Khabib Nurmagomedov
Conor McGregor
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Khabib Nurmagomedov leads 3 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Khabib Nurmagomedov at #4 and Conor McGregor at #11.
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The case for Khabib Nurmagomedov
The most dominant grappler the sport has known, Khabib retired flawless at 29-0, having barely lost a round across his entire career. A multiple-time combat sambo world champion from Dagestan, he built a smothering, cage-crushing wrestling style — 'send them off,' as his father put it — that no opponent solved. He won the vacant lightweight title against Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 in 2018, then defended it in the biggest fight in company history, submitting Conor McGregor by neck crank in the fourth round at UFC 229 before roughly 2.4 million pay-per-view buyers. He followed with submissions of Dustin Poirier and, in his final bout, a third-round triangle choke of Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in 2020. He retired immediately afterward, honoring a promise to his mother following his father's death, walking away perfect.
The case for Conor McGregor
The biggest star the sport has ever produced, McGregor changed MMA's economics and reach while backing it up in the cage during his prime. He became the first fighter to hold two UFC titles simultaneously, knocking out featherweight king José Aldo in a record 13 seconds at UFC 194 in 2015 and stopping Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt at UFC 205 in 2016. His left hand was one of the most feared weapons in the sport, and his self-promotion filled arenas and drove the two biggest pay-per-views in company history. He also crossed into boxing for a blockbuster loss to Floyd Mayweather in 2017. Injuries, inactivity and losses to Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov, plus a leg break against Dustin Poirier in 2021, clouded his later years. He sits around 22-6, but his peak dominance and cultural impact are undeniable.