Jon Anik names Islam Makhachev and one more UFC champion who could unseat Georges St-Pierre as greatest ever

Jon Anik predicts two UFC champs to enter the MMA GOAT debate. [Image courtesy: Getty Images]
Jon Anik predicts two UFC champs to enter the MMA GOAT debate. [Image courtesy: Getty Images]

Jon Anik recently shared his thoughts on Islam Makhachev potentially earning the 'MMA GOAT' status, naming Merab Dvalishvili as the one other UFC champion who could join the Dagestani grappling maestro.

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Makhachev recently defeated Jack Della Maddalena via unanimous decision to win the welterweight title at UFC 322 last weekend. With his championship victory, Makhachev became only the 11th two-division champion in UFC history. He is also tied with Anderson Silva for the longest win streak in promotional history, with 16 consecutive wins.

Meanwhile, Dvalishvili is on an incredible 14-fight win streak and is coming off a dominant win over Cory Sandhagen in their bantamweight title fight at UFC 320 last month. He has the longest win streak in bantamweight history and the fourth longest in UFC history.

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In an episode of The Anik & Florian Podcast, the veteran UFC commentator gave Makhachev and Dvalishvili their flowers. Claiming that they could surpass Georges St-Pierre in the MMA GOAT list, he said:

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"Y'all must've forgot. We all must've forgot... I'm glad that he's [Makhachev] not making the weight cut. This man should be celebrated. We talk about Merab Dvalishvili being on a trajectory to be the greatest male mixed martial artist of all time, and he’s very much on a trajectory to unseat Georges St-Pierre and anybody else you want to mention. So is Islam Makhachev. You saw how comfortable he was at 170 [pounds]? Now he's saying he could wrestle for 50 minutes?"
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Joe Rogan points out the difference between Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov

Joe Rogan recently shared his reaction to Islam Makhachev beating Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 last weekend. The veteran podcaster lauded Makhachev's grappling prowess and pointed out how the new welterweight champ was different from Khabib Nurmagomedov.

In a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast with Brian Simpson (JRE #2414), Rogan reacted to the UFC 322 headliner and said:

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"He [Makhachev] was the 155-pound most dominant champion ever. Most title defenses at 155 ever. Just dominates at 170, like every round. People are saying it’s boring, but listen, man, it’s boring if you’re a casual... It was a little frustrating because you wanted Jack to try to adjust, but he couldn’t, man. Islam shut his game down right away. He low-kicked the hell out of his front leg real quick. Had him limping real quick. Within the first round, he had hit it three or four times bad.”
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He added:

“I imagine being Khabib, you know, just your protege is just coming in and Khabib’s even better than him, right? That’s what’s so crazy. That’s how good those guys are. But Khabib’s not a better standup [fighter], though. Islam has really good standup. Khabib’s standup was a means to an end... Islam is knocking people out, man. It’s different."

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Edited by Nishant Zende.
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