There’s not much of a case for Jon Jones being the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world anymore but there was a time, where it could have been made. And when it was taken from him by former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, he raised a lot of hue and cry over how unjust it was.
Khabib rose to the pound-for-pound no 1 ranking after defeating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. Jones had then called the Dagestani out for not having fought anyone significant other than Conor McGregor.
Khabib’s fighting career came to an end with the demise of his father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov during the pandemic. So after he had fought his last fight and decided to call it a day with a perfect 29-0 record, he asked the fans to make him #1 on the P4P list and they did.
But this was followed by a series of tweets from Jones, where the heavyweight champion threw a ‘tantrum’ and said that the saddest part about all of this was that the UFC would probably demote him, which he thought was an insult but not very surprising.
UFC veteran Chael Sonnen loves this little story about the champ since it gives a glimpse into who he was as a person- a “ruthless, heartless competitor” at his core.
But is this ruthless-heartless competitor in the room with us right now in 2024?
Jones: GOAT or Duck?
Despite UFC president Dana White’s insistence that Jones is the P4P no 1 fighter in the world right now, the fact remains that he has fought once in the last 4 years. What’s worse is that the undisputed heavyweight champion has now categorically refused to fight the interim champion, Tom Aspinall, claiming that the Brit had done nothing of note in his career.
Except, he has. He is a world champion, who has defended the title more times at this point in time than Jones has. Jones instead wants to fight light heavyweight title Alex Pereira after being done with Stipe Miocic at UFC 309.
He has even offered to drop the heavyweight title after former middleweight champion Michael Bisping called for the belt to be stripped off of him if he refused to fight the interim champion.
Despite the widespread criticism, even from UFC legends like Daniel Cormier, Jones has only doubled down and refuses to indulge in any conversation about fighting Aspinall.
“I’ve been the main event my whole career… Tom is late. I don’t know if he went the amateur route, but I’ve been here.”
This has led to the MMA community accusing the supposed GOAT of ducking. One fan wished Miocic would win the title at UFC 309 and said, “Jon Jones’ excuse to duck mfs is ‘I am a legend. I am the goat. I don’t have to fight them’ bro is unbearable. Stipe gotta save us“.
Another fan brought up Jones’ record in the last 5 years and claimed, “Jones has fought Gane, Reyes, Santos and Anthony Smith. GOAT my dingle dangles. Dude has undone so much of the credit he built up in 20 years within the last 5 years and ducking Aspinall is a terrible look“.
Another fan wanted Jones to remember that laws are there for a reason and said, “Someone should remind this clown that Aspinall is the interim belt holder at the weight class in which quacky duck Jones holds the belt as a hostage“.
Others simply had the idea of letting Jones know what they thought of him when he walked out to fight next and said, “Everyone attending UFC 309 should bring duck calls for Jones walkout“.
From the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like Jones’ legacy is walking unscathed from his debate. He could still fight Aspinall if he retains his title at UFC 309 but if he doesn’t, the alleged greatest of all time will never beat the “ducking” allegations.