Shaquille O’Neal Echoes Dana White’s Views on Jon Jones vs. Islam Makhachev ‘UFC Pound-for-Pound’ Debate

Kishore R | 03/06/2024
Shaquille O’Neal Echoes Dana White’s Views on Jon Jones vs. Islam Makhachev ‘UFC Pound-for-Pound’ Debate

NBA great and former LA Lakers player, Shaquille O’Neal just doubled down on Dana White’s claim! While the fandom thought that the blockbuster, UFC 302 would cement Islam Makhachev’s legacy as the pound-for-pound best, it just deepened the plot further after the UFC president named Jon Jones as the #1, rekindling another debate in the community.

In the wake of this update, ‘Shaq’ gave his stamp of approval, siding with White, as he reshared the UFC CEO’s claim on his Instagram story.

The 52-year-old posted a story on his Instagram, resharing MMA Fighting’s post to indirectly say that the heavyweight champion is still the pound-for-pound best in the game. Following his monumental win at UFC 302, handing Dustin Poirier another loss, Islam Makhachev thought his performance would end the dispute.

However, White fanned the flame during the post-fight presser arguing that no one is the top dog when Jones is still around. Though, he did not discredit the LW king, Makhachev, White stood by his words and laid out the facts to prove his point.

Dana White argues that ‘Bones’ is the P4P best and not Islam Makhachev

UFC CEO, Dana White got into the headlines after he made a starking remark following Saturday’s blockbuster event – UFC 302. Makhachev defending his belt thrice against wasn’t enough for the UFC head honcho to rank him as the pound for pound #1. While the Russian dispatched Alexander Volkanovski, ‘Bones’ went after the heavyweight king to prove his mettle after he decimated the Light heavyweight division.

Interestingly, White certainly has a point here on this one. ‘Bones’ quite literally cleaned out the division in a stride defeating Alexander Gustafsson, Daniel Cormier, Lyoto Machida, and Rampage Jackson, just to name a few on his way to snag the title. On the other hand we have Makhachev who is without a doubt one of the greatest fighters to ever step in the octagon but he hasn’t faced top level competition like Jones have and that is a fact one must accept.

Post Edited By: Shraman Mitra
Alexander Volkanovski Dustin Poirier Islam Makhachev Jon Jones Shaquille O'Neal

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Kishore R

Kishore is a MMA journalist at The SportsRush with over two years of experience and more than 2000 articles to his name. While he is a qualified engineer, he truly enjoys his time crafting stories from the world of mixed martial arts. Old testament in his MMA education, Kishore picked up the sport watching the highlights of 1989’s Fight of the Year bout between Roberto Duran and Iran Barkley and has since been hooked to the controlled violence this sport is capable of. Following MMA for almost a decade and a half, Kishore has an advanced understanding of its tactical nature and uses his love for storytelling to express it with great effect. But most of all, he just wants to see Tony Ferguson bounce back and showcase his old swagger - “IT’S TONY TIME!”

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