Dana White: If Khabib Nurmagomedov beats Justin Gaethje, ‘he’s the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world’

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s august resume is rightly in the spotlight at UFC 254.

He’s 28- as a skilled fighter with 12 straight wins in the UFC including 3 consecutive wins in title fights. Nurmagomedov has only shed a person round throughout his full MMA profession — the third round in his showdown with Conor McGregor — and he finished the fight with a rear-bare choke in the fourth.

Nurmagomedov is also one particular more get absent from tying the all-time file for title defenses in the UFC light-weight division.

This weekend at UFC 254, Nurmagomedov squares off versus Justin Gaethje, who’s been a human spotlight reel ever considering that he arrived in the promotion. Gaethje has racked up 9 post fight bonuses in just 7 fights.

He also stopped Tony Ferguson’s 12-fight profitable streak in his prior performance, also professing the UFC interim light-weight title.

Contemplating the accolades Nurmagomedov has already achieved and Gaethje’s eye-popping performances, UFC President Dana White thinks the stakes for this struggle are even bigger when it arrives to the undefeated Russian’s legacy.

“Khabib is searching down the barrel of not only the greatest to ever do it in this division, but pay attention, I think if he beats Justin on Saturday, he’s the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the entire world and he’s on his way to GOAT position,” White mentioned all through the UFC 254 pre-struggle push conference.

The legendary pound-for-pound listing is purely subjective with no true requirements to figure out rankings. But White feels like Nurmagomedov’s accomplishments converse for them selves.

In the past, the UFC figurehead has routinely referred to former mild heavyweight winner Jon Jones as the top fighter in the sport no matter of fat course. But now, Nurmagomedov appears to be to be knocking on the door to acquire that title away from him.

“You know what I feel of Jon Jones and we often talk about what Jon’s achieved in his profession,” White described. “Look at how quite a few fights this guy has and he’s still undefeated, and this is a nasty, awful fat division.”

In addition to his status as one of the very best fighters in the sport, Nurmagomedov has also come to be 1 of the UFC’s biggest attracts above the earlier couple of several years.

He presently participated in the best selling pay-for every-view in UFC record with his 2018 combat against Conor McGregor. White has already teased that the future card showcasing Nurmagomedov vs. Gaethje is trending into report-breaking territory.

Increase to that, the UFC president claims each possible metric the marketing can evaluate demonstrates Nurmagomedov turning into a genuine global celebrity.

“He’s just one of the most important stars in the sport,” White mentioned. “Khabib’s films have produced 222 million views. His information that characteristics him, in excess of 100 million movie sights just this yr on your own, just on Facebook. He’s broken documents on Instagram. I could just rattle off quantities all day. He’s by significantly the No. 1 most performed character in the movie recreation globally. By a prolonged shot.

“The quantities just go on and on. I could go on for times. The kid’s broken a lot of data.”