UFC President Dana White recently clapped back at detractors who have been claiming he’s been “glazing” Jon Jones. Having had enough of the allegation the business tycoon doubled down on his P4P claim, putting ‘Bones’ on a pedestal as the best Pound for Pound fighter.
While the reporters cited Jones’ inactivity as a deterrent, the 55-year-old hit back with a prompt question after subtly mocking them –
“You can’t be that fu**ing stupid to think that Jon Jones is not the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world and the ‘GOAT.’ But maybe you are!…Who is better than Jon Jones? Who is pound for pound better than Jones?”
Dana White just had another debate with the media about Jon Jones being the #1 pound-for-pound fighter 😭😭😭#UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/BG3ohdAHxT
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 28, 2024
Despite the media peppering the promoter with questions, clearly stating why they couldn’t stand the claim, White added to his take and elaborated on his point.
He simply used Islam Makhachev to prove his point, stating that the Russian who is currently on top of the P4P rankings nearly lost the fight to Alexander Volkanovski who was at the time the featherweight champion – almost lost to a guy below his weight class.
He then gloated that unlike Makhachev Jones jumped the scales and went to heavyweight and defeated the then interim champion to cement his legacy as the P4P best. Deeming that the argument itself was “f**king silly,” White added more ammunition to his claim, saying,
“Jon Jones has always been willing to fight everybody. He went through murder’s row and if you look at who he fought at the time when he fought them, look at the record of the guys combined that he fought.”
Even when the reporters cited inactivity, given that Jones has fought only once in the last four years, White refuted it by stating that ‘Bones’ was actually scheduled for a bout and an untimely injury got him sidelined on the bench.
Meanwhile, amidst fan uproar about the UFC not giving interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall a title shot to make it easier for Jones as he taken on Stipe Miocic, veteran Chael Sonnen, has claimed that the fandom is simply underestimating the fireman.
Do not write off Stipe Miočić
Former UFC middleweight contender and popular analyst, Chael Sonnen recently explained why Miocic should be respected and why the bout with Jones should be a thrilling affair.
With Jones not willing to fight Aspinall and fans believing the UFC is doing so to make it easier for Jones’ legacy, Sonnen believes that Miocic is not being given his flowers.
The 41-year-old firefighter might be a bit on the older side but he is still highly regarded, in fact he has often been considered as the best heavyweight to ever grace the octagon.
Reflecting on the same, Sonnen said:
“I’m hearing that Stipe isn’t in his prime. I’m hearing that Stipe is washed up. That’s very tough language, but I’m just wondering how we got there…Stipe is not going to come out after all this time and dedication to put on that size for a match he doesn’t feel he can win.”
In a nutshell, Sonnen doesn’t believe that Jones and Miocic belong to two different eras, in fact, he also pointed out the fact that while Miocic was at the helm of the HW division, Jones was also an active champion in the light heavyweight division.
So, a matchup between the two isn’t illogical as many think it to be.
