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Very few fighters can become champions in the UFC. Naturally, fewer still become known as the greatest of all time in their weight class.
Right now, the UFC has a number of excellent champions, but do any of them have the possibility of becoming all-time greats?
The answer is absolutely. While some of the UFC’s current champions are only just beginning their journey, there’s every chance that some of them could go onto cement a legacy as the GOAT in their weight class, surpassing some truly brilliant former champions in the process.
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Here are five current UFC champions who could become the GOAT in their weight classes.
#5. Alexander Volkanovski – UFC featherweight champion
Alexander Volkanovski may well be the UFC’s most underrated champion right now. However, could ‘The Great’ go onto become the greatest 145lber of all time? It definitely seems possible.
Quite why Volkanovski doesn’t receive the respect from UFC fans that some of the promotion’s other champions do is a mystery, although admittedly, that may change after his epic victory over Brian Ortega at UFC 266.
Overall though, the Australian has literally everything it takes to become known as the UFC’s featherweight GOAT.
Prior to his title reign, the general consensus would’ve been that the GOAT title at 145 pounds belonged to either Jose Aldo or Max Holloway. Both fighters count themselves among the victims of Volkanovski, with Holloway falling victim to him on two occasions.
Volkanovski’s record is also phenomenal, standing at 23-1. He’s already beaten some other greats at featherweight, including Chad Mendes and 'T-City'.
‘The Great’ may find it tricky to match Aldo’s record of seven successful title defenses. However, it’s also fair to suggest that the UFC featherweight division at that time wasn’t as strong as it is today.
If Volkanovski can defeat other top contenders such as Giga Chikadze and Yair Rodriguez, there’s every chance he could usurp the Brazilian to become the UFC’s greatest featherweight.
#4. Francis Ngannou – UFC heavyweight champion
Traditionally, the UFC heavyweight title has been passed around like a hot potato. Discounting interim titles, the division has seen a total of 22 champions since 1997. Only one fighter, Stipe Miocic, was able to make more than two consecutive title defenses, managing three.
That achievement has meant that most fans now accept Miocic as the UFC’s heavyweight GOAT. However, could current champion Francis Ngannou surpass him?
It definitely seems possible. Firstly, ‘The Predator’ defeated Miocic in violent fashion to claim his title earlier this year at UFC 260. While beating the GOAT doesn’t immediately mean a fighter assumes that position, it’s a good start.
More to the point, right now, Ngannou looks practically unbeatable inside the octagon. He already possesses more punching power than arguably any fighter in UFC history, but he now seems to have rounded out his skills and even showed strong takedown defense against Miocic.
Ngannou’s next assignment will be a clash with interim champion Ciryl Gane. If he can defeat the Frenchman, there doesn’t really appear to be anyone capable of beating him on the UFC roster.
That means that ‘The Predator’ could well hold onto the UFC heavyweight crown for as long as he sees fit. If he does that, he’ll almost certainly become known as the GOAT amongst the UFC’s big men.
#3. Rose Namajunas – UFC women's strawweight champion
As one of the UFC’s newer weight classes when compared to the likes of heavyweight and welterweight, the UFC women's strawweight division hasn’t really established a true GOAT yet.
The closest fighter to that spot would probably be Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who won the UFC strawweight title from Carla Esparza in March 2015 and then went onto defend it successfully on five occasions.
However, with the division still in its infancy, could current champion Rose Namajunas go onto be recognized as the true GOAT at 115 pounds? It’s something that definitely seems possible.
‘Thug Rose’ has plenty of evidence on her side already. She is the first fighter to hold the strawweight title on two occasions, having recaptured it from Zhang Weili earlier this year after dropping it to Jessica Andrade in 2019.
More to the point, Namajunas holds victories over three former UFC strawweight champions, including two wins over Jedrzejczyk and a win over Andrade to avenge her earlier defeat. Obviously, Namajunas’ current title reign is very much in its early days. There’s no guarantee she’ll defeat Zhang again when they rematch at UFC 268 next month.
If ‘Thug Rose’ can pull off a victory, though, she’ll comfortably be recognized as the best strawweight in the UFC.
If she can then make a few more defenses, with one preferably coming over Carla Esparza, who won the inaugural strawweight title by defeating Namajunas in 2014, It’d be hard to deny her a spot as the GOAT.
#2. Israel Adesanya – UFC middleweight champion
The identity of the UFC’s greatest-ever middleweight is no mystery, as Anderson Silva’s legendary title reign has probably still never been surpassed by any UFC fighter. ‘The Spider’ captured the UFC middleweight title from Rich Franklin at UFC 64 in October 2006. He then held it until UFC 162 in July 2013, when he was dethroned by Chris Weidman.
Along the way, Silva made an unbelievable 10 successful title defenses, knocking off high-level contenders such as Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen and Dan Henderson.
On the face of it, then, it seems practically impossible for current UFC middleweight kingpin Israel Adesanya to surpass the achievements of ‘The Spider’, even if he did defeat a past-his-prime Silva at UFC 234.
Incredibly, though, it may not be as implausible that Adesanya could surpass Silva as you may think.
Firstly, ‘The Last Stylebender’ looks completely dominant over the UFC’s current 185-pound division. After winning his title from Robert Whittaker in October 2019, he’s already made three successful defenses, knocking back challenges from Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori.
Like Silva in his prime, Adesanya never came close to losing his title in any of those bouts. Given the ease with which he dispatched the likes of Whittaker and Derek Brunson previously, it’s unlikely that there are any contenders on the horizon capable of beating him.
Adesanya might not surpass Silva’s number of title defenses. However, given ‘The Spider’ ended up with a dented reputation thanks to some positive drug tests, if ‘The Last Stylebender’ can continue to impress, he may well surpass his reputation as the UFC’s middleweight GOAT.
#1. Kamaru Usman – UFC welterweight champion
It’s safe to say that no other UFC champion will have a tougher time becoming known as the GOAT in their weight class than current welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman.
That’s because arguably the greatest UFC fighter of all time, Georges St-Pierre, competed in his weight class, dominating the division for the best part of a decade between 2006 and 2014. St-Pierre held the UFC welterweight title on two occasions and put together a total of nine successful defenses along the way.
He turned back the challenge of fighters as good as Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz and B.J. Penn. He even managed to avenge both of his career losses before all was said and done.
However, despite only holding the UFC welterweight title for just over two years – defending it on four occasions in the process – Usman is well on his way to making a genuine challenge to St-Pierre’s legacy.
‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has been every bit as dominant as GSP was over the welterweight division. Not only has he beaten the likes of Colby Covington, Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal convincingly, but he remains unbeaten in the UFC at 14-0.
St-Pierre managed a total of 20 victories in the octagon. However, due to his two defeats being sandwiched in there, Usman already has the longest winning streak in UFC welterweight history.
And while he still needs another five successful title defenses to match the great Canadian, based on how dominant he’s looked to this point, there’s every chance he can pull it off.
If he does, he may well go down not only as the UFC’s welterweight GOAT, but as the greatest overall fighter in UFC history, too.
