{"id":623821,"date":"2026-04-23T18:21:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/623821\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T18:21:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:21:12","slug":"if-alex-pereira-becomes-ufcs-first-3-division-champ-does-that-make-him-the-goat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/623821\/","title":{"rendered":"If Alex Pereira becomes UFC’s first 3-division champ, does that make him the GOAT?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the mid-2010s, after the UFC had reached the drinking age of 21, the MMA GOAT discussion burned with white-hot intensity. There were essentially three strong convictions at the time, with a few Ross Perot types that might steal a ballot of two.<\/p>\n

Those three names were Georges St-Pierre (who retired in 2017), Anderson Silva (who last fought in the UFC in 2020) and Jon Jones (who retires far more often than he fights).<\/p>\n

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Demetrious Johnson, the lord of the flyweights who quietly went about breaking all of Anderson Silva\u2019s records, was essentially Perot in such arguments. A radical token pick that hipsters would roll out as a thoughtful counter to the consensus. The oldheads might argue for Fedor Emelianenko or B.J. Penn or Randy or Chuck, but they were quickly put in their place.<\/p>\n

The game was different in the aughts.<\/p>\n

After the UFC turned 30 and began to settle down, new names entered the conversation. Now we have Khabib Nurmagomedov in the center of the discussion, on the strength of his 29-0 record. He last fought in 2020. Even his prot\u00e9g\u00e9, Islam Makhachev, is getting some love when engaging in GOAT talks, though he is still active and therefore an incomplete entry. Outliers may throw Daniel Cormier\u2019s name in there as an honorable mention, or Alexander Volkanovski, but there is a need to squint in these scenarios, or in the very least to stand aside until the arguer exhausts himself.<\/p>\n

I bring all this up because I saw that Michael Chiesa, in a recent interview with MMA Junkie, suggested Alex Pereira would be MMA\u2019s GOAT if he were to beat Ciryl Gane on June 14 at the UFC\u2019s big White House event. At first I scoffed at that idea, given the aforementioned company. Then I began to wonder \u2014 wait, is he onto something?<\/p>\n

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This is what Chiesa said exactly:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he beats Ciryl Gane, without a doubt he’s No. 1. You could make the argument if Alex Pereira \u2014 I don’t care if you want to split hairs over the undisputed championship or the interim championship, if you want to split hairs on that, that’s on you. But if someone can capture three UFC belts in three different weight classes, you have thrust yourself into the conversation as greatest of all time. Not of the decade, we’re talking all time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s one win away from going to the top of an ultra-prestigious, very controversial list.”<\/p>\n

Of course, splitting hairs is an art form on MMA Reddit boards. That\u2019s to be expected when discussing GOAT status in the first place. But let\u2019s split some hairs here, because \u2014 as Chiesa mentions \u2014 what \u201cPoatan\u201d is attempting has never been done, even if the word \u201cinterim\u201d appears on the promotional poster.<\/p>\n

Does a victory over Gane bump him to GOAT status? Or is Chiesa oversimplifying things with that ordination? Or do we have to measure title defenses, in-cage dominance, length of reign and strength of opponent?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s break down the cases for the legitimate contenders for MMA GOAT:<\/p>\n

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Alex Pereira\"LAS<\/p>\n

Future three-division champ?<\/p>\n

(Cooper Neill via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Pereira had a great run as a middleweight, going 4-1 including a title-winning victory over nemesis Israel Adesanya, yet he also lost the title back to Adesanya in his last middleweight appearance. In other words, he didn\u2019t exactly roll into the light heavyweight division in the pursuit of history. Yet he made it anyway, beating Jan Blachowicz in his adjustment fight, and then taking home the vacant 205-pound title at UFC 295 against Ji\u0159\u00ed Proch\u00e1zka.<\/p>\n

He defended the title three times \u2014 each under dramatic circumstances (UFC 300 when it needed a star, UFC 303 after Conor McGregor fell out, UFC 307 for his third defense in 2024). Then he lost the title to Magomed Ankalaev before avenging that loss seven months later.<\/p>\n

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Now he makes the move to heavyweight under unusual circumstances, fighting Gane for the interim title because champion Tom Aspinall is recovering from eye surgery.<\/p>\n

The Pereira File: 13-3 overall MMA record, 10-2 in the UFC. Held titles at both middleweight (no title defenses) and light heavyweight (three title defenses).<\/p>\n

Pros for Pereira as GOAT: Could become the first three-division champion, which is historic. And significant. He also dethroned Israel Adesanya at the height of Izzy\u2019s run and made mincemeat of most opponents he faced as a light heavyweight.<\/p>\n

Cons for Pereira: With Pereira\u2019s run at light heavyweight occurring in the post-Jones era, and now his heavyweight foray happening with Aspinall and Jones out of the equation, it feels a little like he\u2019s partying while the landlords are away. Also, he\u2019s lost twice in a dozen UFC fights in five years.<\/p>\n

