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This weekend at UFC 276, Israel Adesanya will be hoping to make his fifth straight defense of the UFC middleweight title when he squares off against top contender Jared Cannonier.
If Israel Adesanya can keep on winning and pave a legacy for himself, he could surpass Anderson Silva as the UFC’s middleweight GOAT, but are there any other champions looking to tread a similar path?
Right now, the promotion has a number of champions who could well end up surpassing the consensus GOAT of their weight class in the near future – they just have to keep doing what they’re doing.
With that in mind, here are five current UFC champions who could surpass the GOAT of their weight class.
#5. Kamaru Usman – UFC welterweight champion
Perhaps the hardest GOAT to surpass in any of the UFC’s weight divisions is Georges St-Pierre. ‘GSP’ is not only widely known as the greatest welterweight in MMA history, he’s often recognized as the greatest fighter to ever compete in the sport, period.
However, could the Canadian’s greatness be surpassed by current welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman in the near future? It seems that if any fighter is capable of overhauling the legacy of ‘GSP’, it’s ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’.
When St-Pierre’s legendary welterweight career came to an end in 2013, he’d held his title for well over five years and had amassed a record of nine successful title defenses. More to the point, he was able to dominate almost all of his opponents, including greats such as Carlos Condit, Josh Koscheck and B.J. Penn.
In comparison, Usman has held his title for a little over three years now, but it’s safe to say he’s done plenty in that time period. He’s already defended his title successfully on five occasions, most recently edging out bitter rival Colby Covington.
Remarkably, Usman has been equally as dominant as GSP was in his prime, and he’s even finished a couple of his defenses, something St-Pierre rarely managed to do.
So, how can Usman surpass the Canadian? Matching his number of title defenses and continuing to dominate his foes, particularly if he can finish some of them, would definitely do it.
Time isn’t necessarily on the Nigerian’s side as he’s 35 years old now. However, given that nobody’s come close to beating him in the octagon yet, it could well be his destiny to leapfrog St-Pierre in the near future, becoming known as the welterweight GOAT.
#4. Alexander Volkanovski – UFC featherweight champion
Right now, it’s probably fair to say that the identity of the UFC’s featherweight GOAT is probably up for debate. However, given that he was able to put together a total of seven successful title defenses, it’s arguable that Jose Aldo still sits at the top of the list.
Unfortunately for the Brazilian, though, that GOAT status might not belong to him for much longer. While many fans felt Max Holloway was on the verge of overhauling him a couple of years ago, it’s safe to say that Alexander Volkanovski is as close as it gets right now.
‘Alexander the Great’ claimed the featherweight title from Holloway in 2019. Since then he’s not only edged out the Hawaiian in a rematch, he’s also beaten top contenders Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung, too.
If he can beat Holloway for a third time this weekend, then Volkanovski will already have four successful defenses to his name. Given that nobody’s beaten him in the octagon yet, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could break Aldo’s record by the end of 2023.
In fact, when you add in Volkanovski’s pre-title win victories over Aldo, as well as former top contender Chad Mendes, there’s probably an argument to suggest that if he wins this weekend, 'Alexander the Great' will be the featherweight GOAT and it will no longer be up for debate.
#3. Charles Oliveira – former UFC lightweight champion
Okay, so technically speaking, Charles Oliveira is no longer the UFC lightweight champion right now. However, ‘Do Bronx’ did not lose his title in the octagon, instead being stripped after controversially failing to make weight for his bout with Justin Gaethje.
Therefore, given that he whitewashed Gaethje in the clash, finishing him off with a rear-naked choke, it’s probably fair to say that Oliveira is the king without a crown at 155 pounds right now. So, could he go onto establish himself as the GOAT of the division?
It’s definitely possible. Right now, the two names usually bandied around as lightweight GOAT would be B.J. Penn and Khabib Nurmagomedov. Both men were obviously fantastic fighters in their prime, even if Penn stuck around too long for his own good.
However, despite possessing incredible skills, neither man actually dominated the lightweight division for all that long.
Penn’s title reign only lasted for two years and saw him make a relatively low number of successful defenses with three in total. Khabib, meanwhile, beat most of the division’s big names, but also defended his title on just three occasions before retiring in 2020.
Prior to being stripped, ‘Do Bronx’ had one successful title defense against Dustin Poirier in 2021. If he can regain the belt in his next fight, he could easily end up surpassing the numbers produced by Khabib and Penn.
If he can do that, then it’d mean a dominant reign over one of the UFC’s most stacked weight classes and, therefore, it’d be hard not to consider him the GOAT of the lightweight division.
#2. Francis Ngannou – UFC heavyweight champion
No UFC title has changed hands on more occasions than the heavyweight crown, which has seen 22 different reigns over the years. Naturally, with so many title changes, we haven’t seen that many dominant heavyweight champions rule over the division.
Right now, the two names stand out when it comes to the UFC’s heavyweight GOAT are Cain Velasquez and Stipe Miocic.
Velasquez was probably the most dominant heavyweight champion in the promotion’s history. He destroyed opponents like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Ben Rothwell before claiming the gold from Brock Lesnar. However, despite clearly being the best heavyweight of his generation, his title reigns saw him make just two successful defenses before injuries caught up with him.
Miocic, meanwhile, held the title on two occasions as well, and set the division’s record for successful title defenses with a total of three. However, he never gave off the same aura of dominance that Velasquez had and found himself in trouble in a number of his title bouts.
Could current champ Francis Ngannou surpass both men, then? It’s definitely possible. ‘The Predator’ holds KO victories over both, having stopped Velasquez in 2019 and Miocic to win the title in 2021.
More to the point, his list of victims is more extensive than even Velasquez’s, as he was able to knock out the likes of Alistair Overeem, Andrei Arlovski and Junior dos Santos prior to his title win.
Given that he was able to beat Ciryl Gane in his first defense this year, he’s definitely got the potential to become heavyweight GOAT. Whether he does might all depend on if he can iron out his current contract issues with the promotion.
#1. Israel Adesanya – UFC middleweight champion
While he no longer holds the record for the most successful title defenses in the promotion’s history, it’s still arguable that Anderson Silva dominated his division – middleweight – more than any other fighter was able to do.
‘The Spider’ claimed the crown in October 2006 when he knocked out Rich Franklin. He ended up holding the title for almost seven years, amassing 10 successful title defenses in the process.
His reign didn’t just see him dominate his own division, though. He also stepped up to 205 pounds a couple of times, most notably defeating former light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin. Were it not for Travis Lutter’s 2007 weight miss, he would’ve had 11 successful defenses to his name.
So, can current champ Israel Adesanya ever hope to surpass ‘The Spider’? It sounds impossible, but it’s definitely not.
Adesanya has held the middleweight title now for just under three years and he’s already reeled off four straight defenses, with his fifth potentially coming this weekend.
Sure, ‘The Last Stylebender’ failed in his attempt to become a double champion, but to be fair, while Silva picked up three wins at 205 pounds, he didn’t win the light heavyweight title either.
More to the point, though, Adesanya has been just as dominant over his middleweight challengers as Silva was. There’s also perhaps an argument that his competition, which has included the likes of Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa, is stiffer than the competition Silva faced in his prime.
Therefore, if ‘The Last Stylebender’ can keep knocking off tough opponents like Jared Cannonier this weekend, particularly if he can finish them, then it’s only a matter of time before he’s considered the UFC’s middleweight GOAT.
