"This is a special guy, but..." - Jon Jones' former foe simultaneously applauds and criticizes him
Jon Jones is widely regarded as the greatest fighter of all time, while also being on the receiving end of some heavy criticism throughout his career.
Recently, Jones' former foe Chael Sonnen joined the bandwagon of critics, but couldn't do so without also hailing him as a rare specimen of a fighter.
While the founder of Submission Underground applauded Jon Jones as a great fighter, he also believes that the praise should come from other quarters.
According to Sonnen, Jones has lost credibility by repeatedly boasting of his own achievements.
Categorizing Jon Jones as 'annoying', Sonnen said in a recent episode of his own podcast-
"This is a special guy but the greats have that said about them. Other people will observe and other people will tell the story. If you are an annoying guy, which is greatest he is and he qualifies for that. He qualifies for annoying too. If we got two categories, oh, where do I put Jon? And he goes in the annoying category. Quit telling us how great you are, you haven't lost you dumb SOB."
Chael Sonnen recalls getting pummeled by Jon Jones
While he denounced Jon Jones for singing his own praises, Sonnen also gave credit to the former UFC light heavyweight champion where it was due.
The grappling legend even shared an anecdote from UFC 159, where Jon Jones suffered a gruesome toe injury while defending his strap against Sonnen.
Sharing his version of a Jon Jones story, Sonnen further said-
"The truth on a Jon Jones story, coming from an open nemesis, is that that's a rare talent. That is a great fighter. That is not only the most talented fighter, he is the toughest fighter. And you don't have to be both. You have to be one. If you are the best guy, you can win the gold medal. If you are the toughest guy, you can win the gold medal. You can overperform the guys that are just technically more sound than you. Jon is both. And I found that out the night that I got pummeled by him and his toe pops out of his skin and he goes in the back and wraps it by himself just so he could show up for the press conference."