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Former UFC fighter Ben Askren recently offered his candid take on the progression of Jon Jones' career. 'Funky' declared that Jones' transgressions outside the octagon have taken some of the shine off of his extremely impressive resume in MMA.
While in conversation with Helen Yee of Helen Yee Sports, Ben Askren admitted that Jones' use of drugs, PEDs, and his repeated run-ins with the law for domestic violence and hit-and-run cases exacted a heavy toll on his legacy as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.
Askren further questioned 'Bones' inactivity, incorrectly recalling his last outing inside the octagon at UFC 239 in July 2019, where the duo shared the main stage against different opponents.
Here's what 'Funky' had to say about the same:
"Because of his out of the cage things, people, I don't want to say people forget about him, but they certainly don't think as highly of him as his resume would indicate. You know, when you think about the drug things, the PED things, other stuff, they don't think as highly of Jon Jones as his resume would show... Listen, I'm retired and I fight more often than Jon Jones so, I mean, Jon Jones' last fight was literally July 6 when I fought. He was on that card and that's his last fight, you know."
However, Jones last featured inside the octagon back in February 2020 at UFC 247 in a fight against Dominick Reyes at light heavyweight. He went on to win the fight by way of unanimous decision after five grueling rounds.
Ben Askren calls upon Jon Jones to make a comeback at the earliest
In the same interaction with Helen Yee, Ben Askren highlighted the implications of competing infrequently as a professional fighter.
The former Bellator champion admitted that although fighters from higher weight classes have relatively longer careers compared to those competing at lower weight classes, the clock is ticking against Jones' favor.
The 37-year-old further asserted that taking time off from the sport was still acceptable if one was recovering from an injury or a long-term medical complication. However, since that isn't the case with the Alburquerque native, he urged Jones to consider making a return to the octagon at the earliest:
"If you're a fighter, you only have a window that's relatively limited and especially if you're not injured, if you're not rehabbing an ACL or something, you need to get in there as frequently as possible."
Catch Ben Askren's full interaction with Helen Yee below:
