Khamzat Chimaev heaped praise on Jon Jones and thinks he has nothing left to prove.
Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) retired and relinquished his UFC heavyweight title in June. However, as soon as the idea of a White House event emerged, Jones expressed interest in fighting again and returned to the UFC’s anti-doping testing pool. According to the testing database, Jones has already submitted a sample.
Chimaev, who looked up to Jones, doesn’t want to see the former two-division UFC champion fight again.
“Of course he is the GOAT of MMA,” Chimaev said of Jones on the JAXXON podcast. “If somebody could be the king of MMA, he is the king of MMA. That guy is such a good guy and a crazy fighter. I like to watch his fights, how special he is. If it’s going bad for him, someway he works it out with the win. He’s a special guy in MMA. We can say this guy is MMA, he’s a legend. Happy to see him finish undefeated now, and I hope he never comes back.”
Jones vacated his heavyweight belt before unifying it with Tom Aspinall, who has since been promoted to undisputed champion. Chimaev was split on how that fight would have gone, but is confident that a prime Jones would win.
“He (Jones) could (beat Aspinall), but we can’t be forever,” Chimaev said. “If he beat that young guy (Aspinall), maybe he could beat him Jon Jones as well, but when you get older, it’s different. But if you use young Jon Jones with anyone, he’s going to beat anyone. Every day, people are getting older. I’m happy the guy is finished. He’s a legend and undefeated. He’s a good picture for everyone. The guy became so, so crazy talented, so crazy hard worker.”
