When discussing consistency in the world of MMA, Jon Jones’s name must be mentioned. The MMA community remains divided—some hail Jones as the absolute GOAT of the promotion, while others criticize him for avoiding a fight with Tom Aspinall. However, with Alex Pereira losing his title to Magomed Ankalaev, a new statistic has emerged—and it’s good news for Jon Jones. Why? Let’s find out.

There has always been debate surrounding the pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings, with many in the MMA community believing Jon Jones deserves the top spot. This argument is often based on the fact that Jones has as many title defenses as Islam Makhachev has total fights within the promotion. Interestingly, as Alex Pereira conceded defeat at the hands of Magomed Ankalaev last night, new statistics have come forward. It appears that the heavyweight champion has more title defenses than all of the current titleholders combined.

Sharing the numbers on his Instagram feed and story, Jon Jones highlighted his success. Later, his former foe, Vitor Belfort, reposted it on his own Instagram with a caption that read, “@Jonnybones, everything has levels. You are definitely on another level. Glory to God.” ‘Bone’ later shared Belfort’s story on his story and added a handshake emoji.

Numerically speaking, Jon Jones has defended his title 15 times in his career. It must be noted that the heavyweight champion has held a UFC title, whether it be the light-heavyweight or heavyweight title since 2011. Compared to his record, all the other current champions within the promotion have a combined total of 10 title defenses. Islam Makhachev has defended his title 4 times, while Merab Dvalishvili has defended it once, Alexandre Pantoja has defended it thrice and finally, we have Dricus Du Plessis with two title defenses.

It must be noted that the featherweight title is currently vacant, and Belal Muhammad and Magomed Ankalaev have yet to defend their titles. These simple statistics by Jon Jones have shown that there are levels to the game and why he is called the GOAT of the promotion. Well, despite the fact that he stands at #3rd in the P4P rankings, Jon Jones has been content with it. Interestingly, a prominent individual sees Jones as the true P4P king.

Michael Jai White ranks Jon Jone ahead of everyone at the P4P debate

With a career record of 28 victories and just one loss—due to disqualification—Jon Jones stands at the pinnacle of the MMA world. However, despite that, the heavyweight champion has been trained at the #3rd at the P4P debate and actor Michael Jai White is confused by it. While having a conversation with ‘Vlad TV,’ the host reminded Michael Jai White that Islam Makhachev stands at the top of the P4P debate ahead of Jon Jones, the actor couldn’t believe his words as he said, “Wait a second.. what do you mean it.. What are you saying? Oh, wait… that’s—that’s stupid.”

He further added, “I don’t give a f—, John. It’s got to be Jon Jones—that’s just ridiculous. Of course, he should be number one! He should be number one over Islam, of course. Jon’s had more title defenses than Islam’s had fights, right? maybe that’s a popularity thing? What? No, come on—Jon Jones is number one across the board. I don’t know how stupidly I forgot to say that, but come on.”

The only reason why Jon Jones has remained at 3rd rank is due to the fact that he is not defending his title. His last clash was against Stipe Miocic and a considerable time has gone by since then, but we are yet to get any news about his upcoming fight. Given that, what are your thoughts on the data shared by Jon Jones? State your opinion in the comments below.