7. Khabib Nurmagomedov
I had Nurmagomedov one spot higher, but I understand the conundrum. On the one hand, he had a perfect 29-0 career record, and only a single one of those, his win over Gleison Tibau, was remotely controversial. Khabib is also likely the greatest grappler MMA has seen yet. Not only did he have amazing wrestling from both a shot and inside the clinch to gain the initial takedown, but he had a suite of other skills that is the envy of even world-class grapplers. First, he could endlessly chain-wrestle. Defending against one, two or even three attempts wasn't enough, as Nurmagomedov just kept cycling from one position to another and eventually found success, as Poirier discovered. Once on top, Nurmagomedov's top control was second to none, as even heavy-weights find him suffocating in practices, he had crushingly heavy hips, and was a master of technique, especially his phenomenal wrist control and the famous Dagestani leg trap. His ground-and-pound was vicious and unrelenting, and his submissions also among the very best, able to attack any part of the body. That required tremendous energy, but luckily, despite how much weight he cut to make 155 pounds, Nurmagomedov still had outstanding cardio, and was able to administer beatings for five full rounds. On the other hand, looking at Nurmagomedov's ledger of opponents, there aren't many fellow greats on there, and certainly no one close to this list. Rafael dos Anjos, Edson Barboza, Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje are five excellent wins, but they pale in quantity and quality to the résumés of everyone else above him.
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