{"id":854998,"date":"2026-08-12T05:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/854998\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T05:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:14:09","slug":"paul-craig-believes-islam-makhachev-might-not-be-g-o-a-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/854998\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Craig Believes Islam Makhachev Might Not be G.O.A.T."},"content":{"rendered":"

While Islam Makhachev headlines UFC 330 this week, he might still not become the MMA G.O.A.T. <\/p>\n

With UFC 330<\/a> fast approaching, Islam Makhachev <\/a>is once again sitting at the center of the MMA conversation. While his first welterweight title defense against Ian Machado Garry <\/a>has already stirred plenty of noise, from the Dagestan vs. Ireland storyline to the usual questions surrounding Makhachev\u2019s growing legacy, one question refuses to go away: Can the mentee transcend the mentor? \u00a0<\/p>\n

Former UFC <\/a>middleweight and light heavyweight contender Paul Craig, like many pundits before him, strongly disagrees. In fact, Craig believes Makhachev could conquer three divisions and still find himself playing second fiddle to his longtime mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paul Craig Explains Why Islam Makhachev May Never Catch His Mentor<\/p>\n

There is something almost unfair about comparing Makhachev to his buddy and mentor. On paper, the reigning welterweight champion has a chance to build a more impressive resume. He has rounded up the lightweight division, ruling the roost with an iron fist before capturing the belt at 170. <\/p>\n

The way he dismantled former champion Jack Della Maddalena, a second move up to middleweight couldn\u2019t be surprising. If he eventually becomes a champion in three divisions, first in UFC\u2019s history, the numbers would be difficult for anyone to dismiss. Craig, however, believes numbers only tell half the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cStatistically, he’s brilliant,\u201d Craig said. \u201cBut culturally, Khabib wins every single day of the week, and I don’t think Islam’s ever going to be that guy.\u201d That word, right there (culturally), is really the heart of the Scottman\u2019s argument.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Eagle\u201d wasn\u2019t simply a champion who kept winning and eventually retired undefeated. Somewhere along the way, he became bigger than the belt around his waist and his unblemished 29-0 track record.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, his rivalry with Conor McGregor became one of the defining stories in UFC history, and the infamous bus incident, the animosity between their camps, and the chaos that followed turned UFC 229 into something bigger than a fight.<\/p>\n

Then came the actual fight.\u00a0Nurmagomedov mauled McGregor over four rounds before submitting him in the fourth, but the fight became only one part of the mythology. His post-fight confrontation with the Irishman\u2019s team turned an already enormous event into one of the most unforgettable nights the sport has ever seen.<\/p>\n

Taking all these into consideration, Craig doesn’t believe Islam can manufacture something similar. \u201cI think if Islam goes on and becomes a three-way division champion, I don’t think it matters. Khabib is Khabib.\u201d<\/p>\n

Islam May Build the Greater Resume, But Khabib Built a Movement<\/p>\n

This is where the FightLuck panel\u2019s comparison becomes much more interesting than simply counting championships.<\/p>\n

Makhachev is arguably the more polished version of the Dagestani blueprint, perhaps more well-rounded than his mentor, Nurmagomedov<\/a>. His striking has developed tremendously, his wrestling ever more dangerous, all while his ability to impose his will on opponents has made him one of the most complete fighters of his generation, but the torchbearer of the Dagestani crew had something that cannot be trained. Nurmagomedov had presence.<\/p>\n

As one of Craig\u2019s co-panelists recalled, during Nurmagomedov\u2019s fight weeks, particularly in Abu Dhabi, the atmosphere around him was almost strange. He could reportedly pull out of a press conference and have an entire room simply accept it. Fans weren\u2019t just following his fights; they were following the man, his inspiring story that forged \u201cThe Eagle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not to mention, his relationship with his late father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, added another deeply human layer. The 37-year-old had always spoken about fulfilling his father\u2019s vision, and after Abdulmanap\u2019s untimely death, the former lightweight ultimately chose to walk away from the sport in the absence of his father in his corner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Topic of Legacy<\/p>\n

Jon Jones (28-1-0), Georges St-Pierre (26-2-0), and Demetrious Johnson (27-3-1) all etched their names in the sport\u2019s history as all-time greats. Nurmagomedov\u2019s story was different.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

That said, Makhachev may ultimately surpass him statistically. He may win more championships, fight longer, and may even defeat a broader collection of elite opponents. But legacy goes way beyond stats.<\/p>\n

That’s exactly why the debate between the two feels less like a comparison between two fighters and more like a question of what fans actually remember.<\/p>\n

Makhachev could become the greatest. Nurmagomedov, however, may remain the greater cultural phenomenon, and as Craig sees it, that distinction could keep the student chasing the master forever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Islam Makhachev headlines UFC 330 this week, he might still not become the MMA G.O.A.T. With UFC…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":854999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,639,72334,641,3626,45596,23591,23592,1866,3627,638,12965,82,640,269485],"class_list":["post-854998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-conor-mcgregor","tag-demetrious-johnson","tag-fighting","tag-georges-st-pierre","tag-ian-machado-garry","tag-islam-makhachev","tag-jack-della-maddalena","tag-jon-jones","tag-khabib-nurmagomedov","tag-mma","tag-paul-craig","tag-sports","tag-ufc","tag-ufc-330-makhachev-vs-machado-garry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854998","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=854998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}