Jon Jones is broadly thought-about the best fighter of all time however who else deserves to face shoulder-to-shoulder with him on the checklist of the most effective to ever compete in MMA.
Properly, Jones weighed in on that very topic when requested about his “Mount Rushmore of MMA” — a well-liked subject to select the 4 greatest fighters from the game. Whereas there’s no metric to truly measure greatness, Jones’ picks aren’t all that stunning — and he’s additionally sensible sufficient to incorporate himself on the checklist.
“Prime 4 — Demetrious Johnson, Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre and myself,” Jones informed Vic Blends on YouTube. “In no particular order. We’ve all performed actually nice issues on this sport.”
In fact, Jones’ resume speaks for itself because the longest reigning mild heavyweight champion in UFC historical past after which going onto turn into heavyweight champion in recent times.
He’s additionally by no means truly tasted defeat in his profession with the one blemish on his file coming from a disqualification loss after he was already mauling Matt Hamill however finally completed the struggle with unlawful 12-to-6 elbow strikes.
In the meantime, St-Pierre is the longest reigning welterweight champion in UFC historical past with 9 consecutive title defenses earlier than transferring onto turn into middleweight champion with a submission win over UFC Corridor of Famer Michael Bisping.
For all of the title struggle wins Jones and St-Pierre boast of their careers, Johnson truly holds the file for essentially the most title defenses in UFC historical past with 11 straight, which broke Silva’s beforehand held mark at 10 straight title defenses.
As for Silva, Jones truly went so far as calling him his “idol” and admits he nonetheless will get nervous every time he has an opportunity to work together with the legendary Brazilian and former UFC champion.
Given the gaudy checklist of accolades these 4 have achieved over time, it’s robust to argue with Jones’ checklist however these are the names he would come with when narrowing down the most effective of the most effective in MMA historical past.