The latest pound-for-pound ranking released by the UFC sees Islam Makhachev dethrone Jon Jones for the UFC P4P #1 spot. Makhachev’s second successful title defense and Jones’ latest injury that keeps him out of action till at least late 2024 forced the UFC to make the changes. No other changes were spotted in the latest top 10 rankings. In this article, we take a look at the greatest UFC fighters who never had the privilege to hold the P4P top spot.
Islam Makhachev becomes the 9th UFC fighter to claim the coveted No. 1 P4P ranking since the UFC rankings inception (2013). Fighters who have held that spot:
Anderson Silva
Jon Jones
José Aldo
Demetrious Johnson
Daniel Cormier
Khabib Nurmagomedov
Kamaru Usman
Alexander… pic.twitter.com/2gnAq6QFbA— Ovin Vithanage (@OvinVithanage) November 7, 2023
Considered by many as the greatest UFC fighter ever, Georges St-Pierre starts off our list of fighters to never be UFC P4P #1. In the first-ever P4P rankings released in 2013, GSP was ranked third behind Anderson Silva and Jon Jones.
GSP is a former two-time Welterweight champion and a Middleweight champion. He won the Middleweight title in 2017, his first and last UFC fight after 2013. He defended his title nine times. Seven of those came before the first P4P rankings. He may have earned the top spot if the rankings were released earlier. However, as things stand, with a record of 26-2, he might be the greatest fighter to never have earned a P4P top ranking.
Unpopular opinion: Georges St-Pierre is the greatest Martial Artist of all time pic.twitter.com/tuJhP8RzkU
— 𝙍𝙪𝙚𝙗𝙚𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙧 🥇 (@realruebenking) September 17, 2023
Next in the debate is one of the greatest Heavyweight fighters of all time, Stipe Miocic. He is a two-time UFC Heavyweight champion and has four title defenses under his belt. The full-time firefighter and paramedic still competes in the UFC at the age of 41 with a record of 20-4.
UFC’s first-ever double champion Conor McGregor has never been a #1 P4P fighter
Conor McGregor can always find a way in the debate for the greatest UFC fighters. He was the first-ever UFC double-champ as he won the Featherweight and the Lightweight title. The Irish fighter does not have any title defenses under his belt but he has the record of the fastest title fight victory in UFC history (13 seconds). He holds a record of 22-6.
Five years ago, Conor McGregor became the first double champion in UFC history.
McGregor celebrated “Champ Champ” day by declaring himself next in line for a title shot 👀 (via @TheNotoriousMMA) pic.twitter.com/N2u4UjDES1
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 12, 2021
Next, we can vouch for Max Holloway to have been in strong contention for the P4P top spot. Holloway was a Featherweight champion who defended his title three times. The 31-year-old still has some strong outings left as he holds a record of 25-7.
Lastly, Israel Adesanya, for his exceptional record, deserved a shout for the P4P top rankings. He is a former two-time Middleweight champion and has defended the title five times. He held a 20-0 record before facing his first defeat. In the latest rankings, he is occupying the eighth spot with a record of 24-3.