“It’s made up,” Israel Adesanya offers his take on the GOAT debate
Follow Us
The online UFC community has been abuzz with happenings ever since Khabib Nurmagomedov retired. The undefeated Russian made Justin Gaethje submit at UFC 254, following which he announced his retirement. But not without making a final request, that he be placed on the number 1 position in the pound for pound rankings. His wish was fulfilled when the UFC subsequently announced that he had indeed replaced UFC light Heavyweight legend Jon Jones the new number 1 in the rankings.
This, undoubtedly did not sit well with Jones. Who took to twitter to express his displeasure. This subsequently started off the GOAT (greatest of all time) debate, with fans arguing over which fighters deserved to make the cut. Middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, gave his opinion on it, calling it “made up” and “subjective”.
“Everyone’s allowed to have who they think is the GOAT”: Adesanya
With a 20-0 record in his professional career, Adesanya is definitely going to make it into the discussion in a couple of years if he continues his hot run. However, the “last stylebender” feels that the entire concept of a GOAT is all made up and it does not matter to him at all. When asked about his opinion, he said that he wasn’t really a huge believer in the idea itself, and that it was just fans’ opinions.
“People just have to understand that whole GOAT talk, the whole pound-for-pound list is made up. It’s literally people fighting over made up bulls**t. It’s made up, it’s all subjective and this is opinions. Everyone’s allowed to have who they think is the GOAT,” he stated. Adesanya also said he considered ref Herb Dean to be the GOAT, visibly taking jabs at the topic.
Adesanya also did not forget to point out how Jon Jones, with whom he continues to have a war of words with on Twitter; is lashing out at UFC on Twitter for replacing him with Khabib Nurmagomedov as the top pound-for-pound fighter. He said, “It’s just silly how everyone’s arguing over it. Like it’s funny how Jones tweeted right after the Khabib won. He said, ‘I stepped down and relinquished my GOAT title and you can take this’ and then he comes back and starts crying over Twitter. All this GOAT talk…it’s fun, don’t get me wrong, but what does it mean?”
Jones was visibly upset that he was replaced, pointing out that his career was far better than Nurmagomedov’s. Considering the no. of title matches and the amount of time spent at the top, many might agree.
Jones himself is considered to be a part of the GOAT debate. The former champ remains virtually undefeated in the UFC, with a professional record of 26-1. However, like Adesanya said it all remains subjective and the perfect answer might just be out of each.
Stay Updated!
FS Desk
(8024 Articles Published)