UFC Champion, Jon Jones may be the greatest ever in the eyes of many in the martial arts community. But some can’t give ‘Bones’ that crown, given his past problems with PEDs. The way things are, his run-ins and performance-enhancing drug issues far outnumber his current ballot appearances lately. Hence, American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) coach Javier Mendez is the next in line to snub him off G.O.A.T. conversations.
Jon Jones has fought tooth and nail claiming his innocence over PED usage and the brass backs him up. UFC CEO Dana White has gone to war with media personalities claiming he is absolutely the No. 1 pound-for-pound G.O.A.T. UFC production crew even released their own propaganda in the form of a career montage video promo recently. Given the stance that Jones is the current pound-for-pound king of MMA, Javier Mendez pitches in.
Dana is still insisting that Jon Jones is pound-for-pound No. 1, …He has his valid points, but my valid point is I just say one thing: Lance Armstrong. Armstrong won the Tour de France how many times? And basically he got all those titles taken away from him because of one thing: doping…he lost all his Tour de France… it’s been proven Jon Jones has been caught doping.
Javier Mendez on the ‘Javier Mendez Podcast’ (@Javiermendezakapodcast)
In contrast to White, many of the figures in the sport have knocked Jones out of their top spot as the best P4P player. Even Sean O’Malley says Jon Jones is not the consensus best given he hasn’t fought in a while. Mendez understands billing him as a G.O.A.T. candidate. However, he argues that Jones’ history of failed drug tests doesn’t make him the greatest fighter ever.
Mendez has trained Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Jones’ chief rival Daniel Cormier. So there’s plenty of room for a snub. But the coach makes a judicial call saying there’s room for G.O.A.T. talks in the P4P rankings in 2024 based on his current production. However, the heavyweight hasn’t fought since his dominant submission win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 to snag gold. Hence, Mendez also disagrees calling ‘Bones’ the No. 1 pound-for-pound star fighter.
Javier Mendez: Jon Jones is ‘greatest of all time’, but not past 2023
With 15 title wins, the all-around indomitable Jon Jones has been a fan favorite for a while now. However, he has stalled the ebb of the HW division for a mere maiden defense. Team Jackson’s MMA Acoma heavyweight has said he wants to retire if he can get past the absolute best Stipe Miocic. Jones also does not plan for a title unification any soon. The limited number of ballot appearances, mixed with his PED saga, makes his ‘undisputed’ G.O.A.T. status very disputed.
PED champ? Absentee champ? Jones Jones G.O.A.T. status is highly contested (Source: heavy.com)Jones’ second win over ‘DC’ at UFC 214 came to be a no-contest when he tested positive for the anabolic steroid Turinabol. ‘Bones’ received a reduced sentence for “substantial assistance” to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. He failed another test pool before his UFC 232 rematch with Alexander Gustafsson. Then there are the cases of his run-ins, misdemeanors, and scratch with the law. Given his turbulent history and lack of fights for a whole year, Javier Mendez says his pound-for-pound installment G.O.A.T. status is invalid.
He would be in a big consideration, but he hasn’t fought since [2023]…So, I don’t know how you can put him in that category because of what he did before. He’s not active. If he was active, then there’s a bigger challenge for that, but he’s not active. His abilities? Yeah, I can see that, 100 percent. I mean, the guy is one of the greatest of all time…but, I value the greatest of all time based on what they do outside.
Javier Mendez further said
Despite his past issues with PEDs, Jon Jones is a pound-for-pound worth fighter. But the brass promoting it so with minimal appearance has come unwittingly weird. That, and his continued unification snub of Tom Aspinall for a super fight is what fans also take an umbrage on.
Undoubtedly, Jones will go down in history as the most fearsome and dominant champion. He became a champion at the age of 23 and has not looked back ever since. Moreover, for the last 14 years, Bones has only fought in title fights. A feat unmatched by any other candidate in history.
