Ben Askren explains why he didn’t include Conor McGregor on his GOAT list

Former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight titleholder Ben Askren recently shared the names of the fighters he believes belong in the GOAT debate in MMA, but his list did not include former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor.

7 People in discussion for MMA GOAT. Some have much better cases than others, but all have cases. Fedor and BJ would have had cases had they retired earlier.

GSP
Anderson
DJ
Khabib
Jon Jones
DC
Henry

— Hyzerbomb Ben (@Benaskren) May 25, 2020

“7 People in discussion for MMA GOAT,” Askren explained on Twitter. “Some have much better cases than others, but all have cases. Fedor and BJ would have had cases had they retired earlier.

“GSP [Georges St-Pierre], Anderson [Silva], DJ [Demetrious Johnson], Khabib [Nurmagomedov], Jon Jones, DC [Daniel Cormier], Henry [Cejudo],” he added, naming his picks.

After Askren shared his list, a fan asked why he didn’t include McGregor on it. Askren explained that he didn’t include the Irishman because he never defended either of his UFC championships, and because he lost to Nate Diaz by submission in 2016.

Conor never defended either of his belts and loss to Nate Diaz takes him out of conversation https://t.co/mycSeFhKL8

— Hyzerbomb Ben (@Benaskren) May 25, 2020

“Conor never defended either of his belts and loss to Nate Diaz takes him out of conversation,” Askren explained.

Askren also offered up his take on the female GOAT conversation. Interestingly, he believes there’s no real debate on that front. By his estimation, reigning UFC featherweight and bantamweight Amanda Nunes is a head and shoulders above her peers.

Nunes is the female GOAT by a mile. https://t.co/Ys99LdUVoT

— Hyzerbomb Ben (@Benaskren) May 25, 2020

“Nunes is the female GOAT by a mile,” Askren wrote.

What do you think of these comments from Ben Askren? Do you think Conor McGregor is one of the greatest fighters in MMA history?