Jon Jones heard a lot about how Alex Pereira was gunning for his spot as the greatest of all time if he was successful in becoming the first ever three-division champion at UFC White House this past weekend.
While numerous fighters and analysts disagreed with UFC CEO Dana White after he declared Pereira’s ascension to the top of that list with a win, none of that ultimately mattered when the Brazilian suffered a second-round knockout loss to Ciryl Gane in the co-main event. On fight night, Jones released a short video where he effectively rolled his eyes at all the chatter about him losing his spot as the GOAT just after Pereira was stopped.
Now, Jones released a message aimed at anybody attempting to usurp him as the best ever because he knows it’s going to take an awful lot to get there.
“Thinking that you have the work ethic, the desire, the faith, and the focus to dethrone me as the GOAT of MMA,” Jones wrote on Twitter in a now-deleted message. “Good luck to you all.”
Jones’ placement as the greatest of all time is subjective, but he typically finds himself atop most lists after he put together a Hall of Fame career, which included becoming the youngest champion in UFC history when he first captured the light heavyweight title back in 2011.
“Bones” holds win over nine UFC champions—past, present or future—and he also captured titles in two divisions after becoming heavyweight champion with a submission win over Gane in 2023.
He also never truly tasted defeat, although his résumé has one loss after he was disqualified for using illegal elbows during a vicious beatdown of Matt Hamill.
That said, Jones’ career was far from flawless, which included positive drug tests for using banned substances including an incident that erased his head kick victory over Daniel Cormier in 2017 that was overturned from a win to a no-contest. He also endured a multitude of legal issues outside the cage that took him out of action for months at a time as well as being stripped of his title in 2015 for his involvement in a hit-and-run.
But his work in the octagon was undeniable as Jones still holds the record for 16 wins in UFC title fights and 12 overall title defenses across multiple reigns as champion.
I don’t think it’s subjective at this point. It’s overwhelming. People are just haters but that happens with all the GOATs the hate fades as time goes on.
John is correct here.
Nobody is dethroning Fedor in the foreseeable future.
.
Would’ve loved to see Cain vs Jones
He can stop anybody in the world when he has cocaine and a gun
Jones is a cheater who got special breaks from the UFC. I’ll never see him as a goat.
I think Cain would have beat him.
Not to mention avoiding the HW division until just the right time to pad his legacy.
I don’t think so. This is a hot take by me but I think DC could beat Cain. Yes, I know…DC says he couldn’t but that’s out of respect for Cain bringing him into the sport. DC was wrecking heavyweight before he dropped to LHW.
Nobody judges GSP by his run at MW or Anderson for his run at LHW.
The fact people have to knock Jones 's success at a higher weight class(where he’s undefeated) shows you who the goat really is.
Jones started his title run by finishing Shogun with strikes in 1 round and ended it by choking out the best HW in the UFC in 1 round.
Not only is he the best but there’s wide gap between him and #2.
It’s hard to know. They need to fight rashad said he was pushing Jones shit in in training and we saw how that fight went.
A large gap. The problem is GSP Fedor and Anderson Silva are the 3 behind him and they all have blemishes. Jones is the only one untouched.
Maybe, but it’s not apple’s to apples.
Even if we assume DC could beat Cain, I don’t think that necessarily means Jones would by mma math.
I tend to think DC vs Jones at HW would have been a different fight, and that the differences might have been in DC’s favor.
Their first fight was competitive and Jones had the better cardio for the championship rounds. I don’t know that he carries that same advantage at HW.
Second fight was very close until that kick. Might even say DC had a slight edge.
And of course Jones popped for that one.
Jones has never beat a great heavyweight at heavyweight near their peak.
Stipe was coming off a loss and an over 3 year layoff.
I don’t rate Cain as high as some do. But at his peak he was a high gas tank high pressure fighter and gave big strong HWs a lot of problems.
I don’t believe in giving Jones the hypothetical win in those matchups when he has never really done it in the cage at HW.
Yeah Jones is the best LHW.
That doesn’t make him the GOAT.
Jones’ initial LHW run was vs aging LHS like plodding Shogun after multiple surgeries and plodding Rampage who wasn’t as dynamic a fighter as in his Pride days.
When Jones started fighting the next generation of LHWs who were more his size, he went something like 8 years and 9 fights with only 2 finishes (one that was overturned), and didn’t seem at all as dominant vs guys more his size.
Then he moved up to HW at the most beneficial time to pad his legacy, fought a guy who barely showed up, and a 42 year old coming off a loss and a 3 year layoff.
Best LHW of his time and probably ever?
Sure.
MMA GOAT?
Hell no.