Conor McGregor or Jose Aldo? Wait, we already saw that one.
The great thing about MMA being so young is that it makes all those ‘who’s the greatest’ debates, for the most part, relatively simple.
After all, the UFC only became old enough to purchase alcohol stateside a couple of years ago. Although the sport has evolved exponentially in the 23 years since UFC 1, there’s not that much data to process in that timeframe as opposed to other sports.
For example, there are some boxers in the greatest of all time discussions that were born in the 1800’s. Dan Henderson aside, there were no MMA fighters before Franz Ferdinand’s assassination kicked off all that trouble on the continent.
MMA fans can count their blessings that they can make certain statements about who was the greatest in each division without fear of being ridiculed.
- Demetrious Johnson is the greatest flyweight ever – yup.
- Georges St-Pierre is the best welterweight in UFC history – no arguing with that.
- The best featherweight ever is Conor McGregor… hold on a second!
Dethroned again #UFC212 https://t.co/ntyl9SAAMd
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 6, 2017
What about Jose Aldo?
He was the first ever UFC featherweight champion, he held the belt the longest and he’s had the most title defences. However, he’s not the greatest 145 lber to ever enter an Octagon, according to Joe Rogan. The UFC colour commentator made a very convincing argument for McGregor being the rightful heir to this accolade on his Fight Companion podcast.
“He’s (McGregor) the best ever. You have to say he’s the best ever even if he never fights featherweight again. Why? Because he KO’d the best ever. The reality is, Aldo’s the best ever but Conor KO’d him. You couldn’t say without the Aldo fight that Conor was the best ever because if you look at all the different people that both of them fought, you’re like ‘wow it’s really close, it’s really interesting, but Aldo has more fights.’ But then once they actually fight, that’s it. That’s all that matters. So you’ve got to give it to him.”
Rogan knows everyone won’t be on board with this idea, mainly because McGregor never defended the title. However, if Aldo’s his only competition, he cannot see how the Brazilian could lay claim to the title considering how their fight at UFC 194 played out.
“People will fight against it, ‘No, because Aldo was the champion for so many years.’ You’re 100-percent right. His body of work is much more impressive and there’s always going to be an asterisk next to Conor because that was just this one time he fought for the title at 145 [pounds], KO’d Aldo, and was like ya’ll be cool, I’m out of here.”
Using this logic, Cody Garbrandt’s the greatest bantamweight ever, even if he never fights at that weight again. In fairness, No Love’s rise to the summit has been eerily similar to that of the Notorious.
