When it comes to MMA’s undisputed GOAT, Ilia Topuria believes Jon Jones stands above the rest.
The conversation over who truly is mixed martial arts’ greatest of all time is a never-ending debate that often sees names like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva as part of the conversation. But there’s only one man whose name consistently comes up every single time—Jon Jones.
‘Bones’ is by far and away the most dominant champion in UFC history. As a light heavyweight, he successfully defended his title 11 times across two different title reigns. Along the way, he earned wins over the likes of Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Victor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Alexander Gustafsson, and Glover Teixeira.
That unparalleled success inside the Octagon is why Topuria believes ‘Bones’ stands above other noteworthy fighters like ‘The Eagle’ and his lightweight protege, Islam Makhachev.
“The first one has to be Jon Jones,” Topuria said on the Full Send Podcast when asked for his top three GOATs. “You have to give credit to that man. When I see people comparing him with the Dagestani guys like Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and Islam Makhachev—all respect to the champions, but how many fights does Khabib have in the UFC? 14, 15 fights? Jon Jones has 15 title defenses. For me, he’s the number one.”
Ilia Topuria picks his MMA Goat:
“For me it’s Jon Jones.. It’s funny when compare Jones to Khabib. Khabib has what 14 or 15 fights in the UFC?
Jon Jones has 15 title defenses.” 🤔 🐐
(Via: @Topuriailia 🎥 @fullsendpodcast) pic.twitter.com/j1oNbq2T2t
— MMA UNCENSORED (@MMAUNCENSORED1) February 14, 2025
Jon Jones Continues to Build His MMA Legacy
While his impressive run at 205 is probably more than enough to justify his status as MMA’s GOAT, Jon Jones added to his legacy in March 2023 with a dominant first-round submission victory over Ciryl Gane to claim the vacant UFC heavyweight championship.
He has since successfully defended the belt against the man many believe to be the greatest heavyweight of all time, Stipe Miocic. ‘Bones’ brutalized Miocic before scoring a stunning third-round finish at Madison Square Garden in November.
Next up for Jones is a title unification clash with current interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. When, where, and even if that fight takes place remains to be seen, but UFC CEO Dana White has remained confident that they’ll get a deal worked out between the two fighters for a 2025 showdown.
Watch the full podcast episode below:
