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Jon Jones' name comes up a lot when fans discuss their personal 'greatest of all time' fighters, but for MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz, Jon Jones doesn't even come into the discussion.
Abdelaziz was speaking with Sherdog on the topic of G.O.A.T.s and, of course, he put his client and personal friend Khabib Nurmagomedov at the top of his GOAT list. He said:
"The G.O.A.T. means inside the cage, outside the cage. Khabib never had a close fight. You look at Jon Jones, his last three fights are very close fights. Khabib never even had a close fight. Dominance. Khabib is better. Undefeated. In many rounds Khabib is better. Outside the cage Khabib is better. Khabib never had issues with USADA. None of this stuff. Of course, Jon Jones is great fighter, but he could not tie the shoes of Khabib. I don't think he can. He's good, but Khabib is on another level."
Abdelaziz went even further, not just putting Georges St-Pierre ahead of Jones but suggesting that Jones isn't on the G.O.A.T list at all.
"Many people you can say they're GOATs. Georges St-Pierre, what a great human being. How can you not say he's the GOAT... I'm not taking anything away from Jon Jones, but I don't think he is. I can put Georges St-Pierre before him."
Watch the full interview with Ali Abdelaziz below:
Of course, talking about G.O.A.T. status becomes an endless argument because different people value different things in a G.O.A.T. In Jones' defense, he became the youngest UFC champion in history at 23 years of age and defended the light heavyweight title a staggering 11 times. That number would be even higher if Jones didn't have to keep winning his belt back after it was taken away by the UFC. He holds that record too, having been stripped three times (which doesn't include his decision to drop the belt in August 2020).
Jones accomplished all of this over a decade of championship competition. Khabib Nurmagomedov, on the other hand, only defended his belt three times over a two-and-a-half-year reign before retiring. Jones has more title fights than Nurmagomedov has fights in the UFC. Of course, 'The Eagle' has many arguments to be made for being the G.O.A.T. as well.
Jon Jones wasn't happy when Khabib Nurmagomedov replaced him on the pound-for-pound rankings
Just below the G.O.A.T. list is the UFC's pound-for-pound rankings, which provide a list of the top 15 fighters in the UFC irrespective of weight class. Since the UFC implemented the ranking system, Jon Jones enjoyed the No.1 spot on the Men's P4P list for the longest time. That is, until Khabib Nurmagomedov ousted him in October 2020 after beating Justin Gaethje and retiring from the sport.
Jones reacted to the change on Twitter, writing:
"This is number one bulls***"
He later added:
"Unanimous decision over last minute replacement Al Iaquinta to become champion. Conor McGregor is the only opponent he’s ever had that the general public actually knew. Catapulted my man to becoming the best ever, this is hilarious."
In the year and a half since, Jones has only continued to drop in the P4P rankings due to inaction. He's currently ranked No.8, behind Kamaru Usman, Alexander Volkanovski, Israel Adesanya, Charles Oliveira, Francis Ngannou, Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier, and Aljamain Sterling.
Fight fans can check out the video below for other updates:
