Dana White reveals his top three MMA fighters of all time

By Cole Shelton - January 18, 2022

Dana White has revealed his top three MMA fighters of all time and provided a fourth name that is closing the gap.

Dana White, The UFC

The debate over who is the greatest MMA fighter ever remains an ongoing discussion. There have been so many great fighters like Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, Daniel Cormier, and Khabib Nurmagomedv among countless others. Yet, White revealed his top three on Tuesday and said Kamaru Usman is closing the gap to enter that list.

“You’d have to go, Anderson Silva, GSP, Jones. Usman is getting up there too,” Dana White said on The Dave Portnoy Show.

Those three names that White said shouldn’t be a surprise as to many those are the best. Silva had 10 title defenses at middleweight and beat the who’s who of the division and even bounced up to light heavyweight at times. St-Pierre was a two-division champion and reigned over the welterweight division for years. He later returned from a four year hiatus to claim the middleweight belt. Jon Jones, meanwhile, is the youngest champion in UFC history and beat several Hall of Famers during his impressive reign at light heavyweight.

Dana White

Dana White

Seeing Usman on the list may be a surprise due to the fact he only won the belt in 2019. However, he has been dominant throughout his career and after Usman TKO’d Gilbert Burns, White said “The Nigerian Nightmare” would go down as the welterweight GOAT.

“He just broke his record tonight,” White told reporters after UFC 258. “If you look at what he just did, he broke his record tonight for consecutive wins (in the welterweight division), and if this guy keeps rolling, if Usman can keep doing what he’s doing, he’s going to go down as the greatest welterweight ever. Fact.

“Just look at who he’s fought and who he has to fight here in the future, it’s undeniable that this guy will go down as the best welterweight,” White added, placing Usman amongst the sport’s best fighters. “The question is, where will he go down in the history of the sport?”

Are you surprised by the three names provided by Dana White?