Kalugin ranks Khabib 3rd, McGregor 4th in all-time UFC greatest fighters list

Russian MMA commentator Kalugin published his subjective ranking of the top 10 greatest UFC fighters of all time, disagreeing with Vlad Matveev's earlier ranking that excluded Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor from the top 10. Kalugin argues that greatness should include additional criteria beyond titles and opposition quality, such as impact on sport popularization, peak performance, fight dominance, commercial value, and records. His top 10 includes Jon Jones first, Georges St-Pierre second, Khabib third, and McGregor fourth, followed by Jose Aldo, Alex Pereira, Anderson Silva, Demetrious Johnson, Islam Makhachev, and Amanda Nunes. Kalugin specifically emphasized how Khabib expanded MMA's influence in the Arab world and how McGregor popularized the sport globally, arguing these contributions are essential to measuring true greatness.