Islam Makhachev is on the verge of another historic UFC milestone, but Dana White isn’t ready to put him at the top of the all-time greats just yet.
The UFC welterweight champion will defend his title against Ian Machado Garry in Saturday’s UFC 330 main event at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Makhachev enters the fight with a 28-1 record and 16 consecutive UFC victories, putting him level with Anderson Silva for the promotion’s longest winning streak.
A victory over Garry would give Makhachev the record outright while also marking his first successful defense of the welterweight championship. He previously established himself as one of the UFC’s most dominant lightweight champions, earning four successful defenses before moving up and defeating Jack Della Maddalena for the 170-pound title.
Makhachev’s accomplishments have naturally fueled GOAT discussions, but the UFC CEO believes the 34-year-old still needs to keep adding to his resume before those comparisons can be settled.
I don’t think about that stuff until the fight happens,” White said during the Contender Series post-fight press conference. “When we see his performance on Saturday, let’s see how it plays out, but obviously breaking [Silva’s] record, you keep grinding, you keep fighting, you put your head down and just f*cking knocking guys down left and right, by the time you say ‘you know what? I’m done,’ then we all figure out where he ends up in the big picture. He’s on the right path, that’s for sure.
White stopped short of dismissing Makhachev’s GOAT credentials, instead acknowledging that the champion already has many of the necessary ingredients.
He’s got all the things there to be the guy,” White said. “I think we should talk about this Saturday night after the fight and see what we all think based on his performance on Saturday and breaking the record.
