Islam Makhachev has the record – and he’s in no mood to share the spotlight.
Fresh off defending his welterweight title against Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 in August, Makhachev pushed his winning run under the UFC banner to 17 fights, eclipsing Anderson Silva’s long-standing mark of 16. For more than a decade, Silva’s streak stood as the gold standard. Now it belongs to the Dagestani champion.
Not everyone agrees on where the real line in the history books should be drawn. Supporters of Jon Jones point straight to the former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion’s extraordinary run: 20 consecutive bouts without a loss since December 2009, the only blemish in that stretch a no contest in his 2017 rematch with Daniel Cormier at UFC 214.
Jones knocked Cormier out that night. The result didn’t stand. A failed drug test turned the win into a no contest and added another asterisk to an already complicated legacy.
For Makhachev, that’s exactly the problem.
Speaking in Russian to Ushatayka, he didn’t dodge the respect Jones commands, but he drew a clear line around what counts in his eyes.
"I'm not denying that Jon Jones is one of the greatest athletes in history," Makhachev said. "But he was caught doping twice, and I think that's why his streak isn't considered valid.
"Because he went into a fight while on PEDs and won. That's where a new count should have started."
The shot lands clean. It also opens him up.
The moment Makhachev questions Jones’ record, critics will rush to remind him of 2016, when he himself returned an anti-doping violation. That stain has followed him for years, used as a quick rebuttal whenever his name edges into “all-time” conversations.
Yet the UFC’s own anti-doping chief has since gone out of his way to reframe that episode. In May 2024, as Makhachev received his jacket for hitting 50 clean tests in the program, UFC senior vice president of anti-doping compliance Jeff Novitzky publicly labeled that old result “one of the greatest, colossal mistakes in anti-doping.”
That comment did not erase the past, but it shifted the narrative. Makhachev now stands as a champion with a spotless recent testing record and the longest official winning streak in UFC history. Jones remains the icon with the heavier résumé, the deeper list of names, and the baggage that never quite leaves the room.
This is what the debate has become: volume and dominance versus longevity and controversy. One man chasing history in real time, the other sitting atop it, shadowed by failed tests and overturned results.
While the arguments rage, Makhachev keeps his focus on the cage. After turning back Garry and keeping hold of the 170-pound belt, he outlined a simple plan: get healthy, get cleared, get back.
He is targeting a return in January, or even earlier, depending on how recent MRI scans on potential injuries come back. If the medicals go his way, the champion who just planted his flag in the record books will have the chance to push that streak even further – and tighten his grip on a legacy he clearly believes should stand apart from Jon Jones’ forever.
