The GOAT debate is a subject of controversy in MMA even though the official sport has a short history of 30-something years. Nonetheless, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Demetrious Johnson are the names often considered to be the best to ever do it in MMA.
Even though the subject is a topic of controversy, UFC CEO Dana White does not have a reservation about who he feels is the greatest of all time in MMA.
Dana White explains why Jon Jones is the UFC GOAT
Dana White picked Jon Jones as the GOAT of the UFC in his appearance on Julian Edelman’s podcast, Games with Names. Edelman had earlier inquired whether Khabib Nurmagomedov was the greatest but White did not have any reservations to say it was Jon Jones.
“The greatest of all time is Jon Jones…Jon Jones. He’s still undefeated. Khabib was undefeated too, but I would have liked to see Khabib do more,” White explained why he picked Jones over Nurmagomedov even though both are undefeated. However, it needs to be noted that there is a loss on Jones’ record which was a DQ loss that the promotion tried their best to overturn to a No Contest but to no avail.
“Jon Jones has been around forever; he’s fought everybody in the light heavyweight division, and now he’s in the heavyweight division,” White elaborated on why Jones is considered the best. He pointed out that Jones became the two-division champion in the UFC by facing a formidable lineup of opponents. Additionally, it’s worth noting that Jones became the youngest champion in the UFC at 24 years old and has consistently faced top-tier competition throughout his career.
“Take three years off; Ali never looked the same after three years he took off. Jon Jones went in and made Ciryl Gane look like he’d never fought in his life,” White compared Jones to Muhammad Ali as he stated that Jones took three years off and then came back to become a heavyweight champion in the UFC. Ali came back from a three-year layoff and was never able to replicate the form that he had before.
Why did Jon Jones reject UFC 300 main event?
Dana White recently announced Jamahal Hill and Alex Pereira for the main event of UFC 300 in the aftermath of UFC 298. However, they were not the first choice to headline the PPV as they had already reached out to heavyweight champion Jon Jones who unfortunately had to decline.
“I got a call from Hunter Campbell, one of the head lawyers of the UFC, asking me, ‘So John…but if there’s any chance you’re feeling up to it, man, it’d be awesome news…that you’re coming back and headlining one of the biggest events ever'”, Jones said in an interview with Submission Radio of the call he received from the UFC asking to headline UFC 300.
“And, uh, as honored as I am for the opportunity, I just don’t think I’ll be ready. I just don’t”, Jones revealed the reason why he had to refuse the offer. “I’m getting up there in age. I only have a few more events left, and I want to give those events my all and make sure that I come back 100%,” Jones further added that he will provide exciting performances on his return.
Jones was scheduled to headline UFC 295 with former two-time heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, but a pectoral injury forced his withdrawal. The plan for the UFC is to rebook the fight when Jones returns from injury and the timeline of his recovery aligns with late 2024.
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