“If Not Khabib”: Daniel Cormier Ranks Georges St-Pierre as UFC’s Greatest, Excludes Jon Jones Over Failed Drug Test

The ‘GOAT’ conversation is a source of constant debate in every sport. Michael Jorden or Kobe Bryant? GSP Or Anderson Silva? Or is it Jon Jones? While most fans are caught up in a chicken-and-egg situation, former heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has a clear-cut take.

As a matter of fact, DC ranks George St Pierre and his AKA buddy Nurmagomedov at the top but negates Jon Jones and Anderson Silva’s presence on the list. Even though casuals might think that Cormier is still salty about his loss to ‘Bones,’ he said the failed doping tests act as a blemish. Speaking to his co-host Chael Sonnen on the Good Guy/ Bad Guy podcast, he said,

“George St Pierre is the greatest fighter the UFC has ever seen if not Khabib Nurmagomedov at 28-0 with his titles and his title defenses. Those are the two guys that come down to me obviously and Chael (Sonnen) I dont like to put Anderson (Silva) and Jon (Jones) because I feel like when you get a bad test, you’re out of the equation for the greatest of all time.”

Before he names the duo, the former two-division champion mentions longevity, accolades, and winning records as his yardstick to consider fighters as the ‘GOAT.’ While on paper, Jones and Anderson Silva have incredible records with the Brazilian being one of the most dominant champions the sport has ever seen, the two have failed doping tests multiple times. This in actuality takes away the credibility of these fighters and casts a shadow on their impeccable resume.

In fact, the whole discussion was around Alex Pereira who is pushing the envelopes beyond the limit, taking things higher up a notch to become the organization’s first three-division champion with his move to HW. Cormier gave props to the Brazilian for the gutsy move and certainly thinks that he will be a solid contender in the ‘GOAT’ list if he achieves the seemingly impossible feat of capturing the heavyweight belt.

While ‘Bones’ is taking his time off from the sport owing to an untimely injury, the fighter was quick enough to respond to Pereira’s move to Heavyweight. The Albuquerque native called out the LHW champion and it looks like Pereira is up for the fight.

Alex Pereira responds to Jon Jones’ callout – “It’d be fantastic.”

In a very short time, former Glory kickboxing champion Alex Pereira cemented himself as a top contender in the UFC. Despite his inexperience in the cage, ‘Poatan’ proved that he was more versatile than most of the competition and used his nuclear-left hook to wreak havoc in multiple divisions.

First, he conquered the MW throne, defeating his former rival Israel Adesanya then after a while he jumped to LHW where he got the gold in a bout against ‘The Czech Samurai’ Jiří Procházka. A title challenge from Jamahal Hill was dealt with quickly after the Brazilian found the American’s chin in the very first round.

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Following this, the fighter expressed his desire to move up in weight class to take on the heavyweight contenders. Reacting to this, Jones welcomed Pereira with a fitting challenge which the Brazilian accepted. In his exclusive to MMA Junkie, he responded to Jones’ callout, essentially saying that he’d love to fight him and that a matchup against the former LHW champion would be “fantastic.”