There’s a famous quote along the lines of being silent is an argument that others carry for them. When Argentine Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara said it, it wasn’t to transition ringside to combat sports. Yet, it applies to the reigning lightweight and P4P king Islam Makhachev. He didn’t go on a reactionary diss for the snub to Jon Jones as the best pound-for-pound. Fans and pundits did it for him. However, now he subtly broke the silence.
Makhachev retained his UFC lightweight undisputed gold for a third time at UFC 302. He submitted Dustin Poirier; even outboxed the consensus boxer consistently for four rounds. Lining up with his wrestle-heavy parade, he displayed all-around skills akin to a top pound-for-pound fighter. Yet, CEO Dana White validated that Jones remains the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter. Now, he fired back, minimally but strongly.
JON JONES: CIRYL GANE – SUB (R1)…[Captioned]… Sorry...
Islam Makhachev via his IG Stories (@islam_makhachev)
The 32-year-old has gone through some top crops in the game, despite being blamed for selectively choosing unranked lightweights. Concurrently, he has defeated names that held top spots in the UFC Official pound-for-pound listings. The Combat Sambo fame won his title from Charles Oliveira; he defended it twice against Alexander Volkanovski.
Islam Makhachev via Instagram Stories (@islam_makhachev)Moreover, his D’Arce choke at the 2:42 mark of Round 5 over the Layfette lightweight will now be forever etched in history. Meanwhile, as his post caption jibed, Jon Jones last made a mark in his heavyweight debut at UFC 285: Jones vs. Gane ( Mar. 04, 2023). By his own admission, he is stalling the heavyweight division for one maiden defense and a legacy payout. The Dagestani scan surely thrust ahead in the pound-for-pound debate with more appearances than ‘Bones’.
What do others think of the pound-for-pound debate?
When undefeated lightweight legend Khabib Nurmagomedov hung up his gloves, pundits and fan cliques faltered at considering him a G.O.A.T. candidate. With just 13 fights at the 155-pound division and as a whole, the common trend of thought was that he hadn’t done enough to stake the claim. Longtime AKA coach Javier Mendez, supporting Makhachev, says the same for Jones.
Islam Makhachev. Jon Jones (Source: Instagram/IMAGO)‘Bones’ is dead set on a legacy battle with Stipe Miocic now. Ex-UFC heavyweight fame Francis Ngannou defeated Miocic at the UFC 260 feature Main Event, defended the guard at UFC 270 with Ciryl Gane, then left. In essence, Team Jackson’s MMA Acoma heavyweight won a vacant strap against rightful contender Gane at UFC 285. Hence, while Mendez gets the loyalty to advocate him as a P4P topper, he isn’t quite there yet in the legacy battle.
The 265-pound G.O.A.T. also has the support of Aljamain Sterling. Barring weight class, if skill-for-skill pounding and all-around mettle was the only factor, the featherweight puts Jones above the rest. Meanwhile, Volk, who faced Islam Makhachev twice, considers him the rightful No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC.
You look at Jon Jones, all right, we get it, you’re going to say he’s the greatest fighter of all time, But pound-for-pound has to go with, you know, if you fought, where one [has…fought] in the last few years, eight times…against the names, and you’ve only fought once…Like, that’s got to come into play…pound-for-pound, I think there has to be some activity there and who you fought lately. Islam has fought some great fighters and won…
Alexander Volkanovski to Denis Shkuratov for Submission Radio (@Submissionradio)
Sterling commended Jones’ comeback after a three-year layoff to submit Gane and win his title gold. The Aussie agrees that Jon Jones is the heavyweight G.O.A.T. But, for pound-for-pound considerations, he promotes that there has to be some activity, fighting against top names. Hence Makhachev stands.
