With our 11th Double Champ being added to history in Islam Makhachev, based
only on their double champ status; how they got it, road to it etc, which is the greatest? While GSP is my overall GOAT, he isn't at the top of my list of double champs, for example!
I believe we should rank the previous 10, as Islam is brand new and could retire tomorrow for all we know, but I will be adding him in as well.
1.
Amanda Nunes dominated 135 for 5 years before moving up to break the 13 year unbeaten streak of Cris Cyborg, defending both titles. The shining example of a double champ, the women's MMA GOAT, and, if she snatches a win over Kayla coming out of retirement, an absolute legend.
2.
Poatan one of the rare fighters who turned haters and naysayers into fans and Chamamaniacs the world over, a movie-script climb from kickboxing to dethroning Adesanya, losing the belt back, shrugging, then moving up to help the 205lb division recapture its
GLORY by fighting every former champ since Jones sans Coach Glover
. The only quad champion we have ever, and probably will ever, have.
3. "
Randy Couture is my hero" was once stated by Rogan, and it was hard to argue against him. While his official nickname is fittingly The Natural, Randy will always be Captain America to me. A pioneer in both shifting weightclasses and a chuckler at the phrase "a young man's game" Randy dropped to LHW at 40 after losing his HW belt to beat Chuck for the interim then Tito for the title, which is a pair of victories back to back which were hard to believe at the time. He would then move back up to HW to save us from the Timmeh era and was finally vanquished by a guy bred in a lab disguised as a farm.
4.
DC might be a terrible commentator now, but at one point he was an excellent fighter. A short but memorable reign, he solidified his double champ status only a year earlier than Randy did at 39, an overlooked fact about DC. Marred only by his losses to a roided to the gills bald Jones, and lower on the list for me personally due to the amount of eyepokes from both fighters across his trilogy with Stipe, DC is still undeniable as a double champ.
5.
Topuria it feels strange putting Topuria above GSP on any list, but the Georgian-German-Spaniard really has walked the walk after talking the talk. While there are arguments about the ages of his opponents, finishing Volk, Max, and Oliviera in a row is an amazing trio of wins. The current 155lb champ is also the only one in history to actively be calling out another double champ, which could lead to some very interesting developments...such as
Mak vs Topuria at the White House for the inaugural 165lb title allowing one of them to be the first triple champ while moving welterweight to 175.
6.
Cejudo oh Henry, what could have been if your agent cared more about you and talked you out of your dumbass retirement. I firmly believe Henry could have strung together a number of defenses at the top, but his greed and hubris were his enemy. Oddly enough, he is the only champion poor Joe Benavidez was able to beat, but it was during the lull of only a few fights where Henry wasn't holding gold. Still, taking wins off DJ, TJ, and Dom are some of the best wins a manlet can own.
7.
GSP came out of retirement when he didn't have to just to beat up Bisping. Unfortunately, health problems stopped him from being able to have an actual reign at 185, but unlike some other champs, he didn't needlessly sit on the title for a year and instead immediately gave it up after a little more than a month. Real GOAT shit only.
8.
BJ Penn while having a relatively short reign, The Prodigy was something special to watch at his best. While the best of his LW reign would come in his later stint as champion of 155 in his fights against the likes of KenFlo and Diego Sanchez, Penn's blitzing of a prime Matt Hughes was unexpected and cemented BJ's place in the MMA record books. Had he stayed at 155, his memory would fade, but Icarus flew.
9.
McGregor while being a worldwide phenomenon and, whether you like it or not, and overall boon to the sport, his reigns consist of a single punch on Aldo, ending a legendary run, and a sweet combination against a seemingly starstruck Eddie Alvarez. At his height, Conor was a mystifying, devastating striker and the single best PPV salesman the sport will probably ever see, but his reigns ended in meek fashions tapping to Khabibi and forfeiting 145.
10.
Islam our newest double champ rendered a dominant, technical, albeit a little boring second title win. He could retire as I'm writing this and admit he was tweaking Jack's nipples to cause him to wince for all I care, he's still more of a champ-champ than Jon.
11.
Jones Paper belt, ducked both the real champion in Francis and the challenger in Aspinall. Automatic bottom of list, more of an asterisk than a reign. Choked out Gane, assaulted a retired firefighter.
That was harder than I thought it would be!
I will be keeping the poll permanently open with changeable votes like the old GOAT poll, it is in alphabetical order.
