The sport of MMA is widely considered as the “Ultimate form of competition” with millions of fans around the world and thousands of fighters. The same question that is asked for everything is asked here: Who is the greatest fighter to ever touch the sport? The answer to this question is very short and simple: Jon Jones.
Jonathan Dwight Jones (Born July 19, 1987) Is a professional mixed martial artist who currently fights in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) as of writing this. Jones has a professional record of 27-1-1 (27 Wins, 1 Loss, 1 No Contest). As of writing this, he is #3 in the men’s pound for pound rankings.
Many people have different definitions of “All Time Greatness.” Some say the greatest is the one who’s never lost, or the one who has never turned down an opponent. However, people look at things that appeal to the eye, solely based on what they see, not what they know, and not statistics.
Some people’s GOATS of MMA consist of fighters like George St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Fedor Emelianenko, The list goes on. What’s so special about Jon Jones however, Is that He fought the best, at their best, and was still Unstoppable, Unbeatable, and undisputed.
A good example of different definitions are the standard arguments people put up for this scenario. Lots of people say Khabib Nurmagomedov is the greatest fighter ever, due to the fact of him having a jaw dropping record of 29-0, Retiring as a champion on top of his game. However, if you go into the stats and see WHO he fought to get to 29-0, it’s pretty laughable. Khabib’s first 17 opponents hold a combined record of 47-52 (40 of those wins coming from 2 opponents alone, the record would be 7-38 without those two) What that means basically is that he fought people with much more losses than wins, essentially fighting people who really stood no chance, and had little to no fighting experience / skill. His fights in the UFC were mixed with people who either had genuine skill, or were much out of their prime shape.
Just for comparison, Jon jones first 17 opponents have a combined record of 290-123-3, which is a big difference. Jones fought people with a lot of experience, Majority of the half having Double digit wins, etc. Jones’s Resume is significantly better than khabib.
The point of that last paragraph was that people say he is better than Jones because of his record and of his tremendous wrestling. Although his wrestling was truly spectacular, the record he holds of 29 wins with no losses, is mostly hand picked fights. However he was very dominant and does definitely have the best wrestling of all time in the UFC. But regardless of what people think, Jones’ Remains #1.
Jones’ is widely considered as the greatest of all time, because of how he’s won each fight, who he’s fought, his skillset alone, etc. There have been a handful of fights that have been very close that he has won. Jones explains how he prepares for his opponents, his work ethic and dedication is truly something that you don’t see out of anyone else.
Now lets focus on Jon Jones, He holds a record of 27 Wins, 1 Loss and 1 No Contest. Jones had 7 UFC Fights before fighting for a UFC Title, Jones’ also has more championship fights (and won) than regular bouts in the UFC (He has 7 standard bouts and 17 championship bouts).
Which he ended up winning at the young age of 23 Years old. Since winning the title in 2011, He hasn’t not fought for one since, Fighting in 16 consecutive title fights, winning all of them. His only Loss on his record is to Matt Hamill, In which he was disqualified for using an illegal move called the “12-6 Elbow”. The no contest came from his second fight with Daniel “DC” Cormier.
Jon Jones 17 year run in MMA is still going on, As he will fight on November 16th, 2024. Planning to defend his Heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic, Widely known as the greatest heavyweight of all time. Jones has made it clear that he plans for that fight to be his last. Calling it “The last ride” or his “Retirement Fight”. If it is truly the end of Jones’s tremendous career then it has not only been an honor to watch, but an honor to write about as well.
