“I mean, don’t get me wrong, if I was Jon Jones’ size, I’d probably fuck him up, because I know mentally, physically and skillfully, I would push him.”
Demetrious Johnson knows a thing or two about greatness, which is why the former UFC flyweight king believes he’s more than qualified to label Jon Jones the greatest fighter of all time.
Johnson, 34, believes ‘Bones’ beats everyone at light heavyweight and heavyweight and has the best title reign in UFC history.
“Yeah, I would,” Johnson told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani when asked if he would pick Jones as the GOAT (h/t Abhinav Kini of The Body Lock MMA). “If somebody asked me, ‘why would you vote for Jon?’ Because I believe he can beat everybody at light heavyweight and I truly believe he can beat everybody at heavyweight.”
With that said Johnson, who now competes under the ONE FC banner, is confident he’d give Jones the toughest fight of his career and push the former two-time UFC light heavyweight champion to his limits if he was the same size as the Jackson Wink product.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, if I was Jon Jones’ size, I’d probably fuck him up, because I know mentally, physically and skillfully, I would push him. I’ve pushed people before, and I know I would push him,” Johnson said.
“I said I would go out and push him — doesn’t mean I’m going to win the fight. I’m saying if I was the same size as him and I have all my attributes that I have now, my mental capacity, my discipline, my skillset — I know I would go in there and push him.
“Everybody else will say, ‘of course, DJ. I would do the same thing.’ Nah, I don’t know. I’ve proven in my fights when I’m down, I’m going to push. I’m going to try to get it done.”
Johnson won the ONE Championship flyweight grand prix in 2019 and will return to the ring when he takes on Adriano Moraes for the flyweight title on Feb. 24. Jones, meanwhile, is expected to make his heavyweight debut next year against a TBD opponent.