Joe Rogan pointed out a major difference in how Jon Jones and Conor McGregor have handled their careers.
Jon Jones is the current UFC heavyweight champion and still holds the record as the youngest-ever UFC champion. Before moving up to heavyweight, Jones dominated the light heavyweight division for a decade, successfully defending his title nine times in a row.
Conor McGregor, on the other hand, shot to fame in 2015 when he knocked out Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds to win the featherweight title at UFC 194. A year later, he became the first fighter in UFC history to hold two titles simultaneously by defeating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 for the lightweight championship.
Joe Rogan Reveals the Big Difference Between Two UFC Greats
“Jon’s in a different category,” Joe Rogan told Josh Brolin during their chat on The Joe Rogan Experience when comparing the two UFC stars.
Josh Brolin is an actor who became famous for his role in the movie The Goonies in 1985 and later became even more popular for playing Thanos in the Marvel movies asked Rogan about how Jon Jones and Conor McGregor stack up against each other. Rogan explained that Jon Jones is in a league of his own because of his incredible success and skill in the UFC.
“Conor self-destructed in a lot of ways because of money,” Rogan added.
“He took that fight with Floyd Mayweather, made a ton of money off that, and then took a long time before he came back to MMA—and he’s just not been the same guy since.
“I think that’s just money, it’s a lot of partying, but it’s the same kind of thing. It’s just wild. But when Conor was in his prime, he was a f****** assassin.”
Rogan talked more with Brolin about Mike Tyson and how some super famous fighters can mess up when they get too much attention. They both talked about how being really famous can make it harder for fighters to stay on track.
“There’s people that are just different,” Rogan continued. “They’re wired different and they are uncommon amongst uncommon men.
“They rise to the top of the top and they just dominate—and that’s Jon, he’s just the greatest of all time. He’s 37 years old and he’s still the greatest. That’s crazy.”
He claimed the 265 lbs title in March after a three-year break, defeating Ciryl Gane in his first fight since beating Dominick Reyes in early 2020.
“Jon is a special dude, when he’s gone, we’re all going to miss him,” Rogan said.
“He’s a different kind of guy. I mean, he’s been at the top for 14 f****** years. He was the youngest guy to ever win a UFC title, 23…But when Jon Jones won that title at 23, it’s just been [a] destruction of everyone ever since.
“Never ducked anybody, fought all the best, destroyed everybody, and dominated his division—went up to heavyweight, dominates at heavyweight.”
Rogan talked about the word “duck” when talking about Jones. This is funny because Jones has been clear that he doesn’t want to fight Tom Aspinall.
Aspinall is the UFC interim heavyweight champion, and usually, the next step for an interim champ is to fight the real champion to make one title. Aspinall, who’s 31, shared on Thursday that he’s talking with UFC President Dana White and other leaders about his next big fight.
He has cleared out the entire division and has been asking for a shot at Jones’ full world title for the past year, but hasn’t gotten it yet.
To make the fight happen, the UFC might need to offer Jones a massive payday to get him into the octagon with Aspinall.
