Veteran mixed martial arts referee Big John McCarthy has joined an ever-growing list of names who have questioned Khabib Nurmagomedov’s right to be mentioned in the ‘GOAT’ conversation.
In a recent podcast, McCarthy agreed with Anthony Pettis and Dana White’s views that Nurmagomedov called it quits too soon.
“I don’t disagree with [Dana White] at all,” McCarthy said on the Weighing In Podcast. “I think that he did retire too early. I’ve always said the most dominant fighter I’ve seen in the cage has been Khabib. He dominated great fighters, 10-8 rounds, consistently at times, [but] Jon Jones is the most talented fighter that I’ve seen in the cage.”
“Here’s the big difference: Jon Jones has had 15 title fights. How many title fights does Khabib have? That’s a huge difference, and I think that’s what Dana is talking about. I think Jon Jones is [the best ever].”
The AllStar MMA roundup
- Best Bets: Resident fight analyst Garrett Kerman breaks down the Best Bets for UFC 278
- UFC 278: AJ Fletcher says Ange Loosa has openings – “I get him out of there in one”
- UFC 278: Sean Woodson claims Luis Saldaña ‘doesn’t like dealing with pressure’
- UFC 278: Yanan Wu feeling “peaceful” ahead of Lucie Pudilova fight, plans diverse striking attack
- UFC 278: It’s hard for Jay Perrin to feel threatened by Aoriqileng when ‘he’s been sat down by flyweights’
The best of the rest
- Dana White: ‘It’s fair to say’ Khamzat Chimaev next for title with UFC 279 win, but don’t count out Nate Diaz – MMAFighting.com
- Luke Rockhold rips Paulo Costa in expletive-filled tirade; Costa promises to retire him at UFC 278 – MMAFighting.com
- Gilbert Burns: Jorge Masvidal has verbally agreed to fight, UFC determining date – MMAjunkie.com
- Paulo Costa fighting out contract, expects to finish Luke Rockhold ‘quickly’ at UFC 278 – BloodyElbow.com
- Kamaru Usman says no need to put on weight for 205 pounds: ‘People don’t understand what my death grip is like’ – MMAJunkie.com
The Call
The AllStar’s resident fight analyst, Garrett Kerman, sees value in backing an early finish for the lightweight clash between Jared Gordon and Leonardo Santos at UFC 278.
Durability seems to be a bit of an issue for both fighters. Santos is getting older and he doesn’t take damage well and tends to fade as the fight goes on. Gordon on the other hand is only 3-4 at lightweight and all 4 of his losses have come inside the distance. I don’t expect this fight to hit the judges and that’s where I see value in this fight.
Garrett Kerman for The AllStar’s Best Bets
Lines presented by crypto sportsbook Cloudbet. Check out the rest of Garrett’s best bets.
Leonardo Santos vs Jared Gordon over/under 2.5 rounds:
The soapbox
The single greatest piece of promotional content the UFC has ever released:
Jonny Bones calls his shot:
Do Bronx is hard at work:
Adasanya going large on Aldo:
Paulo pays respects to Salt Lake City:
Dricus Du Plessis and Darren Till have an exchange:
The morning view
Propping You Up has you covered for all your betting needs at UFC 278:
Darien Weeks chats with JHK ahead of UFC 279:
UFC 278 Embedded episode four drops:
Dan Hardy breaks down this weekend’s main event between Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards:
Done deals
This week
- Champ Carla Esparza will fight Weili Zhang at UFC 281 on November 12th (per Ariel Helwani)
- Brad Riddell to fight Renato Moicano at UFC 281 on November 12th (per MMA Junkie)
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik to fight Chris Daukaus at UFC event on October 1st (per Jairzinho Rozenstruik)
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz to fight Silvana Gomez Juarez at UFC 281 on November 12th (per Carlos Legaspi)
- Francis Marshall to fight Marcelo Rojo at UFC event on December 3rd (per Carlos Legaspi)
- Misha Cirkunov to fight Alonzo Menifield at UFC Vegas 62 on October 15th
- Hamdy Abdelwahab to fight Parker Porter at UFC 280 on October 22nd (per MMA Junkie)
- Jared Cannonier to fight Sean Strickland at UFC event on October 15th (per Ariel Helwani)
- Mike Trizano to fight SeungWoo Choi at UFC 281 on November 12 (per Marcel Dorff)
- Robbie Lawler to fight Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 282 on December 10th (per Brett Okamoto)
- Fares Ziam will fight Michal Figlak at UFC Paris on September 3rd (per La Sueur)
- L.Vannata out, Andre Fili will now fight Bill Algeo at UFC event on September 17th (per Iridium Sports)
- Dominick Reyes to fight Ryan Spann at UFC 281 on November 12th (per MMA Junkie)
- Derek Brunson to fight Jack Hermansson at UFC event on December 3rd (per Ariel Helwani)
- Mike Jackson to fight Pete Rodriguez at UFC event on October 15th (per MMA Junkie)
- Tim Means to fight Max Griffin at UFC event on October 29th (per Farah Hannoun)
- Charles Jourdain to fight Nathaniel Wood at UFC Paris on September 3rd (per Al Zullino)
- Tresean Gore to fight Josh Fremd at UFC event on October 29th (per Mike Heck)
On this day in MMA…
On the 19th of August, 2021, Kayla Harrison punched her ticket to the PFL Playoff finals for a second time, having won the tournament and million-dollar prize the year prior.
Harrison defeated Genah Fabian, a muay thai champion, four minutes into the first round via ground and pound, marking her seventh first-round finish in just 11 fights.
Harrison would go on to defeat Taylor Guardado in the 2021 playoff finals to take out the bracket two years in a row.
