Islam Makhachev was upset with Dana White after he declared Jon Jones was still the UFC’s top fighter pound-for-pound. After suffering a nasty-looking cut to his forehead in the latter stages of the title fight, Islam Makhachev emerged victorious at UFC 302 with his shiny gold belt still wrapped around his waist – and the Russian juggernaut certainly brought that championship mentality to the post-fight press conference.
Despite dominating much of the fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in Newark and successfully defending his lightweight title for the third time, Dana White claimed at the post-fight press conference that Islam Makhachev was not the UFC’s best pound-for-pound fighter. “He’s one of the greatest of all time, I think he’s incredible, [but] I don’t think he’s the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world,” White said, adding that only one man deserves to be at the top of the P4P rankings.
“For anybody to call Islam the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world when Jon Jones is still f***** fighting is nuts and shouldn’t be ranking in the pound-for-pound or doing any of the f**** rankings ever.
“Jon Jones has never lost a fight ever, he’s fought all the baddest dudes in the world and then when you think about what the pound-for-pound rankings really mean, he moved up to heavyweight and destroyed one of the best guys in the world.”
As Dana White put it, “As long as Jon Jones is still fighting, active, and in the rankings; nobody is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.”
As fans who have followed Makhachev’s recent career will know, a big motivator for the Russian juggernaut is being top of the pound-for-pound rankings; and the comments from White certainly didn’t sit well with the champion.
Speaking at the UFC 302 post-fight press conference, Makhachev stated that White should be grateful to him for keeping the event and the fans awake in the Prudential Centre following a series of decisions.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s just his opinion but I think I saved this card today because all of these fights [were] boring; all of the arena almost [went to] sleep.
We showed with Dustin a great performance, Dana gave me two bonuses – I remember when I have first contract, I was happy when I have bonus but now it’s okay.”
Jones himself also responded on social media by stating that “It felt awesome to get that level of recognition from the boss,” and in a now-deleted tweet, Jones also criticized Makhachev for his performance at UFC 302.
“So let me get this straight, you go through an absolute dogs*** fight and pull off a last-minute submission? And that’s what makes you the best? I guess getting injured means you suddenly lost all that skill? Just curious.”