Kalugin disputes Matveev's top-10 greatest UFC fighters list

MMA commentator Kalugin published his own top-10 greatest UFC fighters list in response to Vlad Matveev's ranking, expressing surprise at the absence of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor from Matveev's list. Kalugin argued that while Matveev used solid criteria like title defenses and opponent quality, he believes additional factors should be considered for determining the "greatest" fighters, including impact on sport popularization, peak performance level, fight dominance, commercial value, and records. He proposed that greatness encompasses not just titles but also a fighter's overall scale and influence on the sport. Kalugin's revised list places Jon Jones first, followed by Georges St-Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, and Jose Aldo in the top five. He emphasized that fighters like McGregor and Khabib significantly expanded MMA's global reach in ways that traditional metrics don't fully capture.