Jon Jones is NOT the youngest UFC champion ever, technically: A look at 'Bones' record after bold X claim gets fact-checked by Community Notes

The debate regarding Jon Jones' claim of being the youngest UFC champion of all time has intensified. Additionally, Jones' claim about being the oldest current UFC champion has been fact-checked by 'Community Notes' on X.

Journalist Anton Tabuena's tweet in Oct. 2024 alluded to an oft-discussed trivia among MMA fans. It suggested that Jones is considered the youngest UFC champion ever because the UFC was late in converting Jose Aldo's WEC featherweight title to his UFC featherweight title.

Aldo won the WEC featherweight title when he was around 23 years and 2 months old. He defeated Mike Brown via second-round TKO at WEC 44 in Nov. 2009 to win the featherweight belt.

The UFC's parent company, Zuffa, confirmed its plans to acquire the WEC in Dec. 2006 but operated it as a separate entity. Zuffa announced WEC's merging into the UFC in Oct. 2010, adding various lighter weight classes that the UFC previously lacked.

In Nov. 2010, the then-24-year-old Aldo, who's already notched a pair of WEC title defenses, was announced as the inaugural UFC featherweight champion. The Brazilian MMA great beat Mark Hominick via unanimous decision at UFC 129 in April 2011, notching his first successful UFC title defense in his octagon debut.

Meanwhile, Jones made his UFC debut in Aug. 2008 and swiftly ascended the 205-pound ranks. Jones defeated MMA legend Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua via third-round TKO at UFC 128 in March 2011, dethroning him to become the new UFC light heavyweight champion.

Jones thereby won his first UFC title at the age of 23 years and eight months.

Some fans emphasize that the UFC arbitrarily included Aldo and the featherweight division only in 2010 (effective from Jan. 2011) despite owning WEC since late 2006. Therefore, they suggest that Aldo should technically be recognized as the youngest ever to win a UFC title.

Moreover, another longstanding argument against Jones being labeled the youngest-ever UFC champion is that Vitor Belfort (an eventual Jones opponent) won the UFC heavyweight tournament title at UFC 12 (Feb. 1997) at the age of 19.

Certain sections of the MMA community have even underscored that Belfort, who later won the UFC light heavyweight title too, has an even stronger case than Aldo for replacing Jones as the youngest-ever UFC champion.

---

Jon Jones' claim about being the oldest active UFC champion gets fact-checked

The oldest UFC champion ever was Randy Couture, who reigned as the UFC heavyweight champion at the age of 45 back in the 2007-2008 timeframe. However, on the current roster, it's Alex Pereira who's the oldest titleholder. The 37-year-old Pereira (born July 7, 1987) is the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion.

Nevertheless, former UFC light heavyweight champion and reigning UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones recently put forth a tweet implying that he's the oldest current champion:

"In 2011, I became the youngest champion in UFC history. Today, I'm proud to stand as the oldest champion on the roster.. Age is just a number when your mind and spirit stay sharp."

Fight fans subsequently chimed in and asserted that Jones (born July 19, 1987) was incorrect because Pereira, who's 12 days older than him, is also a reigning UFC champion. Incidentally, Jones and Pereira have strongly expressed interest in fighting one another in a big-money "legacy" matchup.