Weidman, Poirier and Masvidal push back on Makhachev's UFC GOAT claim after record-breaking win

Islam Makhachev’s claim to be the greatest fighter in UFC history has drawn scepticism from three former champions, even as the Russian extended his record for most consecutive wins in promotional history with a decision victory over Ian Garry at UFC 330.

The win marked Makhachev’s first welterweight title defence and his fifth overall in the UFC, capping a dominant run that began at lightweight. Yet on the latest episode of Deep Waters, Chris Weidman, Dustin Poirier and Jorge Masvidal each stopped short of crowning him the GOAT.

Weidman was direct about his reservations. “I am not saying that yet,” he said. “Because I’m still old school… Title defenses mean a lot and you go back to Anderson Silva or Demetrious Johnson if we’re ever talking about GOAT… I don’t know if he’s there yet.”

Poirier offered an equally unambiguous counter-nomination. “To me, Jon Jones.”

Masvidal focused his critique on the calibre of opposition Makhachev faced during his lightweight title reign, noting that several of those defences came against fighters who had previously competed at featherweight. “Two of those title defenses at lightweight were to a ‘45er,” Masvidal said — a reference to Alexander Volkanovski, whom he acknowledged as one of the sport’s greats. Weidman added that Charles Oliveira had also previously fought at 145 pounds, reinforcing the point about divisional crossover.

The debate reflects a broader tension in how MMA fans and insiders weigh different eras and metrics. Makhachev’s record-breaking win streak is a statistical landmark, but Weidman’s invocation of Silva’s 10 consecutive middleweight title defences and Johnson’s similarly dominant flyweight reign underlines that longevity at the top of a single division still carries significant weight in the GOAT conversation.

Whether Makhachev can silence the doubters will likely depend on the opponents he faces next in the welterweight division and whether he continues to accumulate defences against undisputed top-ten competition.