The question around the UFC recently has been the same for a while now because no one can answer the question, who really is the best fighter in the UFC?. The trio of fighters in the argument in contention are the lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, former middleweight and current light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and former light heavyweight champion and current heavyweight champion, Jon Jones. These three fighters are in the top three pound for pound rankings but are closer than ever, the media and fans are all split on the order of these three fighters and who really deserves the number one spot.
In sports, the discussion often revolves around who is the greatest of all time in each discipline, which is the essence of the term “pound for pound” in MMA and boxing. In the UFC, pound for pound rankings evaluate who the top fighter is across all weight classes. Numerous criteria can be factored in when determining who deserves the title of the greatest of all time, which is why these discussions are frequently divided in every sport. Factors which could be used to pick their pound for pound fighter could be, how many belts has the fighter won, how many title defence have they had, an active champion that is defending there belt convincingly and the caliber of competition they are fighting.
This topic has recently come into all mma media and fans minds and is trending once again because all three fighters recently have a fight scheduled or have just recently fought. The current lightweight champion and pound for pound number one is reportedly fighting in January against Arman Tsarukyan, the number one lightweight contender. This fight is waiting to be announced by the UFC president, Dana White. Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira has recently successfully defended his belt earlier this month against Khalil Roundtree Jr by tko, while Jon Jones is next to fight one of the best heavyweights in the UFC, former two time champion Stipe Miocic in two weeks time.
Makhachev is currently labelled the official number one fighter in the UFC by the media as it is the media that decides on the rankings within the UFC. Makhachev has held his undisputed lightweight championship for two years now after winning it in 2022 against former lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira. Since then Makhachev has defended his belt a further three more times, fighting the best fighters in the world, most of which were all convincingly. Islam’s four title defences has led him to be the current best in the UFC but another factor which puts Makhachev highest on the list is because two of Makhachev’s title defence were against the former UFC pound for pound number one fighter in Alexander Volkanovski, who Islam beat twice, one by a split decision with the other being a devastating head kick knockout. The lightweight champion currently has four title defences and looks to gain his fifth title defence in January next year. Islam has now proven to the world and the whole lightweight division that he is a very strong champion and would like to compete for a second belt at welterweight to hold two belts simultaneously and become the tenth double UFC champion. The current welterweight champion is Belal Muhammad who is Makhachev’s teammate who he does not want to compete against out of respect, Islam spoke about Belal becoming champion and said while laughing, ‘he ruined my plans for double champ’. With another successful title defence, which is likely to be against Tsarukyan in January, Islam would have defeated all the top contenders and may choose to wait for a welterweight fight to fulfill his ambition of becoming a double UFC champion.
The Brazilian 2 time champion Alex Pereira is ranked as number 2 in the rankings just behind Makhachev. Pereira had one of the quickest title shots ever as he only fought 3 contenders to get his first title shot against former opponent in kickboxing, Israel Adesanya which he won by tko in the fifth round. Since then Pereira has moved up one division to light heavyweight as he was a big middleweight previously. ‘Poatan’ is one of the most active UFC fighters in the whole roster and has so much risk of losing it all as he is a champion but chooses to fight on short notice to help out the UFC. Pereira claimed his next UFC title at light heavyweight in 2023 by defeating former title holder, Jiri Prochazka. Following that, Alex has competed in three additional bouts and set the record for the quickest three title defences in UFC history, successfully defending his title three times within a span of seven months.
Pereria has had ten UFC fights in just three years and has won seven of them by (T)KO, with his last four fights being all by (T)KO. The 37 year old has also nearly cleared out his whole division with one more fight to make at light heavyweight which is against Magomed Ankaleav who is a wrestler, which could be the champion’s biggest challenge yet. Middleweight champion, Dricus Du Plessis has had some honourable mentions about the Brazilian champion, “In my mind, he’s one of the greatest combat sports athletes to ever walk this earth”, Pereira hinted at going back down to middleweight to fight Du Plessis after posting a picture of himself on Instagram, sat by his TV after Du Plessis won earlier on this year against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305. Pereira is also in contention of being the UFC fighter of the year after defending his belt three times in seven months all by (T)KO and being one of the most active fighters of the year.
Jon Jones is currently ranked at the number 3 pound for pound fighter in the UFC by the media. Jones is arguably the number one fighter in the world on paper to many people including the UFC President Dana White. White strongly believes that Jones is the greatest of all time as he has said it plenty of times at numerous press conferences. “Anybody who thinks Jon Jones isn’t the pound for pound best fighter in the world should never be discussing fighting ever”, said by White on a talk show. Jon Jones became the youngest UFC champion at age 21. Jones has had twenty-three UFC fights and sixteen of them have been title fights. Jones’ record is (27W-1L) that one loss on the record has always been classified as controversial as it was a disqualification as Jones used an illegal shot which is now Legal within the UFC. Jones first became champion in 2011 and to this day is a heavyweight champion. One of the biggest reasons why Jones has dropped to number three in the rankings is due to his inactivity in the octagon. The 37 year old had a three year lay off and in that time, we have had other champions like Islam Makhachev and Alex Periera who are very active and both win their bouts convincingly while clearing out both their divisions, fighting the best contenders in their respective divisions.
If Jon Jones wins his fight against Stipe Miocic, the argument for Jones being the best in the world will be a stronger case. A fight that the UFC fans around the world would love to see is Jon Jones vs Alex Pereira at heavyweight. This fight would almost definitely confirm the outcome and settle the argument as we would be watching the pound for pound number 3 vs number 2. The winner of that fight would definitely be placed without a doubt as the best UFC fighter in the world but on the other hand if Islam Makhachev did end becoming a double champion in the UFC and cleared out the welterweight division as well as lightweight, Makhachev has an even more undeniable case of why he should remain the best in the world.
UFC 309 is taking place on November 17th, with Jon Jones headlining the card, with Makhachev also reportedly fighting at the start of next year. If both fighters win, the conversation will continue and be even harder to debate. Jones vs Periera would be the super fight which would declare the answer as a win with one of those names on your resume would definitely look good to settle it. Jon Jones seems to imply that his upcoming fight at UFC 309 could be his final fight, stating, “It’s probably going to be the last time…” if that’s true, we might never find out who truly reigns supreme between the two substantial titans.
