Jon Jones might be the greatest of all-time in the eyes of many around the mixed martial arts (MMA) community, but some can’t give “Bones” that crown considering his past issues with performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).
As you may know, UFC CEO, Dana White, has gone to battle with the media over the past few months in effort to convince them that Jones is still the pound-for-pound (P4P) best fighter in the world. While there’s no arguing how good Jones has been and could be when he makes his return to the Octagon, his inactivity over the past four years is a big knock on his P4P claim.
Still, White remains adamant that Jones is the best fighter on the planet right now. Despite the proven dominance of UFC lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, and the meteoric rise of UFC light heavyweight king, Alex Pereira, White believes no candle can be held to what Jones has done in the sport and what he can still offer at 37 years of age.
Unlike White, many figures around the sport have dropped Jones out of their top spot for the P4P best. Whether due to Jones competing just one time since Feb. 2020 or his past issues with PEDs, “Bones” is not the consensus best. Just ask American Kickboxing Academy head coach, Javier Mendez, who has helped coached the likes of Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Jones’ biggest rival, Daniel Cormier.
“Dana is still insisting that Jon Jones is pound-for-pound No. 1,” Mendez said on his “Javier Mendez Podcast” (via MMA Junkie). “He has his valid points, but my valid point is I just say one thing: Lance Armstrong.
“Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France how many times? And basically he got all those titles taken away from him because of one thing: doping. And even though it was many years later that they caught him, he lost all his Tour de France (titles). Well, it’s been a fact, it’s been proven Jon Jones has been caught doping. So, I’m sorry, I think that disqualifies him just based on that alone.”
Do the Lance Armstrong comparisons sound familiar?
Despite his past issues with PEDs, Jones could still be considered for the P4P rankings in 2024 based on his current production. Unfortunately, we don’t have much to look back on over the past four years. Outside of a dominant submission win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 to claim the UFC heavyweight strap there’s simply no recent tape of Jones fighting inside of the Octagon.
“He would be in a big consideration, but he hasn’t fought since (2023),” said Mendez. “So, I don’t know how you can put him in that category because of what he did before. He’s not active. If he was active, then there’s a bigger challenge for that, but he’s not active.
“His abilities? Yeah, I can see that, 100 percent. I mean, the guy is one of the greatest of all time, for sure. But for me, I value the greatest of all time based on what they do outside, not just what they do inside.”