Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Fighters of the 2010s

3. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Sherdog's greatest-ever lightweight and top grappler gets a bronze-medal finish here. Personally, I had Nurmagomedov at No. 1, though there was a range of rankings, with two respondents even having him as low as seventh. I don't understand such a low ranking, as he was a perfect 22-0 during the decade, with only his last major triumph, submitting Justin Gaethje in 2020, being out of the purview of the 2010s. Moreover, with the lone exception of the Gleison Tibau fight in 2012, none of those victories were controversial or even remotely close.

On his way to the crown, Nurmagomedov decimated Thiago Tavares in under two minutes, won an easy decision over Rafael dos Anjos, submitted Michael Johnson, and gave Edson Barboza a hellacious beating for 25 minutes prior to toying with and dominating Al Iaquinta for the world championship after a series of opponent changes. What he did as champion was even more impressive, garnering one-sided finishes against top pound-for-pound talents in Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. All were meant to be serious threats, with McGregor vs. Nurmagomedov in particular being perhaps the biggest MMA fight of all time, and Nurmagomedov smashed through all of them. We sadly never got to witness Nurmagomedov face a prime Tony Ferguson, a fight that was booked and then canceled an insane five times, as if the gods themselves were against it.

Nurmagomedov is 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 were the envy of even world-class grapplers. 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 heavyweights found him suffocating in practice. He had crushingly heavy hips and was a master of technique, especially his phenomenal wrist control and the famous Dagestani leg trap. Nurmagomedov’s 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, making him one of the largest lightweights ever, Nurmagomedov still had outstanding cardio.

Of course, Nurmagomedov wasn't satisfied with mere grappling dominance, and his striking steadily improved over his time in MMA. Most remember his sterling overhand right that knocked down McGregor, but I will remember how he was fighting on even terms in the striking against Justin Gaethje of all people, including his great use of the front kick to the body to disrupt Gaethje’s rhythm and hurt him. It doesn't get any better or more dominant than Nurmagomedov’s undefeated run during the 2010s, though admittedly, there was another all-time legend who was undefeated and at the peak of his powers during the decade, whom we will discuss later.

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