UFC flyweight Demetrious Johnson broke Anderson Silva’s title defense record at UFC 216 on Saturday night, and in the eyes of many became the MMA G.O.A.T. At the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White agreed.
“Definitely,’” said White, as transcribed by Shaun Al-Shatti for MMA Fighting. “He’s the man. He broke Anderson Silva’s record, and it almost seems like in that last round he knew he was going to do it and he knew how he was going to do it. … Matt Hume, we were talking about how awesome it was and he goes, ‘He does it in the gym all the time.’ That’s like his move. He does that all the time. It’s crazy.”
“You guys know what a crazy jiu-jitsu guy Joe Rogan is — Rogan was up in the ring, he goes, ‘I’ve never even seen that in a jiu-jitsu match.’ He goes, ‘It’s crazy, this guy’s a freak.’ And it’s true. Demetrious is the best, man. He broke Anderson Silva’s record and did it in spectacular fashion. And I feel like I disrespected Ray Borg a little bit with the whole T.J. Dillashaw [thing]. That kid came to fight. He came to fight, he didn’t want to tap to that armbar. I don’t know if you guys talked to him yet, his arm can’t be feeling too good, but [he’s] a stud and I meant no disrespect.”
“I felt like tonight, the crowd was chanting [Jphnson’s] name, and I think people are coming around. That’s the thing. Sometimes it takes longer for some people. Crazy to think, but people didn’t love Chuck Liddell at one time either. They didn’t hate him; they just didn’t care. And then Chuck became a massive superstar for us. And Anderson Silva … he kicked Vitor in the face and exploded.”
However, although less immediately in memory, there are strong cases to be made for other fighters as Greatest of All Time.
Anderson Silva may have had his 10 title defense streak broken, but his first title defense was declared non-title when Travis Lutter missed weight by 2 pounds. That is no fault of Silva's, so the 10 is an oddity, like Jon Jones’ loss when Steve Mazzagatti asked a deaf, beaten-silly Matt Hamill if he was okay after Bones hit him with a 12-6 elbow. Further, and perhaps critically, three times during his title reign Anderson Silva moved up 10.8% of his bodyweight to fight at light heavyweight and looked equally Matrix-like. By contrast, Johnson never moved up to bantamweight during his run, despite offers, and it would have been 8% of his bodyweight. Silva still holds the streak record, at 16. Johnson is tied with GSP for 3rd place at 12. Jon Jones is #2 with 13.
Johnson lost two and tied once during his rise. Silva lost three and was DQed once before he entered the Matrix. Jones has the DQ, but was never beaten by another man. That counts for a lot. And in naming a G.O.A.T., quality of opposition has to be considered. That’s why there is a question mark on Ronda Rousey’s record – the number of females fighting at 135 is far less than the number of males at 205, so the competition is going to be less deep. And the number of males fighting at 205 vastly eclipses the number fighting at 125.
Jon Jones run included Shogun, Rampage, Machida, Rashad, Belfort, Sonnen, Gustafsson, Teixeira, and Cormier in a row. By contrast, Johnson fought Ian McCall (draw), Ian McCall (win), Benavidez (split decision), Dodson, Moraga, Benavidez (again), Bagautinov, Carioso, Horiguchi, Dodson (again), Cejudo, Elliott, Reis, and Borg. Those two runs are not the same. That’s not Mighty Johnson’s fault – he gladly fought the best there is in his division, but there’s less depth at 125 than there is at 205. This is not a size value judgment. There’s less depth at heavyweight, too.
But a strong case too can be made for Fedor. While there are not as many big men willing to fight, and just a handful over 265, what can happen in the division is so unpredictable that no UFC champion has ever successfully defended the title more than twice. By contrast, heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko enjoys a never to be broken 29-fight streak that started on April 6, 2001, and ended on June 26, 2010. Add four fights and a year if you discount the bogus cut stoppage, and the streak pushes to a decade. Ten of the wins were vs. fighters who at some point in their careers held major MMA championships including Andrei Arlovski, Mark Coleman (twice), Matt Lindland, Big Nog (twice), Kevin Randleman, and Tim Sylvia. Plus he beat Cro Cop and Mark Hunt.
Adding a further layer of complexity, cases can be made for other fighters too including Saku, Hendo, and GSP.
So is Demetrious Johnson the greatest fighter in MMA history? Maybe. He’s just 31. Fedor’s streak didn’t end until he was 33. Silva’s streak didn’t end until he was 38. Time may tell. And there’s Jones, whose story is sad but clear – the only person who could beat him is himself, and he may have.