UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones believes there is one thing that separates him from lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov — their level of opponents.
Jones is set to defend his title against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 this Saturday. Another win for “Bones” would only further solidify his claim of being the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.
Also considered the pound-for-pound best fighter in the sport today, Jones does get some competition from Nurmagomedov for that accolade. After all, “The Eagle” is undefeated with a 28-0 record and has virtually dominated every single one of his opponents.
But for Jones, Nurmagomedov hasn’t faced the number of champions and legends that he has been facing throughout the years:
“I think Khabib’s an amazing fighter,” Jones said on ESPN First Take (via Bleacher Report). “He’s done a great job representing UFC. He’s a great ambassador for our sport.
“But if you were to ask some MMA experts about myself and Khabib, I think most people would be able to tell our resumes are completely different. I’ve fought so many world champions that I’ve defeated. Khabib, a lot of his victories are against a lot of people that are relatively unknown. I’ve been fighting legends since I was a young man.”
Even for his naysayers, it’s hard to disagree with Jones on that.
For what it’s worth, though, even Nurmagomedov considers the light heavyweight king as the pound-for-pound best fighter in the UFC.
Do you agree with Jones?