Dominick Reyes doesn’t believe Jon Jones will ever be considered the Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali of mixed martial arts.
Reyes challenges Jones for the light heavyweight title at UFC 247 this Saturday. He will not only have to defeat a fighter who has virtually been undefeated his entire career, but also whom many consider as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.
In the NBA, Jordan is widely considered as the GOAT while Ali is the same when it comes to boxing. But when it comes to being on their level, Reyes doesn’t think Jones will ever be put in the same pedestal — no matter how many more wins and titles he earns:
“He’s not ever going to be the Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali level,” Reyes said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday (via MMA Mania).
“No matter how many wins he gets, no matter how many titles he wins, he can’t get out of his own way. He’s just not a good person.”
Jones has had a history of troubled incidents outside the Octagon in addition to his two failed drug tests in 2016 and 2017.
However, “Bones” believes the storm is behind him now as he seems focused on building his legacy further.
“I do feel like the storm’s behind me,” Jon.es said in a recent interview “It’s been an interesting journey and I’ve learned so much. I’m just grateful. Grateful to have had all the lessons that I’ve been able to learn. Grateful that God has kept me through all of it and just allowed me to grow so much through it all.
“I think my best days are definitely still ahead of me. I’m really getting to a nice groove of what it means to be a professional athlete and a person with great responsibility and I’m excited about this and feel like I’m stepping into it well.”
Do you agree with Reyes?