Dana White has seen a lot of fighters come and go throughout his tenure as UFC president — but he says that four of them stand out from the rest.
Asked by ESPN this week ahead of the Noche UFC event inside the Las Vegas Sphere that White pledges will be the most spectacular in the organisation’s three-decade history as to who the most groundbreaking fighters he has ever promoted are, the UFC CEO gave an immediate answer.
“You’ve got to go with Jon Jones,” White said, somewhat unsurprisingly given his avalanche of recent comments in which he said that Jones stands alone as the sport’s all-time greatest. “You have to go with Ronda Rousey,” he added. “Women would not be fighting in the UFC if it wasn’t for her.”
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Completing the list, White said that the greatest welterweight of all time and the UFC’s first-ever simultaneous double-champion have also earned their status as the elite of the elite.
“You would have to put GSP [Georges St-Pierre] in there and absolutely, positively Conor McGregor,” White said. “He elevated and changed the game globally.”
While few would argue with the four fighters put forward by White, the list is also notable for its exclusions. Anderson Silva was for several years widely regarded as the finest fighter in the world, while the likes of Jose Aldo and Demetrious Johnson would also be candidates due to their historical performance in the featherweight and flyweight divisions respectively.
Also notable in his absence is Chuck Liddell, the longtime former UFC light heavyweight champion often regarded as the first true breakout star in mixed martial arts history.
