ESPN has announced the top 10 male MMA fighters of the 21st century.
Unsurprisingly, current UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones comes in at number one, followed by former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (number two) and former middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva (number three). It's worth noting that while both Jones and Silva were caught using performance-enhancing drugs during their careers, St-Pierre has remained completely clean.
Must have been one of those Canadian loopholes.
One glaring omission is former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor. “The Notorious” certainly has star power and box office clout, making him one of the most admired fighters of his generation, but his record inside the Octagon over the past few years has been anything but brave. The recently turned 36-year-old McGregor is just 1-3 at lightweight, including back-to-back losses to longtime rival Dustin Poirier.
According to ESPN, the top 10 MMA fighters of the 21st century are:
1. Jon Jones
2. Georges St-Pierre
3. Anderson Silva
4. Demetrious Johnson
5. Khabib Nurmagomedov
6. Fedor Emelianenko
7. Randy Couture
8. Chuck Liddell
9. BJ Penn
10. Kamaru Usman
This list is going to provoke some backlash.
Former PRIDE FC heavyweight champion Emelianenko Fedor is the only fighter in the top 10 who has never competed in UFC, likely due to a misstep when signing his contract. Of the remaining fighters, only Jones (ranked #1) and Usman (ranked #10) have still competed inside the Octagon and are awaiting their next assignment as of this writing.
