Michael Bisping makes compelling case in favour of Jon Jones being pound-for-pound king
Michael Bisping weighed in on the ongoing debate on who the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world is. Alexander Volkanovski currently holds the No.1 ranking, but the UFC Hall of Famer believes there's another fighter that is deserving of that status.
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Bisping gave his thoughts on Volkanovski retaining his No.1 ranking despite his loss to Islam Makhahcev at UFC 284. While discussing the fallout from UFC 284, he made a compelling case in favor of Jon Jones being the pound-for-pound king:
"That title [pound-for-pound No.1 fighter] belongs to a man that returns next week to the octagon. And yes, of course, I'm talking about Johnny 'Bones' Jones. Okay, he's been out of action for a while. Three years away from the octagon, we know this okay, but that's the guy." [3:22 - 3:36]
He was getting his body acclimated to heavyweight and will be making his return this Saturday at UFC 285. Despite being inactive since 2020, the UFC Hall of Famer believes Jones is more than deserving of the pound-for-pound No.1 ranking because of what he has accomplished throughout his career, saying:
"Jon Jones, when you look at what he's done, when you look at the people he's beaten, when you look at the way that he's beat them at their own game a lot of the time, you can't deny the man." [4:37 - 4:47]
Bisping added that even though the failed drug tests for PEDs are an asterisk, he still considers 'Bones' to be the top pound-for-pound fighter until proven otherwise.
Check out the full video:
Michael Bisping believes Alexander Volkanovski is a better pound-for-pound fighter than Islam Makhachev
Alexander Volkanovski remains the No. 1 P4P fighter after his loss at #UFC284 https://t.co/IuZOW2GwYb
Michael Bisping discussed the UFC's latest pound-for-pound rankings, which showed that Alexander Volkanovski retained the No.1 spot despite losing to Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia.
In the aforementioned video, Bisping brought up that the win wasn't as controversial as many believed. However, he added that 'Volk' proved he wins the pound-for-pound argument against the lightweight champion because of how he performed at 155lbs.
He mentioned that weight is a factor when comparing the two and Makhachev loses that argument because his performance would be hindered if he cut to 145lbs:
"[Alexander] Volkanovski when it comes to them two, yeah, I was wrong in the octagon when I said that. Alexander Volkanovski is still against Islam [Makhahcev] probably a pound-for-pound better fighter." [2:49 - 3:01]
It's no secret that the lightweight champion cuts a significant amount of weight to make 155lbs. So, it's understandable why the UFC Hall of Famer would feel as though featherweight or even a 150lb catchweight wouldn't have the same result.