Arman Tsarukyan weight in on who is his Goat of MMA 👀 Jon Jones and Islam Makhachev are among the headlines as the pair have gone back and forth with fans asking themselves the question, who really is the GOAT? Arman Tsarukyan thinks Jon Jones win streak and title defenses seals the deal and his GOAT of the sport, do you agree?
Arman Tsarukyan has weighed in on MMA's greatest of all time debate, throwing his support firmly behind Jon Jones amid an ongoing conversation that has also put lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in the frame.
Tsarukyan, ranked second in the lightweight division, pointed to Jones's win streak and title defenses as the factors that seal his case for the top spot in the sport's history. The 29-year-old Russian, who fights out of American Top Team, carries a 23-3-0 record and is one of the more dangerous contenders in the 155-pound class. He lands 3.85 significant strikes per minute at 50 percent accuracy and averages 3.26 takedowns per 15 minutes, making him a genuinely complete fighter whose opinion on elite-level performance carries some weight.
Jones, now 39, holds a 28-1-0 professional record and has long been central to any GOAT discussion. Standing six-foot-four with an 84-inch reach, the orthodox fighter has posted 4.38 significant strikes landed per minute across his career at a 58 percent accuracy rate, adding 1.89 takedowns per 15 minutes to his ledger.
Makhachev, the reigning welterweight champion and current pound-for-pound number one, represents the other side of the argument. The 34-year-old southpaw from Russia owns a 29-1-0 record and averages 3.22 takedowns per 15 minutes alongside 0.9 submission attempts per 15 minutes — numbers that underline why his supporters believe he belongs in the same conversation.
Why it matters
- The Jones versus Makhachev GOAT debate is one of the sport's most active ongoing discussions, crossing weight classes and eras.
- Tsarukyan's standing as a top-two lightweight gives his take relevance, given how closely his career has run alongside Makhachev's rise.
- Fan and fighter opinion continues to shape how each man's legacy is perceived before either's career is finished.
