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Is Jon Jones the greatest fighter the sport of MMA has ever seen?
His incredible list of stats and accolades speak for themselves. No one has ever beaten Jon Jones. The one loss on his record came by way of a disqualification. Essentially, Jones beat himself which sums up both the man’s career highs and lows in a nutshell.
One of the most complete fighters the world’s ever seen, ‘Bones’ Jones has proven himself to be a killer in all aspects of MMA. On the ground, he’s an elite level grappler with some of the most vicious ground-and-pound in light heavyweight history.
On the feet, he’s a devastating striker with an insanely long reach (over 84”) and skull-cracking elbow shots. He also utilizes his long legs to execute night-ending head kicks and knee strikes.
Throughout the 2010s, Jon Jones carved his way through a murderers’ row of light heavyweight contenders. Seemingly invincible come bell time, the controversial Jones is now bulking his way up to a heavyweight debut in 2022.
We may never see him at light heavyweight again, which begs the question, was there anyone who could’ve beaten him?
Here are five fighters who might’ve just been able to squeeze out an upset against Jon Jones:
#5. Jon Jones vs. Anthony Johnson
A UFC light heavyweight dream fight that never was. There was a time where ‘Rumble’ Johnson fights were must-see events for UFC fans. One of the scariest, hardest-hitting tough guys in light heavyweight history, Johnson was regarded as a boogeyman in the division.
Over the course of his 15-year career, Johnson has dropped bombs across four weight classes. Amazingly, despite his insane power and intimidation factor, Johnson never secured light heavyweight gold.
The reason?
At both UFC 187 and UFC 210, Cormier exposed Johnson’s achilles heel: the rear naked choke. As killer as Johnson is on his feet, his ground game isn’t quite up to scratch. To defeat the former NJCAA standout, Jones would have to keep this fight grounded. Assuming he can slap on Johnson’s most feared hold (three more of his losses also came by way of it), Jones is walking away with the win.
Despite being the obvious favorite, Jon Jones would simply have to leave his chin unprotected for even a fraction of a second to lose here. They call him ‘Rumble’ for a reason and Jon Jones, like everyone else, would be in danger of lights out at any given moment on the feet.
#4. Jon Jones vs. Reinier de Ridder
Similar to Jon Jones, no one has ever managed to defeat Reinier de Ridder. The 14-0 submission artist has been impossible to handle everywhere he’s fought. In April 2021, ‘The Dutch Knight’ fulfilled a dream Israel Adesanya attempted at UFC 259: he became the ruler of both the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions.
As it stands, de Ridder is arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter ONE Championship has going. A two-title king, de Ridder’s mastery of Brazilian jiu-jitsu would make him a struggle on the ground for Jon Jones. The Dutchman’s guards, mobility and mastery of leverage ensure he’s a lethal fight off the feet.
To take the double-champ out, Jon Jones would have to rely on his prolific striking and aim for a KO/TKO while he’s still fresh in the early rounds. While Jones is the superior striker, de Ridder is no slouch in this regard either. His knee strikes were enough to send Gilberto Galvao to the shadow realm at Legendary Quest.
The longer this fight goes on, the more it plays into de Ridder’s hands. Slowing the fight down and keeping it grounded, de Ridder would no doubt look to set up his suffocating rear-naked choke for the submission win.
For Jon Jones, this unpredictable grappler could be a strategic nightmare to handle. If this battle went the distance, de Ridder could just pick up a narrow decision victory.
#3. Jon Jones vs. Jiri Prochazka
At 6’4”, Jiri Prochazka enjoys a long reach (80”) to enhance his killer Muay Thai combos. For Jon Jones, fighting someone with an almost as freaky reach as his own is a rare occurrence. Prochazka’s size and defense would help neutralize the threat of Jones’ brain-rattling elbow jabs.
Prochazka has not lost a fight since 2015 against Muhammed Lawal at the Rizin World Grand Prix final. At 28-3, the pride of Znojmo boasts 25 knockout wins to his name.
On the feet, even someone as deadly as Jon Jones would be in trouble against the agile and vicious Prochazka. A master of the eight limbs of Muay Thai, Prochazka would have to keep this fight on the feet at all times.
If it were to go to the ground, Prochazka, much like everyone else, would likely be grounded and pounded into next week by ‘Bones’. Standing up though, this is a hazardously competitive fight where the mettle of Jon Jones’ chin would be tested.
The longer the fight goes, the worse Prochazka’s chances become. All it would take, however, is landing a series of his killer shots in the early rounds to turn the tide and net the upset.
#2. Jon Jones vs. Vadim Nemkov
For the (technically) undefeated Jon Jones, it’s probably a good thing he will never have to face this Russian menace.
There will likely come a day when UFC president Dana White bends over backwards to get this guy in his promotion. Bellator MMA’s light heavyweight kingpin is a student of heavyweight GOAT contender Fedor Emelianenko.
Of his 14 wins, Nemkov has 11 knockout finishes to his name. Not only is Nemkov adept at fast strikes to the domes of his opponents, his leg kicks have proven crippling. At Bellator 194, Nemkov leg-kicked Liam McGeary into oblivion. For the long-limbed Jon Jones, Nemkov’s lower body assault plan could neutralize much of his sterling stand-up offense.
At 29, the 14-2 Nemkov still has room to grow and improve even further in the cage. He has not lost a fight in more than five years and is the most dangerous sambo-practitioner this side of Dagestan.
For Jon Jones, facing a four time Combat Sambo world champ would’ve been a new and unwiedly challenge. While Nemkov would certainly be the underdog, his termination of Ryan Bader at Bellator 244 proved he can attack lethally from any angle. A shock upset thanks to his fatal strikes would not be off the table.
#1. Jon Jones vs. Jan Blachowicz
After years just below the surface, Jan Blachowicz has leveled up rather suddenly in the UFC. The former KSW light heavyweight champion has been a different beast since his third-round TKO loss to Thiago Santos in February 2019.
After putting Luke Rockhold to sleep and on hiatus at UFC 239, ‘Polish Power’ clawed his way to the vacated UFC light heavyweight title. At UFC 253, Blachowicz displayed his exceptional boxing once again with a TKO victory in the second round against Dominick Reyes.
Despite the hard and fast nature of his upper body strikes, Blachowicz’s real bread and butter is his grappling. Earlier this year at UFC 259, Blachowicz put the belt up for grabs against Israel Adesanya. The middleweight champ has often been compared to Jon Jones on account of their long reach and versatile striking.
While Jon Jones himself has dismissed many of the similarities on account of his penchant for wrestling, the comparisons persist.
While Blachowicz wasn’t as quick as Adesanya, he was able to use his grappling to neutralize much of the kickboxer’s arsenal. Jon Jones, who has often proven to have surprisingly slow footwork, is a harder hitter. Other than that, he is unlikely to be that much more difficult for Blachowicz to stay on guard with.
Scoring a finish on Jon Jones would be next to impossible for ‘Polish Power’. Slowing the fight down and dragging him to a decision loss, however, would be difficult but plausible for the Cieszyn native.