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Pereira\u2019s GOAT status: If you value the three divisional titles over longevity and in-cage dominance, \u201cPoatan\u201d deserves consideration. If not, he is the circumstantial GOAT, which is a GOAT that walks around wearing horseshoes.<\/p>\n

Now back to the standards.<\/p>\n

Georges St-Pierre\"NEW<\/p>\n

GOAT?<\/p>\n

(Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

It was no small feat for GSP to rule the welterweight division for a full six years \u2013 running his own ass-kicking log from 2007-13, when he won a dozen fights in a row, including nine title defenses. Yes, you could argue he lost to Johny Hendricks in his final defense, and you\u2019d be heard, but \u2014 as if to quiet those negative Nancy\u2019s \u2014 St-Pierre came back four years after vacating his welterweight title to beat Michael Bisping to win the middleweight title.<\/p>\n

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He vacated that one 33 days later.<\/p>\n

The GSP File: 26-2 overall MMA record, 21-2 in the UFC. Held titles at both welterweight (nine title defenses) and middleweight (no title defenses).<\/p>\n

Pros for GSP: He didn\u2019t lose for the last 10 years and seven months of his career, which is a nearly impossible feat. The nine title defenses were crazy, too, given that welterweight always had a strong cast of contenders. To be on top as long as he was and to leave on his own terms (without losing at the end) makes a strong case for him. To top all that off, he never tested positive for an illegal substance.<\/p>\n

Cons for GSP: He didn\u2019t perform as well against Matts \u2014 as Matt Hughes got him at UFC 50, and Matt Serra scored the biggest upset in MMA history by beating GSP at UFC 69. Also, much as Pereira steps into an ideal setup for a third title, GSP came back 50 pay-per-views later against a one-eyed Bisping who was on borrowed time. Before St-Pierre beat Bisping at UFC 217, it had been eight years since he\u2019d finished anybody.<\/p>\n

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And, I mean \u2026 it did look like he lost that fight to Hendricks. Lucky for him two of the three judges didn\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

GSP\u2019s GOAT status: Based on the longevity of his title run, it\u2019s easy to refer to him as the king of the barnyard animals.<\/p>\n

Anderson Silva\"LAS<\/p>\n

Legend.<\/p>\n

(Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The case for Anderson Silva is rooted to his first 16 fights in the UFC, from 2006-13, all of which he won. It wasn\u2019t only his win streak that grew, it was his title defenses as the middleweight champion (10 total defenses), his aura (three successful cameos at light heavyweight) and his entourage (Steven Seagal and Usher spent time in the Spider\u2019s Web). The stakes would grow with each fight, and Silva would show up and do dramatic things \u2014 sometimes so dramatic as to border on performance art, as he displayed against Demian Maia at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

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It gets more complicated toward the end of his career, when the L\u2019s started showing up in number.<\/p>\n

The Silva File: 34-11-(1) overall MMA record, 16-4-(1) in the UFC. Held the middleweight title from 2006-13 (10 defenses).<\/p>\n

Pros for Silva: The 16-fight win streak and 10 middleweight title defenses make a pretty strong argument for his GOAT status. That he came back at UFC 117 to defeat Chael Sonnen with a Hail Mary triangle choke is the stuff of legend, and even his non-title fights \u2014 such as when he demolished Chris Leben to kick off his UFC career and his light heavyweight lark with Forrest Griffin, in which he turned into a witch \u2014 all pack nicely into the resume.<\/p>\n

Cons for Silva: He did test positive for an anabolic steroid in his fight with Nate Diaz at UFC 183, which was a blow to his legacy (Diaz countered by testing positive for, of all things, pot). Though he ended up beating Sonnen the first time through, he was losing the first 9\/10ths of the fight, which can be interpreted either as a heroic comeback or as a drubbing, depending on your POV. And those fights with Maia, Patrick Cote and Thiago Leites were closer to vaudeville.<\/p>\n

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Yet it\u2019s the way Silva\u2019s later career played out that found him dropping in status.<\/p>\n

(The clowning that got him knocked out to bring the greatest run in UFC history to a close against Chris Weidman \u2026 the broken leg in the subsequent bout \u2026 the hot drug test against Diaz \u2026 the loss to Michael Bisping in England \u2026 the Cormier ragdoll session at UFC 200 \u2026 the mojo baton he passes to Adesnaya \u2026 the Cannonier defeat \u2026 Uriah freaking Hall \u2026 ugh.)<\/p>\n

Silva\u2019s GOAT status: If you concentrate on the first 16 fights, you\u2019re looking at the GOAT. It was a combination of in-cage superiority and the length of the run. If you factor in everything else? Harder to quantify.<\/p>\n

