Is Jon Jones now the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world?
Following his submission win over Lyoto Machida at UFC 140, fans are debating whether or not the 24-year-old light heavyweight champion has done enough to surpass Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre in the pound-for-pound ranks.
Since defeating Ryan Bader in February, Jones has gone on to dominate three former world champions and MMA legends in Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Lyoto Machida.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan has talked up Jones’ impending greatness in UFC promotional trailers for months.
“Jon Jones is a star. He’s one of those guys who comes along every few years who just stands out.”
Seeing the path of destruction Jones has carved out in 2011, this could be considered an understatement. There has never been a fighter quite like Jones in the history of the sport.
With that said, Silva and St-Pierre share the same unique aura that has enabled them to maintain pound-for-pound supremacy for so many years.
“A lot of people are really ranking me up there in the top three of the UFC as a whole, and that’s a great honor,” Jones said in an interview on ESPN SportsCenter. “The two guys that are ahead of me are Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva, and they’ve just simply been in the game a lot longer than I have.”
With both St-Pierre and Silva on the shelf recovering from injuries, the spotlight is slowly shifting in Jones’ direction.
Is it Jones’ destiny to overtake the pound-for-pound rankings, or will Silva and St-Pierre continue to dominate their respective divisions and leave the young lion in the dust?
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