Who is the pound-for-pound best? Everyone says Islam Makhachev, but for Dana White, it’s Jon Jones all the way. The discussions regarding the best P4P have yet to decline. Jones already returned and defeated Stipe Miocic and established his rule as the best Heavyweight again. Even after an injury and a long hiatus, ‘Bones’ still proved his mettle. Makhachev, on the other hand, defeated Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 and now he is getting ready for his next bout against Arman Tsarukyan.

The fighter from Team Khabib wants to surpass his mentor, and he is well on his way towards the same. Even after that, Jones is being favored by Dana White and he even put the heavyweight ahead of legends like Mike Tyson. When asked about the most outstanding fighter in the world during a DWCS press conference, the boss did not sugarcoat his words. “Look at the numbers. Are you guys seriously that fu—ng stupid? There’s no way you can’t see Jon Jones is the best,” White retaliated at reporters.

Guess what? Makhachev has something to say about the same. While speaking to CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri ahead of his UFC 311 bout, he talked about how White supporting the same ‘guy.’ He said, “Dana thinks the same, but he wants to promote the same guy. He is old, he has one more, two more fights. But I know what they know.”

This was also addressed by Makhachev’s manager Ali Abdelaziz, who does not quite agree with the boss. According to him, the lightweight champion is far ahead of the 37-year-old champion. While speaking to Kevin Iole, he shared his honest response to White’s claims.

Makhachev’s manager speaks up on the best P4P debate

Abdelaziz spoke about the same with Kevin Iole, and said, “Dana’s right about a lot of things, but [in this case] Dana’s wrong. But Dana’s also a great promoter. What can he promote about Jon Jones? Nothing. [Jones is] an old guy who’s been hiding. He is using Islam Makhachev to promote Jon Jones. Islam doesn’t need Jon Jones to be promoted. Do you know why Islam is being promoted? [It’s because of] the amount of hard work and dedication, the finishes, and the performance you know he’s delivering. Right? Islam doesn’t care for pound 4 pound, he only cares about beating people’s a–.” 

He also said that the head honcho uses Makhachev to promote Jones. On the other hand, the latter does not need the publicity of the heavyweight because of the amount of hard work and dedication. After all, he is from Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team and they are a class apart.

At this point,  Jones hasn’t responded to Abdelaziz’s words yet. He is in talks with the promotion to return to the octagon in 2025, likely against interim title winner Tom Aspinall. Makhachdev is about to defend his title against Arman Tsarukyan and the challenger is confident that he might walk out as the new champ. So will he change Dana White’s mind about the best P4P?