No matter the sport it is often commonplace to debate in barber shops and office buildings around the world who is the “greatest of all-time” in said sport.
With a spectacular spinning back kick to the solar plexus of former two-time heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic to end their highly anticipated UFC Heavyweight championship dream matchup, Jon “Bones” Jones ended all the debates of who is currently the greatest mix martial artist to ever live.
Thanks to the third-round highlight reel TKO Saturday night, Jones has now defeated nine former UFC champions with two of them being Miocic and archrival Daniel Cormier who are considered the two best heavyweights of all-time. Add in the fact that Jones has taken down six total UFC Hall of Famers and it’s easy to see why Saturday’s dominant performance is the gold stamp on why he’s now the undisputed “GOAT” of MMA. Besides Francis Ngannou, Jones has now faced and defeated every major fighter that has perennially sat near the top of the rankings in Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight in his era.
“Hey, hurt him with the first kick, this guy’s fight IQ is off the charts, and now can everybody admit now that this guy is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world,” UFC President Dana White said during his UFC 309 post fight press conference.
“He’s going to be 38 years old this summer and he looked incredible. I just don’t know how any of you don’t see that this guy is the fucking world’s greatest fighter in the history of fucking people fighting.”
If you still aren’t a believer of Jones greatness all you must do is look inside the numbers. Jones is the youngest champion in UFC history, the only fighter to beat five former UFC champions consecutively, has longest unbeaten streak in UFC history (20), one of two men to win and defend the UFC championship at light heavyweight and heavyweight and the most successful title defenses in UFC while competing in a UFC record 17 title fights.
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A crazy stat that often gets overlooked is that Jones has only dropped one score card in his entire career which was his 2019 split decision victory over Thiago Santos. No matter if you are the biggest Khabib Nurmagomedov, Georges St-Pierre or Demetrious Johnson fan one must admit there is not a fighter who has a better resume or sustained period of excellence than one Jon Jones.
Like him or hate him, Jones is one of the greatest fighters in combat sports history no matter if you are talking MMA or boxing. His ability to finish some of the best fighters in MMA history or his ability to make fights with some of the best fighters in the world look like sparring sessions is unmatched by anyone who has ever put on a pair of gloves. With his all-time fight IQ and his recommitment to MMA, it will be fun and exciting to see if the twilight of his career can match up with the rest of his career as Jon Jones is greatness personified and if you are a real fan of MMA you can simply call him the GOAT of the sport because that’s what he is.
