Chael Sonnen asks Jon Jones to replicate success in heavyweight division to enter the GOAT debate
Earlier this week, UFC light heavyweight legend Jon Jones shared a post which showcased him as the best of all time.
Now, a lot of MMA fans might share that view, but the American’s post numerically kicked out icons such as Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor from the GOAT debate.
The post mentioned that number of UFC titles bout that the best fighters have fought in. Unsurprisingly, ‘Bones’ was at the top with 14.
This graphic was also a bit of a dig at Khabib. The Russian is considered by many as the GOAT, but he doesn’t have as many title defences as Jones or comes even close to that number.
Discussing this on the latest episode of Beyond the Fight on YouTube, Chael Sonnen thinks that Jones is not quite ready to enter the GOAT debate yet.
“Jon might be the GOAT. He is not getting my vote, but he is still top 3 even on my vote. I don’t like him, I got a bias.”
Giving a background into Jones’ mentality, Sonnen brought up how Bones was still making the numbers argument when it did not serve him.
Does Jon Jones really need heavyweight gold to called the GOAT?
Apparently, Jones was adamant that he was not better than Tito Ortiz until he defended his belt 6 times, which was the number of successful title defences that Ortiz had.
After taking his tally up to 7, Jones said he was the greatest ever. Sonnen, however, argues that while Jones might be sincere with his point, he cannot be the greatest being in just one division.
“The greatest ever argument is not going to go to somebody who has stayed within a division. We just live in a different era… In fairness, it will be hard to dismiss if Jon Jones is able to get that heavyweight belt.”
Sonnen is not wrong with the point that he has made about Jon Jones needing to win gold in another division to be truly considered the GOAT.
But the answer to the question “Who is the MMA GOAT” is subjective because everyone uses different criteria.
If you were to judge who the best ever MMA fighter is based on how many title fights, why by the way are the biggest fights one can be involved in, then it is impossible to argue that Jones is not the greatest.
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