“The greatest of all time is Jon Jones. Jon Jones is undefeated. Jon Jones has been around forever. He has fought everybody in the light heavyweight division. Now he’s in the heavyweight division beating guys.” Dana White simply could not back off from talking big about Jon Jones. As he claimed that Jones should be the #1 P4P fighter, he even dismissed the one single loss by DQ on the heavyweight champ’s record. And now, people have begun siding with the UFC head honcho. Well, some even believed that Jones was in league with legends like Bruce Lee, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson. No doubt, ‘Bones’ has come a long way.
Do you remember the time when Chael Sonnen claimed that Jones could defeat Ali and Tyson on the same night? It’s true, although ‘The Bad Guy’ received quite a bit of backlash for his take. But his message was loud and clear. Jones was one of the strongest fighters to have ever walked. And that continues even today. In his last fight against Stipe Miočić, the champ channeled his Lee’s powers and executed a phenomenal spinning back kick that put the firefighter down. Actually, he had already practiced that move quite a few times. And as Bruce Lee used to say, one should fear a man that worked one kick 10,000 times, not the man who knows 10,000 kicks. But did Jones ever imagine that he’d get himself compared with such legends?
During a recent conversation with Victor Fontanez on DeepCut with VicBlends, ‘Bones’ revealed that he came from almost nothing. But the one thing that took him to greatness was his belief that the sky was the limit for him. And unlike many others, he started his professional MMA journey when he was a young adult. He was the man who knew nothing about fighting in his first team. But all that changed when he began to dream.
Jones said, “And then it was to be the best fighter in New York State, and then it was to be the best American fighter, and then it was to beat Chuck Liddell’s record. And now, people consider me one of the greatest fighters who’s ever lived, you know, considering Bruce Lee, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson. That’s all great company. And you know, people consider me the number one fighter who’s ever lived. I would have never imagined it. But my belief is so high in me now that it’s like, of course, that’s how I feel now. Of course, I’m the best. I feel, of course, I can do more.”
People not only linked the UFC heavyweight champion’s legacy with Tyson and Ali, but also linked his power with theirs. However, there was a difference. Let’s hear what ‘Bones’ had to say about it.
Jon Jones points out the difference between him and boxers like Mike Tyson and Gervonta Davis
As the conversation with VicBlends continued, Jones weighed in on why he relied so much on his elbows. And as he did that, he compared himself with ‘Iron Mike’ and Gervonta Davis. He said, “I enjoy throwing elbows only because my arms are so long. And when you think about guys like Mike Tyson or [Gervonta] ‘Tank’ Davis, they have short arms. And I think it allows them to generate more power by being shortened, like, you know, a little brick like that.”
But people with longer arms failed to generate a similar magnitude of power in their fists. That’s where inspirations from Muay Thai came in handy. Jones continued, “Long, gangly guys like myself, we just aren’t as powerful. And so in training and in fights, I would realize when the guys were close to me, you know, my uppercut and my left hook, you know, these are my short, shorter-range weapons. They just weren’t as effective as the more muscular, stockier guys.”
Jones has indeed achieved almost everything as a fighter. And getting compared with the aforementioned legends was proof of it. But his legacy has now entered a stage of scrutiny as he continues to steer clear of a fight against Tom Aspinall. If he manages to fight and beat the Brit, the fight fans can certainly say that Jones is the GOAT of MMA.
What are your thoughts on the comparison between ‘Bones’ and the other legends? Do you think the future generations will look at Jones like we look at Lee, Ali, and Tyson? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
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