Jon Jones has essentially remained spotless in 28 professional fights, nine of which have been against some of the top challengers the UFC's light heavyweight division has ever seen.
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One of the top UFC fighters pound-for-pound is said to be Jon “Bones” Jones. Jones has dominated a large number of matches at light heavyweight. It may be hard to narrow down Jon Jones’ top five bouts given his outstanding record, but we have chosen what we believe to be his finest matches to date.
It’s an odd debate that the followers of Fedor Emelianenko and Anderson Silva frequently resurrect. Even the Georges St-Pierre devotees occasionally smuggle in a few distracting counterarguments.
But it would be difficult to disagree, as Jones highlighted during the UFC 182 post-fight news conference. A cursory check of his championship record ought to be sufficient to nudge people in his direction; a thorough investigation of his total supremacy is probably more effective.
Having said that, let’s review the light heavyweight champion’s stint as champion and rate each of his fights along the road.
It took “Bones” Jones and Alexander Gustafsson five years to fight again in the octagon after a hard five-round battle in their initial encounter. Fans were expecting a repeat of their previous encounter’s epic battle of attrition, and there was almost as much anticipation going up to the rematch as there had been before their first encounter.
Despite not being the contest that fans were expecting, Jon Jones dismantled Gustafsson over the course of three rounds, demonstrating why he was regarded as one of the greatest in the industry. After dominating ground and pound for two rounds, Gustafsson suffered a groin injury, which gave Jones the chance to finish him out. The referee had no choice but to end the bout as “Bones” Jones took advantage and beat Gustafsson on the mat.
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Yes, he won by beating a skilled wrestler at his own game. But given that Chael Sonnen was a genuine middleweight who talked his way into a championship match to sate his craving for UFC glory, it didn’t exactly do him or the UFC any favors.
We didn’t necessarily require a battle. The majority of us were already close to agreeing that Jones was by far and away the superior fighter even before the bout ever started in the Octagon. The fact that Jones required just nine toes to defeat his opponent serves as a harsh reminder that he is one of the strongest competitors the sport has ever seen.
Jones was scheduled to face Olympian Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 in a contest between two fighters who both have only one loss on their records. Prior to the fight, Cormier switched weight classes to compete against Jon “Bones” Jones, going from heavyweight to light-heavyweight. This contest went beyond the struggle for dominance in the cage; it had turned personal since Jones had only bad things to say about Cormier in the year building up to the fight.
The logical plan for Jones would have been to exploit his reach as a benefit and neutralize Cormier’s Olympic-style wrestling approach, but Jones was driven by a sense of obligation to succeed in the takedown contest. Jones triumphed by defeating Cormier at his own game, demonstrating why he should always be viewed as the favorite regardless of the opposition.
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