Kalugin debates top 10 greatest UFC fighters, adds Khabib and Conor

MMA analyst Kalugin responded to Vlad Matveev's top 10 greatest UFC fighters list, expressing surprise at the absence of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. While acknowledging Matveev's thorough work, Kalugin argued that greatness should include additional criteria beyond titles and opposition quality, such as contribution to MMA popularization, peak performance, fight dominance, commercial impact, and records. He emphasized that McGregor popularized MMA globally even in markets where UFC was already known, while Khabib massively expanded the sport's influence in the Arab world. Kalugin proposed his own top 10: Jon Jones, GSP, Khabib, Conor, Jose Aldo, Alex Pereira, Anderson Silva, Demetrious Johnson, Islam Makhachev, and Amanda Nunes. He noted that fans have become so accustomed to certain "legend" names that seeing Alex Pereira ranked above Anderson Silva or Conor in the top 10 causes strong reactions.