Undefeated UFC Lightweight Champion Ilia Topuria has named the four fighters he’d include on a hypothetical Mount Rushmore of MMA.
Ilia Topuria picks four UFC legends for MMA Mount Rushmore
Arguably the biggest star on the UFC roster at the moment, Topuria is preparing to defend his lightweight belt for the first time in a title unification bout with Justin Gaethje that headlines “UFC Freedom 250” at The White House on June 14.
“El Matador” successfully defended the UFC featherweight belt once before vacating it in favor of a move up to the lightweight division, and win over Gaethje would add to an already-impressive record that includes UFC legends Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Charles Oliveira.
During a recent interview with VicBlends, Topuria was asked to build his Mount Rushmore of MMA and didn’t take very much time before providing his four names.
“Greatest of all time – Jon Jones. Georges St-Pierre. Conor McGregor. Anderson Silva.”
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While Topuria’s picks will undoubtedly inspire debate among combat sports fans, retired UFC stars Jones, St-Pierre, and Silva are frequently mentioned during any “greatest of all time” discussions for MMA.
McGregor hasn’t stepped into the UFC Octagon since 2021, but he’s set to try and make a comeback at UFC 329 when he meets Holloway in a rematch of their 2013 meeting. St-Pierre is the only one of the four fighters named by Topuria that seems comfortable with his retirement, as Silva has remained active in boxing after he left the UFC on a three-fight skid in 2020.
Jones has gone back-and-forth on a return since vacating the UFC heavyweight belt last summer, and “Bones” most recently indicated that he’d like to find a way out of his UFC contract in order to fight Francis Ngannou.
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Former Jones opponent Ciryl Gane and former two-division UFC titleholder Alex Pereira are set to fight for the interim heavyweight belt in the co-main event of “UFC Freedom 250”. After Gane welcomes Pereira to the heavyweight division, Topuria will attempt to take another step towards legend status himself when he squares off with interim lightweight titleholder Gaethje to close out the evening.
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