When asked about the greatest of all time, UFC CEO Dana White didn’t hesitate to answer. He said, ‘Jon Jones.’ In an interview with Lex Fridman, White discussed what made Jones the UFC GOAT, and why there’s no doubt about it.
“He’s never been beat. He destroyed everybody at light heavyweight which at the time was the toughest weight class in the company, in the sport. Then he moved up to heavyweight. He won easily at heavyweight,” White said. “There’s no debate. Nobody can debate who’s the greatest of all time. It’s absolutely, positively Jon Jones. He’s never lost. He’s never been beat in the octagon.”
Jones became the youngest UFC champion at the age of 23. He defeated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 in March 2011 to win the 205-pound championship at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. All of his fights after that have been championship bouts.
Jones was stripped of the title three separate times during his light heavyweight dominance. The first time was in 2015 after defeating Daniel Cormier at UFC 182. Jones was forced to vacate the championship after violating the UFC Athlete Conduct Policy for being involved in a hit and run incident that caused injury.
Jones won the interim light heavyweight title in his return fight against Ovince Saint Preux but was stripped of that belt after testing positive to banned substances. Fifteen months later he was facing Cormier in a rematch at UFC 214. Jones knocked Cormier out to win back the title but the result was later changed to a no contest when Jones again tested positive for a banned substance.
Jones won the belt in his first fight back from suspension and defended it three more times before vacating the division. Overall, Jones successfully defended the light heavyweight title eleven times.
Jones took a three-year hiatus from fighting from 2020 to 2023. He returned as a heavyweight and won the championship in his heavyweight debut. Jones made quick work of Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023 to capture his second divisional title. He’s slated to take on former two-time champion Stipe Miocic later this year.
White said that Jones had ‘never been beaten’ and ‘he never lost,’ but that’s exactly true. Jones was disqualified for illegal elbows in a fight against Matt Hamill in 2009. Jones was likely seconds away from a finish and was winning, but rules are rules. It’s true that Jones hasn’t been beaten by another fighter. His loss was essentially to himself, but it’s still a loss.
Related: Maycee Barber spent nine days in the hospital following UFC 299 win
Whether you consider Jones unbeaten or not doesn’t really matter. There are other variables to consider and White believes longevity is one of them.
“The other thing that you have to factor in too is longevity,” said White. “Sometimes, with a lot of these guys, the sport passes them by. Younger guys that are faster, this, that, and the sport evolves. Nobody’s been able to beat Jon Jones.
“The other thing that you measure, when you said dominance, it’s true. If you’re this guy that has unbelievable power and you’re just f**king knocking everybody out and nobody’s ever pulled you into the deep water before. That was when my opinion of Jon Jones started to change,” White continued.
“[Alexander] Gustafsson took him into the deep water. Gustafsson hit him with some sh*t that he had never been hit with. Gustafsson tested him and put Jon Jones in a place where I bet if you sat down and interviewed Jon Jones, going into the deep rounds of that Jon Jones thought he was going to die. And he kept going. He was willing to do whatever it took to win that fight… It’s undeniable. You can hate all you want. Jon Jones is the greatest of all time.”
Do you agree with White?
MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos
File under: Mmaweekly.com | Leave a comment »