Kalugin debates UFC GOAT list, argues Khabib and McGregor belong in top 10

Russian MMA analyst Kalugin responded to Vlad Matveev's top 10 greatest UFC fighters list, expressing surprise at the exclusion of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. Kalugin argued that greatness should include impact on the sport's popularity and global reach, not just titles and defenses. He proposed additional criteria including contribution to MMA popularization, peak performance, fight dominance, commercial impact, and records. Kalugin's revised top 10 includes Jon Jones first, GSP second, Khabib third, and McGregor fourth, with Alex Pereira at sixth ahead of Anderson Silva. He emphasized that while Matveev's statistical work was impressive, a comprehensive GOAT assessment must account for how fighters expanded the sport geographically and inspired new generations of athletes.