Is Jon Jones the Pound-For-Pound Greatest Of All Time?

Published 08/22/2019, 4:12 PM EDT

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Jon Jones is unbeaten in his fighting career and, without a doubt, the best light heavyweight fighter in the history of MMA. And nobody has been able to break his most decorated winning streak in MMA history

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However, the pound-for-pound rankings seem to bother not only the fans but also fighters such as Jon Jones too.

What is the Pound-for-Pound Ranking?

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What is it exactly does the pound-for-pound list take into consideration while putting one fighter above the rest of the fighters?

Is it the skillset of the fighter?

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Or is it the records that the fighter has achieved?

Or is it the percentage of wins and the body of work through which the fighter has gone through?

We get the rankings in different divisions where fighters try to get to the top so that they can get a crack at the title. And the champion is number 1 in his division since he has the title.

However, we can see the pound-for-pound best changing all the time. Before UFC 241, it was Daniel Cormier who was the pound-for-pound best. Do I agree with that? With two losses against Jon Jones, you can’t call DC the pound-for-pound best just because he has won two titles at two different divisions.

If that was the case, then Henry Cejudo should have been the pound-for-pound greatest since he has the Olympic medal, Flyweight title, and the Bantamweight title.

Now with achievements criteria out of the consideration, let’s discuss skillsets.

Undoubtedly, Jon Jones is multiple levels above other fighters when it comes to fighting IQ and skillsets.

However, does he surpass Demetrious Johnson?

or Anderson Sliva when he was in his prime?

Silva was always multiple steps ahead of his opponents inside the octagon. For a long time, he was considered the greatest of all time.

Now let’s bring another name to the mix, George St Pierre. It will be very difficult to put an argument that Jones surpasses GSP when it comes to skillsets. So this factor also seems insufficient to confirm who the best in the world is.

And let’s discuss the dominance or the body of work of the fighters now.

Jon Jones is the most dominant and best light heavyweight fighter ever; there is no denying that.

Jones has dominated many legends effortlessly. However, we are forgetting about the most dominating force in MMA that is Amanda Nunes.

You can argue that Jones might lose to someone at the heavyweight division. Jones can get knocked out by heavyweights such as Stipe or Ngannou.

However, no one in the Women’s division can beat Amanda Nunes. Valentina Shevchenko is the only female fighter who can go toe to toe with the double champ Nunes.

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When we are talking about dominance who can be more dominant than the lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov!

Khabib has lost only one round when he decided to trade punches with one of the best boxers in UFC, Conor McGregor. So the dominance factor doesn’t help either.

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Before UFC 241, Daniel Cormier was the pound-for-pound greatest. Then shouldn’t Stipe Miocic be the Pound-for-Pound greatest now as he just beat Cormier at heavyweight, where Cormier is most vicious and unbeatable?

Jon Jones is the greatest of all time. It’s difficult to argue against it and it’s also difficult to argue for it. UFC president, Dana White has said repeatedly that Jones is the greatest of all time. However, how do you consider someone the greatest when the title of pound-for-pound best fight in UFC changes every other week?

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Written by:

Alok Nayak

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