UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping wonders.
“Is Charles Oliveira, in fact, the greatest lightweight of all time?” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Because he might just be. It all depends on what happens in Abu Dhabi.”
At UFC 280, former 155-pound champion Oliveira will meet Islam Makhachev for the vacant title he never lost – at least not inside the octagon. Oliveira was stripped of the belt this past May prior to his scheduled UFC 274 title defense against Justin Gaethje after he weighed in at 155.5 pounds under a cloud of controversy over the scale’s accuracy.
Oliveira (33-8 MMA, 21-8 UFC) went on to choke out Gaethje in the first round, leaving no doubt about his status as the best lightweight in the world despite no longer possessing the title. He has an opportunity to reclaim it Saturday against Makhachev and, at least according to Bisping, Oliveira can surpass UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov as the greatest lightweight of all time with a victory.
“Greatest lightweight of all time? I think if Charles beats Islam this weekend, I think that belongs to Charles now. I really do,” Bisping said. “I think he will have surpassed him simply because he’s taken out all the top contenders. And it’s not Khabib’s fault, but you cannot deny the numbers, the momentum, the history that Oliveira’s making.”
Oliveira, 32, is on an 11-fight winning streak – including Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Michael Chandler, Tony Ferguson, and Kevin Lee – in which he’s looked like a completely different fighter since earlier in his career when he lost eight times. Oliveira holds the UFC records for most stoppage victories (19) and submissions (16), and his 21 promotional wins rank fifth in UFC history.
While his case as the lightweight GOAT will be stronger with a win over Makhachev, Nurmagomedov record is unmatched as he finished his career an undefeated 29-0 overall with a 13-0 mark in the UFC before announcing his retirement in 2020. His most notable wins were against Gaethje, Poirier, Conor McGregor, Rafael dos Anjos, Al Iaquinta, and Edson Barboza.
“Here’s the case for Khabib: his record, 29-0, 13-0 in the UFC, and he was one of the most dominant fighters that the UFC had ever seen,” Bisping said. “In 60 career rounds, this man only lost two rounds: Round 1 against Justin Gaethje, very, very close, and Round 3 against Conor McGregor, again very, very close. He was never even knocked down, and he was never even rocked.”
While Bisping is keen to give Nurmagomedov credit for going undefeated, he ultimately holds it against him that he retired too soon while new challengers waited for their shot to knock him off.
“All we ever saw was him win and dominate people, but he retired at 32 years old after three title defenses and two-and-a-half-years as champion of the world,” Bisping said. “That’s fantastic, but if he had stuck around longer, would we have seen him lose the belt? Would we have seen him get challenged? We’ll never know, and that is one of the real arguments for Khabib not being the pound-for-pound No. 1. …
“The reality is, the reason we ask the question is because he didn’t stick around long enough. And we know why. It was a very honorable reason. He made a promise to his mother, and he stuck to that. Wow, what a guy. I respect that so much. But would he have beaten all these top new contenders? He’d have beaten some of them, but would he have beaten Charles? We don’t know. We can only imagine.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 280.
