Jon Jones’ view on GOAT debate as he discredits Khabib’s fight record

The war over mixed martial arts' 'greatest of all time' has raged for many years, with new contenders entering the debate as the sport has grown to cement itself among the mainstream.

Greats like Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva and Fedor Emilianenko were once recognised as leaders in the conversation, but more fans have come to recognise Jon Jones as MMA's best ever in recent years.

The 26-1 (one no-contest) fighter has been crowned UFC light heavyweight champion on three separate occasions, with the only blemishes on his record coming via disqualification or for conduct violations.

Dagestani destroyer Khabib Nurmagomedov has more recently thrown his hat into the G.O.A.T discussion, going 13-0 in the promotion and decimating the lightweight division before retiring with a 29-0 record in 2020.

'The Eagle' was consistently dominant at 155 pounds and lost only one round during his UFC career—the third of his grudge match against Conor McGregor at UFC 229, just before he submitted 'The Notorious'.

And it was before Nurmagomedov decided to hang up his gloves that Jones offered up reasoning as to why he sits above the retired star in the greatest-of-all-time debate.

Jones, 34, was preparing for his light heavyweight title defence against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 when he told ESPN's Max Kellerman why he was ahead in the pecking order.

"You know, I think Khabib's an amazing fighter," he said. "I think he's done a great job representing the UFC, he's a great ambassador for our sport.

“But if you were to ask some MMA experts about myself and Khabib, I think most people would be able to tell our resumes are completely different.

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"I’ve fought so many world champions that I’ve defeated. Khabib, a lot of his victories are against a lot of people that are relatively unknown, where I've been fighting legends since I was a young man.

'Bones' later vacated the light heavyweight crown in August 2020 amid rumours of a move up to heavyweight, although he's still yet to debut in the division.

It's true Jones was highly active during his early years in the UFC and fought 10 times across his first three years with the promotion, whereas Nurmagomedov had just six fights across the same span in his career.

Jones also didn't take long to face world-class competition Lyoto Machida, Rampage Jackson, Brandon Vera, Matt Hamill and Shogun Rua, whom he defeated to win the light heavyweight title at 23 years of age.

By contrast, Rafael dos Anjos was arguably the only truly elite lightweight foe Khabib faced during his early years in the UFC, and it wasn't until 2018 that he finally won the lightweight belt at the age of 29.

Jones will forever have an asterisks next to his name, however, not least after he tested positive for anabolic steroid Turanibol ahead of his UFC 232 victory over Alexander Gustafsson in December 2018.

The controversial ex-king of the 205-pound division has often come off as unsavoury in his personal life, having also been arrested in Las Vegas for 'domestic violence and vehicle tampering' in September.

That led to the MMA superstar pledging that he would give up alcohol, having also been stripped of his title in 2015 after he was involved in a hit-and-run incident involving a pregnant woman.

Nurmagomedov may not have the same list of consistently high-quality opposition on his CV, but at least 'The Eagle' has left the UFC behind without any such stains on his reputation.

Jones continues to release training clips via social media in preparation for a supposed move to heavyweight, where it's understood he's chasing a date against champion Francis Ngannou.

There's yet to be any official dates booked for Jones' heavyweight debut as things stand, and Ngannou is currently training for his title defence against team-mate Cyril Gane at UFC 270 on January 22.

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