Khabib Nurmagomedov Vs Islam Makhachev: Who Is The Greatest Lightweight In UFC History?
One retired undefeated. The other has already surpassed him in title defences and moved up to win a second belt. The debate over the greatest lightweight in UFC history is the most interesting argument in MMA right now.
Khabib Nurmagomedov retired in October 2020 with a 29-0 record, the UFC Lightweight Championship still around his waist, and a reputation that had made him the consensus best fighter on the planet. He left the sport on his own terms and has never returned. Islam Makhachev, the man Khabib has trained and mentored since childhood, has spent the six years since filling the space Khabib left and then some. The argument over which of them is the greatest lightweight in UFC history is the most compelling comparison the sport currently offers, and there is no clean answer.
Khabib Nurmagomedov's Case: Undefeated, Untouchable, the Standard
Khabib's argument begins and ends with the perfect record. Twenty-nine fights, zero defeats, zero close calls in any meaningful sense. He was never stopped, never submitted, never seriously hurt inside the octagon. His grappling output numbers remain unmatched in the modern era: more total grappling attempts, more takedowns landed and more control time than any other competitor at the weight. His three title defences included the most commercially significant bout in UFC history, the submission of Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in October 2018, which generated the highest pay-per-view buyrate the promotion had ever recorded at that point.
Fight Matrix, the most widely cited algorithmic ranking system in MMA, still places Khabib first among all-time UFC lightweights as of 2026. His per-fight dominance, the margin by which he beat the best fighters in the world, is the pillar of his legacy that Makhachev has not yet replicated.
Islam Makhachev's Case: More Defences, Two Belts, Still Active
Makhachev makes his case through accumulation. He held the UFC Lightweight Championship from his victory over Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 in October 2022 through four successful defences, one more than Khabib managed. He then moved to welterweight, defeated Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 to become the UFC Welterweight Champion, and added a fifth welterweight title defence against Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 in Philadelphia in August 2026, taking his active winning streak to 17, the longest in UFC history, surpassing Anderson Silva's previous record.
He has also experienced defeat, something Khabib never did. His one career loss, a submission to Adriano Martins in 2015, predates his run as a top contender and sits outside the serious portion of his career. But it exists, which means the purity argument belongs entirely to Khabib.
What Makhachev has in his favour is time and activity. Khabib is in his corner, literally and figuratively. His mentor's fingerprints are on everything he does, including the wrestling-based submission game that mirrors Khabib's own approach. If his career ends at a similar point to Khabib's, with the belt and an undefeated record from a certain point onward, the debate may never have a clear winner. For now, the numbers slightly favour Makhachev. The legacy still slightly favours Khabib.