‘Measure Him By’: Coach Mendez ‘Doesn’t Consider’ Jon Jones as UFC Greatest, Cites Muhammad Ali to Justify Bold Take

Jon Jones has not done his image any good in the past year. Not only has he failed to defend his undisputed heavyweight title, but he has also stalled the entire division, denying interim champion Tom Aspinall a title shot. He made the Brit defend his interim title, then made him wait for months before announcing that he wouldn’t be fighting at all. All of this has left the fans with a sour taste in their mouth.

To think that he was once the most feared man in the octagon! In the past year, he also became the most trolled fighter in the UFC. Fans would keep calling him out every chance they got, with tens of thousands even signing a petition to strip him of UFC gold.

To add to that, there’s a fresh lawsuit against him for allegedly fleeing an accident in February this year. All of which has caused ‘Bones’s’ image to take a big hit.

In a recent episode of the Javier & Mo Show, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev’s coach, Javier Mendez spoke about why he agrees with the fans.

“Muhammad Ali to me is the greatest in boxing because of what he did outside of the boxing, not just in,” Mendez argued.

Having made the comparison, he added, “And Jones, if you measure it on what he did in the octagon, then yeah I’d have to say he’s the greatest of all time. But I don’t measure him by that, I measure him by everything on his failed drug tests, and everything else he did, so for me he’s not the greatest.”

 

This is one of the most common takes in the UFC. Judging purely by talent and in-ring accomplishments, there is no doubt that Jones is the greatest, if not one of the greatest, MMA fighters the world has ever seen. However, his actions outside the octagon make it hard for anyone to call him a model athlete.

But Mendez gave credit where it’s due; he agreed with Jones’ decision to retire, solely because the Rochester native had achieved everything he could have in the UFC, so he had nothing left to prove. The team, AKA head coac,h even picked him to beat the new undisputed heavyweight champion, Aspinall.

Mendez picks Jones over Aspinall

Aspinall had the MMA fans convinced that he was going to be the one to hand Jones his first loss. The Brit represents a new breed of heavyweight fighters who are light on their feet with explosive power, the likes of which we had never seen in the UFC.

So when Jones kept avoiding the fight, fans started saying that the heavyweight champ was ducking Aspinall. Because he knew he would lose to the Brit, but Mendez claims he saw through the act, he knew exactly what Jones was doing.

“Jon Jones is the puppet master, he’s controlling these guys. He’s so good at the media that he knows how to control it,” the AKA coach argued.

According to Mendez, the UFC champ was just playing mind games with his opponents, just because he could, for the sake of it. So when his co-host asked him who would win that fight should it happen, Mendez had an obvious pick, “If Jones accepted, I would favor Jones, only because he’s that kind of guy that if he takes a fight, (He knows he’s going to win).”

Mendez has always praised Jones and his ability to win at any cost. What other people see as ‘dirty’ tactics or fighting, Mendez sees as his superpower, the ability to win no matter what the situation.