Khabib Nurmagomedov believes we noticed one of the best of Jon Jones a while in the past.
Jones introduced his retirement from competitors this previous June—an announcement he’s already strolling again in anticipation of a attainable spot on a deliberate UFC White Home card in July 2026—and the information was met with a combined response regardless of his spectacular accomplishments, together with disdain from some followers unhappy with the circumstances round his departure.
For over a yr, Jones had been tied to a possible bout with Tom Aspinall, with the expectation Jones would struggle to unify his undisputed heavyweight title with Aspinall’s interim title. Each males efficiently defended their respective belts in 2024, however a matchup between them by no means got here to fruition.
Nurmagomedov praised Jones as “one of the best fighter in UFC historical past,” however thinks he picked the proper time to stroll away from competitors.
“I imply, he’s, like, 38 now,” Nurmagomedov mentioned in Russian (interview and English translation by way of Hustle Present). “However no, he’s been gone for some time. Let’s be sincere. What number of fights has he had within the final 5 years? One? One or two in 5 years. He’s been finished for some time, and even these final [light heavyweight] fights—[Thiago] Santos and [Dominick] Reyes—they had been controversial. You recognize, form of, his prime was clearly behind him. Then he fought Ciryl Gane. I feel they only gave him the cash. That’s it. Everybody has their prime and his was gone.
“So whether or not or not he ought to’ve fought Aspinall, that query will most likely all the time be on the market. However that’s one query. One other is when Aspinall completes his profession and Jon Jones finishes his solely then will folks perceive their ranges. Then we’ll actually have the ability to evaluate. For Aspinall to succeed in Jones’ degree, his legacy, that’ll be extraordinarily exhausting. Very troublesome.”
Jones owns one of the spectacular résumés within the historical past of fight sports activities, having by no means actually misplaced in 30 professional bouts and having reigned as one of the best mild heavyweight on the planet from 2011-2020. He turned heavyweight champion in 2023 with a dominant submission win over Gane, then went on to efficiently defend the title in opposition to future Corridor of Fame inductee Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, which marked Jones’ final look up to now.
Critics of Jones level to his misdeeds that introduced a untimely finish to his title runs, together with his involvement in a 2015 hit-and-run that noticed him stripped of his UFC belt, plus suspensions for failed drug assessments in 2016 and 2018, the latter of which prevented him from regaining the sunshine heavyweight title after knocking out Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 (the results of that bout was subsequently overturned to a no-contest).
Nurmagomedov agrees Jones’ legacy is sophisticated.
“It’s actually exhausting to check anybody to Jon Jones,” Nurmagomedov mentioned. “And I don’t know why folks reacted the way in which they did. As a fighter, I by no means had questions on him.”
“No, within the UFC, achievements and legacy are various things,” he added. “I feel lots of people confuse these two ideas. So far as achievements go, nobody can evaluate to Jon Jones within the UFC proper now. And it’ll be very exhausting for anybody within the close to future. So what’s legacy? It’s when, let’s say, children, they have a look at you, they usually really feel impressed by you. That’s what legacy means. Once they attempt to imitate you. When a child sees you and thinks, ‘I need to be like him.’ … There have all the time been and all the time can be questions on [Jones’] conduct, his character, and so forth. However we’re not speaking about that now, we’re speaking about his greatness as a fighter. As a fighter, he’s one of the best.
“As an individual—by way of inspiration, character—in the case of private qualities, I feel there’ll all the time be questions, all the time. However I don’t need to ask these questions, as a result of I don’t need to choose him, to say he’s good or dangerous. As an athlete, he reached greatness. And to me, as somebody who additionally fought within the UFC, he has no equal. There’ll all the time be questions on doping, whether or not he was caught or not. And sure, he was caught. It’s a reality, what, like 3 times? However as a fighter, he’s an incredible fighter.”
Appraising his fellow GOAT candidate has all the time been a difficult proposition for Nurmagomedov, a longtime coaching accomplice and shut pal of Cormier, Jones’ best rival. However Nurmagomedov says he and Cormier have all the time had respect for what “Bones” has finished contained in the octagon.
“As for private relationships, my pal all the time clashed with him, there was all the time rigidity, so I couldn’t have a detailed relationship with [Jones],” Nurmagomedov mentioned. “And I by no means did, and by no means deliberate to as a result of I all the time took Cormier’s aspect. However once we talked about pure expertise—me and Cormier—I do know that Cormier himself holds Jon Jones’ combating expertise in excessive regard.”