Jon Jones\"NEW<\/p>\n

Should PEDs disqualify a fighter from the conversation?<\/p>\n

(Jeff Bottari via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

One of the most complicated figures in UFC history, Jones is the Janus face<\/a> of fighting. For as good as he\u2019s been in the cage, he\u2019s been a disaster out of it. Three times between 2015-17 Jones was stripped of the light heavyweight title for disciplinary actions (once for a felony hit-and-run, the other two for failed drug tests). To be stripped means he kept winning it back. And he won the heavyweight title, too, even though that run also carried a small handful of asterisks.<\/p>\n

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The Jones File: 28-1-(1) overall MMA record, 22-1-(1) in UFC. Three times held the light heavyweight title (11 total title defenses) and held the heavyweight title (1 title defense).<\/p>\n

Pros for Jones: He is essentially undefeated, because let\u2019s face it \u2014 that loss he was given against Matt Hamill was playing out like a snuff film. He became the youngest UFC champion at UFC 128 in 2011 and a decade-and-a-half later finds himself still on top. Or he was on top, until he retired (again) recently. The 12 total title defenses across light heavyweight (11) and heavyweight (1) are feats beyond measure. The fact that he beat Daniel Cormier (twice, though the second one was stricken for a bad drug test) is enough to keep him forever in the GOAT talks.<\/p>\n

Cons for Jones: All the hit-and-runs and arrests in his everyday life aside, those drug tests have a way of tarnishing a legacy. So do stories of hiding under a cage when those dastardly testers came poking around Albuquerque. When people exclude Jones from the GOAT convo, it\u2019s because they automatically exclude drug cheats, and Jones wears his red flags brighter than any other fighter. That he was able to beat Alexander Gustafsson in one of the best fights of all time in Toronto at UFC 165 after partying throughout his camp is either a testament to his prowess or his own self-destruction.<\/p>\n

And I mean \u2026 it did look like he lost that fight to Dominick Reyes. Lucky for him the Texas judges didn\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

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Jones\u2019s GOAT status: Based on record and longevity as an indestructible force, Jones will always have a claim to the throne. Yet the asterisks weigh down the arguments of his staunchest advocates, the most vocal of which happened to be Dana White for the longest time.<\/p>\n

(Dana was seen hopping off the Jones bandwagon late last year, when his champion went back on a verbal agreement to unify the title against Aspinall.)<\/p>\n

Khabib Nurmagomedov\"Mixed<\/p>\n

Undefeated.<\/p>\n

(John W. McDonough via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Khabib perhaps did what all fighters dream of. That is come in, conquer the sport, make a pile of money and get the hell out with a perfect record. He went 29-0 as a professional fighter and stopped one short of 30 due to the passing of his father\/mentor Abdulmanap. It was big news when he lost a single round (and it only happened twice in his career). The only regret in what is a stunningly successful run is that he never got to fight Tony Ferguson, who was the right kind of madcap \u2014 a man whose body became a propellor of demonic blades \u2014 to give him a fight.<\/p>\n

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The Nurmagomedov File: 29-0 overall MMA record, 12-0 in the UFC. Held the lightweight title (three title defenses).<\/p>\n

Pros for Khabib: The fact that he didn\u2019t lose rounds looms large. That points out just how big the gulf was between him and the nearest competitor. Winning the title, as he did at UFC 219 against Al Iaquinta, felt like a foregone conclusion. His title defenses against Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, all felt like easy layups. In terms of pure domination, Khabib rules.<\/p>\n

Cons for Khabib: The only thing you can point out on Khabib is the strength of schedule. He beat Iaquinta for the title (which was meant to be Ferguson), which wasn\u2019t the epic coronation it could have been. Before then he was beating guys like Michael Johnson and Darrell Horcher and Pat Healy, not the greatest shakes in the 155-pound division. It could be seen as a detriment, too, that Khabib had no real interest in pursuing a second title at welterweight. He was content to rule the lightweight division.<\/p>\n

Nurmagomedov\u2019s GOAT status: Very much intact, given that A) he never lost, B) he was never close to losing, and C) he continues to dominate as a coach, now for his apprentice Islam Makhachev and many others.<\/p>\n

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Would winning a historic third division title deliver Pereira to GOAT status, as Chiesa suggested? The argument could be made depending on what you value most in this theoretical discussion, but in my mind he\u2019d need to unify the heavyweight title against Aspinall to earn any such distinction, and even then it\u2019ll be hard to top the likes of St-Pierre or Nurmagomedov.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the mid-2010s, after the UFC had reached the drinking age of 21, the MMA GOAT discussion burned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[11038,3625,49,48,641,3626,1866,3627,17574,81024,638,1302,233858,82,640],"class_list":{"0":"post-623821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-alex-pereira","9":"tag-anderson-silva","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-fighting","13":"tag-georges-st-pierre","14":"tag-jon-jones","15":"tag-khabib-nurmagomedov","16":"tag-light-heavyweight","17":"tag-michael-chiesa","18":"tag-mma","19":"tag-mma-junkie","20":"tag-pereira-file","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-ufc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}