UFC 302 is in the books and the lightweight champion has a name, and it’s still Islam Makhachev . The top pound-for-pound fighter in the world successfully defended his title against Dustin Poirier in a fight that was more competitive than many expected. Other than that, Sean Strickland won another split decision, this time over Paulo Costa in the most Sean Strickland fight of all-time, and honestly, that’s about it.
On paper, 302 was a bit light in stakes, and the event itself has already been widely panned as one of the worst of the year. So where do we go from here? To y’all’s questions, of course. You guys have talked around this topic on occasion, but where does Dustin rank amongst the greatest fighters never to win an undisputed belt in any organization.
Personally, I have him top 5 with (not in any order) Sakuraba, Yoel, Cro Cop and Kid Yamamoto “Where does Dustin rank amongst the greatest fighters never to win an undisputed belt in any organization? Personally, I have him top 5 with (not in any order) Sakuraba, Yoel, Cro Cop and Kid Yamamoto.” First off, terrific top five. Love the old-school bend.
But the absence of Tony Ferguson is notable. I’m not even a big Tony fan, but the man has earned his spot. Same for Joseph Benavidez .
And if we’re talking everyone, Megumi Fujii has a strong case as No. 1 overall, so she’s a miss. But let’s say we’re talking only about men.
Rankings like this are always wildly subjective and fraught with complications.