UFC CEO Dana White took a slightly different approach when revealing his UFC Mount Rushmore.
Ahead of Saturday’s UFC 306 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) at Sphere in Las Vegas, White was asked to list his MMA Mount Rushmore. There were some obvious choices, but White put emphasis on impact in his list.
“You’ve got to go with Jon Jones. You have to go with Ronda Rousey – women would not be fighting if it wasn’t for her,” White told ESPN’s “First Take” (h/t Championship Rounds). “You would have to put GSP (Georges St-Pierre) in there and absolutely, positively Conor McGregor. He elevated and changed the game globally.”
White’s list is drastically different than the MMA Mount Rushmore he shared in June 2020. That list included Amanda Nunes, Royce Gracie and Chuck Liddell, along with Jones.
No surprise, White included UFC heavyweight champion Jones again. A former longtime UFC light heavyweight champion, Jones joined a select few when he was able to realize gold in a second weight class by beating Ciryl Gane in March 2023.
St-Pierre is perhaps another obvious choice. A former nine-time defending UFC welterweight champion, St-Pierre retired in 2013 before returning in 2017 to submit Michael Bisping for the middleweight title at UFC 217. He retired for health reasons just a few months later.
Rousey might not make everyone’s list, but the women’s MMA pioneer certainly had her impact on the sport by convincing White to allow women in the UFC in 2013. Rousey defended her UFC bantamweight title six times in one of the most dominant championship runs in company history.
White’s fourth choice is the sport’s biggest star. McGregor is not only the biggest draw in company history, but he was the UFC’s first fighter to hold two championships simultaneously. His performances to capture those belts are two of the greatest championship-winning finishes – a 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo to capture the featherweight title in 2015, followed by a striking masterclass over Eddie Alvarez to capture the lightweight title in 2016.
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