While Nurmagomedov is widely considered among the greatest fighters in mixed martial arts history, Cejudo argues that “The Eagle” only defended the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight title thrice. “Triple C” believes its only title wins and defenses are to be considered for making it to the GOAT list and the Russian’s retirement at 32 leaves many unanswered questions.
Henry Cejudo argues Khabib Nurmagomedov's three UFC title defenses aren't enough for GOAT status
Nurmagomedov’s teammate and successor, current pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev, defended his welterweight title against Ian Garry at UFC 330. Cejudo believes Makhachev, in pursuit of his fourth title defense overall in the UFC, would have dropped significantly on the pound-for-pound list if he had lost against Garry.
“No, Khabib is not there, bro,” Cejudo said on the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast. “Three title defenses? Like, that’s not it, bro. That’s not it. And I love Khabib Nurmagomedov. But that’s not it. Title defenses are what people see, bro. You can have a padded record too, with a bunch of wins. Not saying that he did. Let me put it to you this way. If Islam Makhachev was unable to secure that victory over Ian Garry, not defend his belt, he really goes down the list, bro. Because the most important thing, bro, is to win and then to defend.”
Nurmagomedov (29-0) won the UFC lightweight title against Al Iaquinta and defended it against Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje before retiring undefeated in 2020. Meanwhile, Cejudo (16-6) won the UFC flyweight title against Demetrious Johnson and defended it against T.J. Dillashaw before moving up. Cejudo then won the bantamweight title against Marlon Moraes and defended it against Dominick Cruz before abruptly retiring in 2020.
Cejudo then came out of retirement after three years but never won again. The Olympic gold medalist dropped four in a row and finally hung up his gloves following a loss to Payton Talbott this past December.