Jon Jones wants to prove he's the GOAT by winning the UFC heavyweight title
Jon Jones is coming for the UFC heavyweight title. The two-time UFC light heavyweight champion decided he needs a second belt if he is to be considered the greatest ever. Talking to ESPN's Marc Raimondi, 'Bones' Jones fragmented his gruelling process to reach the 240 pounds division while explaining his reasoning behind pursuing the title.
Jones has been training exhaustively to change divisions since August when he vacated his title, now held by Jan Blachowicz. Jones' obsession with regaining the lead in the UFC pound-for-pound ranking since losing it to Khabib Nurmagomedov is what has motivated the youngest UFC champion in history.
"This is number one b*llshit."
Jones believes he is the best MMA fighter ever, but this very disputed title struggles to find a contender with a unanimous decision. Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Anderson Silva are some of the names to surround the label. Jones wants to leave no doubt over who truly deserves it.Â
"I do feel like I'm the best fighter in this sport's history. But I just don't want there to be any debate. And one way I can do it is by capturing this heavyweight crown, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."
Suppose Jon Jones continued to fight in the category where he proved to be so dominant for almost a decade. In that case, he examines that it would not be enough to convince people of his superiority. He needs a challenge, and competing in the UFC heavyweight division might prove he was right.
"The light heavyweight division was fun, but I just wasn't scared of those guys anymore," Jon Jones said. "Like, none of them. And I think it showed in some of my performances. Obviously, I still trained hard. But there was no urgency in some of my last fights. With these next guys I'm going to be going up against, I respect these guys. These guys are intimidating - they're intimidating as sh*t. It just gets me up in a whole different way."
From Jones' last ten fights, seven were determined via decision. This data should make Jones reconsider his strategy if he genuinely believes he can win against much heavier opponents. Heavyweight bouts have the shortest time on average in any UFC division. The jump between Jones' former category to his next is also the highest difference within any two weight groups. While heavyweight fights usually last 7:59, light heavyweights take 9:02 on average.
Jon Jones' next opponent is still a mystery
Jon Jones became the UFC light heavyweight champion for the first time in 2011 at only 23 years old. This was a position that he kept until 2015 when the UFC delivered the first of his three suspensions. He recaptured the belt in 2018 and retained it before deciding to vacate it in August 2020.
Eyeing a title shot at the UFC heavyweight division, Jones faces the same criticism that all contenders that jump categories do. Other top-ranked contenders understand that it is unfair for a fighter from a different fighting group to immediately receive the best opportunity without walking the same path they did.
Although UFC president Dana White already confirmed Francis Ngannou will have his title shot ahead of Jon Jones, other heavyweight contenders also think they should be the next in line for the belt.
"[Jon Jones is] the longtime light heavyweight champion. In my opinion, he's the greatest of all time, and if he wants to come back and take a shot at the heavyweight championship, I wouldn't have a problem with that," White said about Jones' claim to the heavyweight belt in August. "But he can't just jump in front of Ngannou right now."
While some UFC heavyweights already declared they don't want to fight Jon Jones, White didn't exclude the possibility the longest light heavyweight champion would have to fight someone else before having his title shot.
"We have the top 4-5 [heavyweights] laid out for fights coming up in the fall. So we'll see when Jon Jones' timing is to come back and who makes sense for him."