I wouldn't say he was the GOAT. Great fighter but he's his own worst enemy. Wasted a lot of his fighting career
It's hard to say for sure. Each one of the 5 commonly cited fighters in the running all have some sort of glaring hole in their careers, whether it be PED usage (couldn't care less), mediocre competition, short reign, or controversial decision wins. I just hate that the new generation of fans that came along with Conor and Khabib have no idea who Fedor Emelianenko is, who has wins over 6 UFC champions.
Proven Multiple time ped's cheat. Funny how he's looked ordinary since usada entered the picture. He ain't the goat. I predict he loses his next fight whether that be heavy or light heavy. If he fights Ngannou or Gane at heavy he will jump on the gear again and get usada'd out of the sport for good.
Arguably lost to Santos. Definitely lost to Reyes. He'll have an asterisk next to his name forever, his fanboys are just going to have learn and deal with it.
I'd say greatest LHW, he recently had his chance to prove himself against Stipe but wanted no part of it. He is clearly wanting Francis for the fact he is more than likely going to get the take down. Stipe is all wrong for him, he would stuff Jons take downs and in the stand up his hands are way better than Jons. Jon does have a good chin but Stipe hits way harder than anyone he has faced. Only chance Jon would have is a head kick to the chin. I doubt Stipe would feel his punches.
Why is Jones not fighting ? It will be 2 yrs this coming February since his last fight so why the wait ? He gets paid ZERO by not fighting and the ufc isn't going to pay him some ridiculous 20/30 million to fight Ngannou. Some people have theorized that he is secretly suspended by usada. Remember they don't currently announce failed tests until any arbitration is finalised. Who knows. After his awful recent performances he can't seriously think he can beat the top 2 or 3 guys at heavyweight. This is a guy who couldn't stop an average middleweight journeyman in Anthony Smith. C'mon guys, Jones isn't doing anything significant at heavyweight. Seriously I can see him risking roiding up again for one final fight/payday at heavy and he will never fight again in disgrace after losing and getting popped for ped's again.
Bones is what got me into UFC-no doubt bona-fide sociopath and my favorite fighter of all time. However it would be asinine to dismiss the fact that he cheated (likely cheating for a while-plenty of incidents and anecdotal stories by UFC fighters to back this ). If you started to dismiss that fact (PEDS) -then by that token of logic Lance Armstrong is P4P the greatest cyclist, Bonds is P4P the greatest baseball player, Marion Jones is P4P best female runner, and I could go on and on. I view Jones like Bonds. One of the best of all time, however steroids turned them into Goliath's in there respective sports.
Most of the elite he beat were washed up undersized (naturally smaller) veterans of MMA with the exception of Cormier who had to drain himself to make Lightheavy. Gus arguably beat him and thats because he was not old and washed up when he fought him the first time. Two controversial wins in his last fights doesnt help him either, neither does the PED scandal that plagued his career.
Look at Jones' performances before usada and then view his performances after usada. His career has fallen off a cliff. If he fought Santos/Smith before usada he would have completely destroyed them within a couple of minutes showing them up as the journeymen they are. Open your eyes they won't deceive you. He's a ped's cheat and without them his performances drastically come back to the level of the other fighters. I would be absolutely shocked if he agrees to fight Gane/Ngannou without roiding up first.
I think he's a tad overrated. There's simply too many blown up MW's on his resume, he's a genuine HW who hasn't challenged himself up there yet, and when he met a guy who was his size (Gus) he struggled. He's decimated some people badly, but after the failed tests etc it's an overrated resume.
Fedor and GSP are a million miles ahead of him. Should’ve lost to Gus, Santos and Reyes. When his supply of vitamin S was temporarily shut off against St. Prieux he looked like a bum.
I don't care anyone says. Penn>Jones as well. Insane talent and despite the 2nd half of his career being a major fall from grace, his legacy is still not marred by PED controversy.
