3 reasons why Jon Jones can never be MMA's GOAT 

#3 His out-of-cage behaviour has been questionable

Jones' out of cage behavior has been extremely questionable

Some might argue that an athlete’s behavior outside of their sport shouldn’t influence their standing inside it, but in all truth, that isn’t the case. Ask boxing fans, for instance, who the greatest fighter of all time is, and the kind of names that might come up would be Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather, Sugar Ray Robinson, Roy Jones Jr. and Mike Tyson.

Plenty of fans, though, would argue that Tyson, despite his skill, wouldn’t belong on the list. Why? Because of some questionable behavior outside of the ring, including a conviction for rape, allegations of domestic violence, and drug use.

While it’s true that Jon Jones hasn’t behaved quite so badly as Tyson outside of the UFC’s Octagon, it’s certainly no lie that he’s had his fair share of personal issues. From his positive drug tests – not just for PEDs, but in 2015, for cocaine too – to a nasty hit-and-run incident in 2015 and a battery charge in 2019, as well as a series of generally unsavory online taunts aimed at his rivals, he hasn’t exactly carried himself like a professional or a martial artist.

And in a sport like MMA – which has, since its inception in the early 1990’s, prided itself on being a hybrid of classic martial arts, the majority of which are based around a mutual respect between competitors inside and outside of competition – out-of-cage behavior counts for a lot.

Compare Jones to the likes of Georges St. Pierre, Fedor Emelianenko, Demetrious Johnson and Amanda Nunes – all of whom have never behaved in anything but a classy fashion outside of the cage – and ‘Bones’ just doesn’t stack up. Simply put, even if he had the fighting accomplishments to be considered greater than those fighters, it’d be hard to label him such due to his questionable personal history.