‘Spider’ Puts Khabib, Penn On MMA Mt. Rushmore

Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre get the snub on Anderson Silva’s list.

Legendary fighters B.J. Penn and Khabib Nurmagomedov have a home on Anderson Silva’s Mount Rushmore of mixed martial arts (MMA).

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion Silva is often considered among the greatest MMA fighters of all time — a list that regularly includes Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson, Fedor Emelianenko and, more recently, Nurmagomedov. “The Spider” was recently asked for the four fighters he would place on his personal Mt. Rushmore and he offered an interesting spread.

“Well, there are lots of different fighters I respect, but if we’re talking about the best, I would say BJ Penn. What the guy did, he’s amazing, what he did for the sport,” Silva recently told Give Me Sport. “Khabib, Khabib is a beast, he’s so amazing. He changed, how you say, his wrestling, his pressure, how he fight, he changed the game. I would also say Royce Gracie – he started everything. Without him there would be nothing. None of this, no UFC, nothing. My best friend ‘Minotauro’ as well. He’s my master. He gave me my black belt in jiu-jitsu.”

Silva (34-11-0-1 in MMA, 2-1 in boxing) is rumored to be in talks for a boxing match with YouTuber Logan Paul (0-1 in boxing). “The Spider” opened as an underdog.

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