At the top of the globe, Jon Jones made an incredible return.
At the top of the globe, Jon Jones made an incredible return.
- Jon Jones would win the title of heavyweight world champion without a doubt. A prophecy came true, or did it, when Jones defeated Ciryl Gane to win the vacant UFC gold on Saturday in Las Vegas in under 2 minutes, 4 seconds? Long ago, there was a hunch that Jones would be heavier than the light heavyweights could manage.
- When Jon Jones entered the Octagon for the first time over 15 years ago and started to take down his fellow 205-pounders, including a lengthy line of past champions and potential Hall of Famers, it was clear that he was larger than life. His wingspan was unfathomable, and he was larger than nearly everyone who battled against him.
The bouts Jon Jones engaged in frequently resembled confrontations between different weight classes among athletes.
Yet at UFC 285, Jon Jones singled out a person who, at the very least, was really close to being like him. Jon Jones arrived the day before weighing 248 pounds, one pound more than Gane, a heavyweight with a long career.
They indicated that Jones, who was returning to the ring after a three-year hiatus, weighted 43 pounds more than the weight he had before each of his career high 11 205-pound title defenses. It was as though he had transformed into a whole new man.
Also, he didn't contract from his most recent excellent second in this end-of-week return.
Jones gave an appearance that was astonishing because of its dominance and its frankness.
Jones had some time to take it all in before leaving to a legend's welcome back from an adoring (and forgiving) throng at T-Portable Field. He paused at cageside to embrace his father, siblings, and life partner.
He then entered the enclosure for the first time in 1,121 days and executed a cartwheel across the center, very reminiscent of earlier times.
Jon Jones then demonstrated why he wasn't being poetically overstated when he called himself "the all in all" after being introduced by Bruce Cradle.
It took Jones only a little while to finish off Gane in the fight, and he had the Frenchman on the ground inside another fraction of a second. In order to render Gane powerless before giving him the guillotine stifle that restored "Jonny Bones" to his former heroic status, Jones then rode Gane into the enclosure.
After celebrating by leaping onto the fence, Jones exclaimed, "Man, I'm so energized," before going down to pick up his father and drag him around.
After a protracted stretch of unrivaled quality at light heavyweight, Jones' ability to successfully defend his heavyweight belt will strengthen his claim to be considered the best challenger in history.
Many already regard him as the GOAT, but a few eyewitnesses, including myself, have swung sharply against him because of Jones' frequent exhibitions of improving drug use.
However, the U.S. Anti-Doping Association has now adjusted the goal posts in relation to acceptable quantities of specific chemicals, so that Jones' positive drug test results would not have resulted in boycotts under the current political climate.
When you factor that in and add this victory in the game's premier weight class, it becomes difficult to remove Jones from GOAT discussion.
Who is the best at thinking clearly right now is a topic of discussion alongside who is the best ever. Jones is now the UFC heavyweight champion thanks to his victory over Gane on Saturday, earning him the title of "baddest man on earth."
Though - and, in this instance, it is perplexing.
Given his long string of knockouts, including the victory over Stipe Miocic that elevated "The Hunter" to the title of champion, Francis Ngannou, who recently relinquished the UFC belt and quit the organization following a contract dispute, also has some serious advantages for the title of baddest man. Yet, Ngannou's most recent Octagon fight was a five-round victory against Gane, a fighter Jones finished in a flash.
Jones succeeds on that test, and soon we may be able to compare him favorably to Ngannou on another. We should see how the new victor performs against the outgoing champion since the UFC has demonstrated that Jones' most memorable championship defense will come against Miocic.
Right now, it's clear that Jones, who is 35 years old, has a wealth of prospective profit.
There are undoubtedly also negative aspects. Jones continuously has a way of blowing our minds, but he also has a way of making us hold our breath as we wait for his next instance of bad behavior. He was stripped of the UFC light heavyweight championship several times.
He served three suspensions for doping violations and one for being arrested after a swift in-and-out accident that injured a pregnant woman.
Jones has been detained a few times, most notably for being accused of being violent at home and twice for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Jones has consistently shown throughout his career that he is a virtuoso.
