Justin Gaethje Explains His MMA Top Five

Justin Gaethje has named the fighters who define his personal MMA Mount Rushmore, and the choice came with a notable omission. Gaethje, the UFC lightweight champion, did not include Khabib Nurmagomedov despite describing the Russian legend as the toughest opponent he has faced. Asked on the One Night with Steiny podcast for his four choices, Gaethje rejected the limit and expanded his own list to five names. His answer was Royce Gracie, Anderson Silva, GSP, Jon Jones and Chuck Liddell.

The answer is significant because Gaethje was not dismissing Nurmagomedov’s difficulty as an opponent. The source states that Nurmagomedov choked Gaethje out in two rounds in 2020, and that Gaethje still calls him the toughest fighter he has faced six years later. Yet when the conversation turned from the hardest matchup to a personal list of the sport’s most important, influential or greatest figures, Gaethje drew a distinction. When asked whether Nurmagomedov should be included, he answered, “No, not mine,” before adding Liddell as the final selection. Gaethje’s list therefore reflects his own view of MMA history rather than a ranking of the opponents who gave him the most difficult nights in competition.

Gaethje separates greatness from difficulty

A Mount Rushmore question asks for more than an assessment of who was hardest to beat. As described in the source, the concept is a hypothetical selection of four of the most important, influential or greatest people in mixed martial arts. Gaethje immediately challenged the restriction, saying, “Mount Rushmore is such a hard question,” then asking how many fighters he could choose. He ultimately made room for five names rather than four. That extra place did not alter his answer on Nurmagomedov.

Gaethje’s choices place Gracie, Silva, GSP, Jones and Liddell in the group he personally considers essential. The source does not provide a separate explanation for each selection, so the list should not be treated as a detailed ranking from first to fifth. What is clear is the dividing line in Gaethje’s comments: Nurmagomedov remains the toughest opponent of his career in Gaethje’s view, but not one of the five figures on this particular list. That is why the omission stands out. Gaethje had already expanded the format beyond the requested four, meaning the decision was not simply caused by a lack of room under the original Mount Rushmore premise.

Gaethje’s comments arrive during recovery

The podcast discussion comes after a busy recent stretch for Gaethje. He has not fought since becoming the first man to beat Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 in June, according to the source. Gaethje unified the lightweight division when Topuria’s corner stopped the fight before the final round. Gaethje said he intends to sit out the remainder of 2026 while he heals injuries and considers his future in fighting. He said the training and fights in January and June had taken a great deal from him and that he needed to recover and rest his brain. In that context, the Mount Rushmore answer is a snapshot of Gaethje’s personal view while he is away from active competition, not an announcement of a new bout or a wider official ranking.

• Justin Gaethje’s personal five selections were Royce Gracie, Anderson Silva, GSP, Jon Jones and Chuck Liddell.
• Justin Gaethje said Khabib Nurmagomedov was the toughest opponent he has faced, but said, “No, not mine,” when asked if Nurmagomedov belonged on his list.

Gaethje’s selection does not change what he has said about Nurmagomedov as a competitor. Instead, it shows that Gaethje applies a different standard when discussing his personal MMA Mount Rushmore. For now, his immediate focus is recovery and enjoying his championship for the rest of 2026. If he continues and reaches a title defense, Gaethje has made clear that he sees Tsarukyan as the opponent waiting next.