President of UFC Dana White recently made an appearance on Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson with co-host DJ Whoo Kid - real name Yves Mondesir - as the three men spent an hour covering a number of topics from the rivalry between Philadelphia and Boston to the developments and future of the UFC.

At times, it was easy to forget that this was not a conversation between two friends in the comfort of their home as Tyson and White were at ease laughing and joking together. The respect between the two was clear from the beginning and White spent the first few moments touching on the pair’s friendship and remarking on Tyson’s influence in the world beyond the boxing ring and the UFC.

“You are an amazing f***** human being man. You’re also an important part of pop culture," the head honcho of UFC said to the boxing heavyweight legend, and can you blame him? Iron Mike is one of the biggest names in not just sport, but pop culture as White says.

Listeners were also given insight into some behind-the-scenes conversations, as Dana White recalled he was “totally against” the boxing veteran fighting against Roy Jones in 2020, that was until Tyson called White directly and told him to stop undermining the fight. "He told me that he was a grown a** man, and he could make his own decisions,” White revealed.

Video: The full podcast with Mike Tyson & Dana White

Among the conversations, one of the most revealing questions and intriguing points of discussion, was when White was asked who were his top five UFC fighters of all time. A very tough question to answer, especially when you are the boss of the entire organisation. It was so tough in fact, despite being asked for five, White named SEVEN.

Dana White's greatest UFC fighters of all time

“So hard to do because when you look at the 23 years that I’ve been in it there’s been so many great fights… but you got to start with Jon Jones,” White said as he began his list.

Jon “Bones” Jones holds the record for youngest ever champion in UFC history as he defeated Mauricio Rua at aged 23 in 2011. Since then, Jones went on to be one of the most successful fighters and expanded the reach of MMA. In 2012, he became the first MMA fighter to be sponsored by Nike on a global scale, though, the deal was terminated some years later.

His victory over Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight crown undoubtedly sealed his position as one of the all-time greats in the sport.

“There’s just so many it’s hard to pick,” said White.

But other names had been thrown around in the conversation as co-host DJ Whoo Kid quietly mentioned that he had Conor McGregor on his list.

“Those are all good ones,” White said, before moving on to extend his list to Ronda Rousey, undoubtedly one of the biggest names in UFC history.

Rousey dominated the scene and took home several awards, beating out Floyd Mayweather for the Best Fighter ESPY award in 2015. Her signature armbar move came to be what she was known for, but her unwavering personality appealed to swathes of fans and was a force in elevating the women’s sport.

“You got to have Amanda Nunes,” White continued, calling her the “greatest female fighter of all time.”

Nunes, who was the first woman to become a two-division champion, broke several records and held the number one spot when she retired earlier this year. Her position as the best female fighter goes relatively unchallenged due to her sheer domination of the sport, but now she is retired, there is room for another fighter to take her spot.

While White had no reservations about mentioning Nunes, Rousey, or Jones, the discussion picked up as the three men debated about who else would make the list.

“How do you not have Usman?” White added as he appeared to be thinking out loud.

Kamaru Usman made his UFC debut in 2015 and went on to compete in the welterweight division. He has seen great success in UFC as former UFC welterweight champion and victor of the UFC Fighter 21 tournament. The Nigerian-American fighter lost his first fight in UFC in 2022 against Leon Edwards, and suffered a second loss to Edwards in March of this year at UFC 286 for the UFC welterweight championship.

After, White stalled a little as he hinted at the history of the UFC acknowledging that the fighters he had mentioned so far were all relatively recent.

“Think about those tough guys back in the day,” Tyson nudged and White nodded in agreement, going on to mention the legendary American fighter Chuck Liddell.

The conversation could have gone on for hours and listeners got the sense that the entire podcast could be centred around the debate of the top five UFC fighters.

But in the end White conceded that it was too difficult to narrow down the history of UFC to just five names.

“If you look at the different generations of the people who helped take the sport to another level,” said White. “It’s hard to just pick five all-time great fighters.

“Matt Hughes would have to make the list… and then you look at all the different Brazilians that came up.”

But while White may have struggled to grapple with picking just five, some notable names did not even cross his lips during the discussion.

Dana White makes huge omissions

Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor were the two gaping holes in the conversation that fans immediately picked up on.

But interestingly, the UFC president was asked the same question in an interview by GQ in 2022, and his answer looked slightly different. Rousey and Jones were still mentioned, but White also included Anderson Silva, McGregor, and Georges St-Pierre, names that weren’t touched during the podcast.

Some fans have been surprised at the exclusion of the likes of McGregor and Khabib with their fighting history and mass global appeal, but in that aforementioned interview last year, White addressed a question of whether Khabib Nurmagomedov can be considered the “GOAT.” White went on to say that he undoubtedly had a successful career, even retiring in his prime, but it’s too hard to say because he believes the Russian just “retired too early,” to be a part of that conversation.

The Russian fighter retired in 2020 as he said he wanted to be able to devote more time to his family. Khabib was the longest-reigning UFC champion ever, holding the title from April 2018 to March 2021, but for White, the longevity of his career, or lack thereof, means he simply cannot hold a place in serious discussion of the top UFC fighters.

White was quick to mention McGregor in 2022, but when asked the same question a year later, the Irishman did not feature at all in White’s discussion.

This might surprise fans because it has seemed that Conor McGregor and the UFC have gone hand in hand for years as the charisma of the “Champ Champ” caught the attention of millions of people across the globe.

McGregor wielded intense viewing power during his time in the UFC, his name on a fight card all but guaranteed millions of views. He broke viewership records and was credited with converting casual fans into regular watchers of the sport. White even touched on McGregor’s financial pull during the podcast when he noted that the “biggest fight of all time was between Conor and Flord [Mayweather],” which had 4.3 million pay-per-view buys.

For commercial reasons alone it is surprising that White did not even touch on McGregor’s influence, but on top of that, Notorious was an undeniably successful fighter. He was the first UFC fighter to hold championships in two weight classes simultaneously in feather and lightweight categories.

White mentioned seven names during the conversation and still there was no mention of McGregor or Khabib or even Georges St-Pierre, who he also mentioned in the 2022 GQ interview.

After the discussion of the greatest fights in history, Tyson and White discussed the preeminence of the sport and its growth in recent years. “This is the new combat sport people are training in.

“There’s something about fighting and these new forms of fighting that captures the imagination of people all over the world,” White said. Certainly UFC has been on the rise since its growth during COVID, in which White played a key role, and the sport’s popularity is impossible to ignore.

“Now it’s everywhere,” said White. “If Mike Tyson was 13 years old this is the sport he would be training in.”

Although White presented a convincing argument, Tyson was less sure: “I don’t know if they stepped on my toes I’d be tapping out,” he joked.

The conversation between the three men wrapped up as candidly as it began with White noticing the time on the DJ Whoo Kid’s phone and realising he had another meeting.

“I’ve got a meeting at 12:30. I’ve got to go,” said White, but not before congratulating Tyson once again on his success. “I love to see you f****** kicking a** brother.”