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Early February will see the return of one of the UFC’s biggest superstars, as Jon Jones will attempt to defend his Light-Heavyweight title against young challenger Dominick Reyes in the main event of UFC 247. With a win, Jones would have 11 successful title defenses to his name, and most likely, some fans would be happy to call him the greatest fighter of all time, if they don’t already.
But is that really the case? Is ‘Bones’ really worthy of being considered MMA’s ‘GOAT’? Or are there simply too many negatives counting against him when it comes to comparing him to the likes of Georges St. Pierre and Fedor Emelianenko?
Here are 3 reasons why Jon Jones can never be considered MMA’s ‘GOAT’.
#1 His positive drug tests
Naturally, the biggest negative against Jon Jones being considered the greatest MMA fighter of all time is the fact that unlike his competitors for that title, he’s tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Worse still, ‘Bones’ has actually tested positive on two separate occasions, and that isn’t even taking into account his positive test for cocaine – considered a recreational rather than performance enhancing drug – in 2015.
Jones first tested positive during the build to a planned Light-Heavyweight title fight with Daniel Cormier at UFC 200, popping for two banned substances – clomiphene and letrozole. The fight was subsequently scrapped, and ‘Bones’ was suspended for a year.
By the summer of 2017, Jones was back from his suspension, and the fight with Cormier went ahead, with Jones regaining his title after a third round TKO victory. Just weeks later though, the result was overturned when Jones tested positive for another banned substance – this time, the anabolic steroid turinabol.
‘Bones’ was suspended for 30 months for the infraction, but even after returning, he hasn’t been squeaky clean – a pre-fight drug test prior to his comeback fight at UFC 232 saw him again test positive for turinabol, but due to the amount in his system reportedly being minuscule, he was allowed to fight.
Detractors might point to the fact that drug testing was less stringent in the time when Fedor Emelianenko and Georges St. Pierre – two other fighters often considered to be the ‘GOAT’ - were competing, but the fact is that neither man ever tested positive.
As for Anderson Silva, the same knock could be used against him, as he tested positive for banned substances twice – but in his defense, both positive tests came when he was far past his prime, and don’t hang over his legacy like they do with Jones.
So how can anyone who’s tested positive for performance enhancers so many times be considered the greatest? The short answer is that they can’t.
#2 His record is somewhat questionable
On the surface, Jon Jones has one of the most impressive records in MMA history. He’s currently 25-1 with one No Contest – a fight that he won before testing positive for PEDs – and the lone loss was a 2009 disqualification against Matt Hamill in a fight that most agree referee Steve Mazzagatti made a complete mess of. However, when compared to the record of Georges St. Pierre or Fedor Emelianenko, it’s easy to find some holes.
How many of Jones’ opponents, particularly during his title reign, were actually in their prime at the time that ‘Bones’ faced them? The answer, surprisingly, is not too many. Ryan Bader, who Jones defeated in 2011 to earn his title shot, didn’t really enter his prime until many years after the fight. And Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, who ‘Bones’ unseated to claim the title, was coming off a lengthy layoff due to knee surgery prior to their fight.
What of his other victims? ‘Rampage’ Jackson clearly peaked during his own Light-Heavyweight title reign and hadn’t looked good in years prior to his fight with Jones. Lyoto Machida had lost two of his previous three fights before facing Jones, while Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen were both blown up 185lbers. And of his more recent opponents, Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith earned their title shots fairly, but prior to receiving them, were largely viewed as career journeymen.
Essentially then, Jones only has a handful of truly impressive wins – Rashad Evans, Alexander Gustafsson, Daniel Cormier and Glover Teixeira – on his ledger. Compare that to Emelianenko, who defeated the likes of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Heath Herring, Mirko Cro Cop, Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia all in their primes, and St. Pierre – who essentially ran through three different generations of fighters all at the peak of their powers – and it’s not really a close comparison.
Jones is undoubtedly a great fighter and he’s quite clearly the best Light-Heavyweight in MMA history, but the unfortunate truth is that the era in which he’s been competing in hasn’t been the best for the 205lbs division – which peaked in the early 2000’s. And that’s another strike against his claim to being the ‘GOAT’.
#3 His out-of-cage behaviour has been 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.
