Islam Makhachev has outlined a simple case for why he deserves to be the UFC’s pound-for-pound king over Jon Jones.
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The UFC lightweight champion is coming off the third successful defense of his belt after he submitted former interim titleholder Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 302 last Saturday.
UFC CEO Dana White made headlines immediately after UFC 302 when he claimed that he still considers Jones to be the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world despite his recent inactivity, and just days after defending his title Makhachev posted an Instagram story demonstrating why he should be ranked over the current heavyweight titleholder.
“Bones” surprised fans in 2020 when he decided to vacate his light heavyweight title ahead of a planned move to heavyweight, and although it took several years Jones finally debuted in the weight class at UFC 285 and won the vacant heavyweight title with a first-round submission against Ciryl Gane.
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The 36-year-old was scheduled to defend his belt against two-time champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 but was forced to withdraw due to a torn pec, and now heavyweight has an interim titleholder in Tom Aspinall that Curtis Blaydes claims is the “real” champion ahead of their fight at UFC 304.
“I know Jon’s gonna hear this and be like ‘What, he doesn’t view me as the best heavyweight?’ No Jon, I’m sorry. I don’t think you’ve actually fought at heavyweight, I’m sorry…I view Aspinall as the guy with the real belt.”
– Curtis Blaydes on The MMA Hour
“Bones” has continually frustrated fans by remaining committed to rebooking a fight against Miocic rather than Aspinall, and there’s also considerable speculations that the former light heavyweight king could walk away from the sport after that matchup.
Jones is considered by many to be the greatest fighter in the history of MMA for his lengthy list of achievements and victories, but as long as he remains an active fighter in the UFC and Makhachev continues his dominance there will likely always be debate around which one should sit at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.
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