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Jon Jones and Khabib Nurmagomedov now exist in rarefied air alongside each other, with another all-time MMA great filling out this trifecta of iconic male MMA champions. Georges St-Pierre is the individual in question who fills out this trio of UFC champions who have all accomplished a specific thing.
In the wake of the Jon Jones' retirement news, there are now only three male champions in the history of the promotion who have retired as champion. Nurmagomedov and St-Pierre hanged their boots as lightweight and middleweight champion, respectively, while Jones left the sport as the reigning UFC heavyweight champion.
The news of this accomplishment was turned into a graphic on X by the account @HappyPunch with a slight caveat later added in the tweet thread for Henry Cejudo. There is a bit of an asterisk next to 'Triple C' though, as he did technically retire as the reigning UFC bantamweight champion, but ultimately returned to competition to take on a few more fights.
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The same asterisk can also be applied to the likes of Bas Rutten and Frank Shamrock, who retired as reigning UFC champions only to end up returning for more competitive efforts later on.
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Jon Jones called 'best' 'in UFC history' by Khabib Nurmagomedov
Jon Jones may have left the sport shrouded in a massive cloud of controversy, according to many, but Khabib Nurmagomedov has given 'Bones' his flowers in the wake of him announcing his retirement from MMA.
The former UFC lightweight champion reposted UFC's post on Instagram story and wrote:
"My congratulations, legend. Even though we were not friends, but you are the best who ever do it in UFC history, and you inspire millions of people around the world. You have nothing more to prove in this sport."
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The controversy surrounding Jones choosing to leave the sport now is centered on the belabored episode of bout negotiations with interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall that ended up not leading to anything.
Aspinall has now been upgraded to the UFC heavyweight champion outright in the wake of the Rochester native articulating to Dana White his intentions to leave the sport.
