Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the rare fighters who retired with an undefeated 29-0 record, walking away at the peak of his career. But could someone have changed that zero to one? Maybe Tony Ferguson? Maybe the next generation of talent? Nobody can say for sure. But UFC veteran Demetrious Johnson had once used the law of averages to claim the Dagestani champion’s first career loss.
Khabib is widely considered a top contender in the UFC GOAT debate. However, it can be argued that since only four or five of his opponents were world-class, he should have done more to justify his position. It’s a fair point. Even though the Dagestani powerhouse dominated almost every opponent, his early retirement continues to put a giant question mark over his perceived greatness.
But had Khabib gone ahead and continued fighting, could he have kept himself out of the loss column? Johnson didn’t think so, at least at the time. Talking about the matter in a conversation with Ariel Helwani in 2023, he said,
“Khabib got out unscathed, 29-0. If Khabib would have continued fighting, he would have lost.
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He is not wrong. Most top-tier fighters have suffered from a fall once they reach a certain point in their careers. Tony Ferguson, for example, at one point had a 12-win streak. But before he left the UFC, ‘El Cucuy’ had to face the embarrassment of losing his last eight fights; the longest losing streak in the promotion.
Khabib’s friend and UFC veteran Daniel Cormier used to hold both the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles in the promotion but had to bow out after losing two back-to-back fights against Stipe Miocic. There are countless other examples.
It is actually happening right now to one of UFC’s all-time greats.
Israel Adesanya, the face of the middleweight division and its champion for years on end, is currently at the receiving end of a 3-fight losing streak. Kamaru Usman, once the pound-for-pound #1 fighter in the world with the welterweight title around his waist, has also lost his last three fights. Every single champion in the history of mixed martial arts has been through this decline.
It’s inevitable, with the only exception in the sport being Jon Jones.
Why Jones stands out
Jones made his debut in 2008, and in the 16 years since then, he has only ever lost one fight, and that too was via a DQ. And every single fight he has been involved in since UFC 128 in March 2011 has been a title fight.
UFC 128 is where he became the youngest UFC champion by defeating Mauricio Rua to claim the light heavyweight title. Cut to November 2024, Jones has moved up in weight to the heavyweight division, where he has won the title against Ciryl Gane and is now defending it against the greatest heavyweight of all time, Stipe Miocic. So what happens?
Jones shuts Miocic’s lights out with a spinning heel kick and retains the title.
There are at least three generations of fighters between Rua and Miocic, all of whom have fallen to Jones. It’s a testament to his greatness.
That said, it could also be attributed to his smart choices. Quite a few of the fighters he fought in his career were either on the verge of falling off from their primes or were already on the way down. And even now, he refuses to fight the interim champion, Tom Aspinall, who is widely regarded as the biggest challenge of his career.
So, it’s always a little more complicated than it seems on the UFC statistics page. Could Khabib have stayed on longer and perhaps moved up a weight division, claimed that second title, and still gone undefeated? Maybe not. Will Jones continue to be the exception to the rule if he faces Aspinall? Only time can tell.
