Did Jon Jones Ruin His Legacy

MMA News

Did Jon Jones ruin his legacy, or is he still the greatest fighter in MMA history? In this video, we dive deep into the controversial career of Jon “Bones” Jones — from his incredible rise as the youngest UFC champion to the scandals, suspensions, and comebacks that shaped his name in the world of mixed martial arts.  Jon Jones has dominated legends, defended titles, and redefined what it means to be an MMA fighter. But with multiple failed drug tests, legal issues, and time away from the octagon, many fans believe his reputation took a hit. Has the GOAT of MMA destroyed his own legacy, or can he still redeem himself inside the cage?  We analyze his best fights, highlight key rivalries, and compare his record to other MMA icons like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Daniel Cormier, and Stipe Miocic. From UFC 285 to his heavyweight comeback, Jon Jones’ story is one of greatness and controversy — a true test of skill, mindset, and legacy.  If you’re an MMA fan, this breakdown is for you. Watch the full video to understand how Jon Jones’ career became one of the most debated stories in MMA history. #JonJones #MMA #MMAnews #UFC #JonJonesLegacy #MMADebate #UFCFighter #MMAHighlights #MMAUpdates #MixedMartialArts #CombatSports #UFCLegends #JonBonesJones #MMAHistory #UFCNews Jon Jones Jon Jones Legacy MMA News MMA UFC Jon Bones Jones MMA Fighter UFC Highlights MMA Highlights Mixed Martial Arts UFC News MMA Analysis MMA Debate UFC Fighter MMA History Combat Sports UFC Updates Jon Jones GOAT MMA Controversy UFC 2025

Transcript

00:00So Khalil Roundtree just got a really great win over Jamal Hill this past weekend, but

00:06nobody cares about it. Why? Because the big news of the weekend is that Jon Jones has officially

00:11retired. Finally. Everyone's making a big deal about how him ducking Aspinall hurts his legacy

00:16or something. My hot take is that I don't think this hurts his legacy at all. Was he ducking

00:21Aspinall? For sure. But so what? He's 37 years old, so I think he's at the age where he can

00:26retire for any reason he wants. No matter how good a fighter is, they're always going

00:30to get to an age where they start to slow down, and there's going to be younger guys chasing

00:33after them. Just to put things into perspective, Khabib is 36, so he's one year younger than

00:39Jon Jones, and he retired almost 5 years ago. If he were still in the UFC at this point,

00:44you know Ilya Teporia would be chasing after a fight with him to take him down, and Khabib

00:47would have every right to retire, because the Khabib of 5 years ago would give the current

00:51Ilya Teporia a much more competitive fight than a 36 year old Khabib.

00:55The same is true of Jon Jones. The Jon Jones that fought Daniel Cormier would be much

00:59more dangerous against Tom Aspinall than the 37 year old Jon Jones of today. So yes, of

01:04course he's ducking Aspinall, along with everyone else in the heavyweight division

01:07who's younger than him and has the advantage of being in their fighting prime. The point

01:11of retiring is to leave the sport once you no longer have what it takes to compete with

01:15the younger guys, and I think it's totally fair for Jon Jones to call it quits, and in

01:18no way does it affect his legacy in my opinion. The only reason he didn't retire after

01:22beating Gon is that he wanted to fight Stipe, who was also old and out of his prime. Now

01:27I don't think the fight really added anything to Jones's resume, because that wasn't

01:30the same Stipe as the one who was dominating the heavyweight division in his prime. He

01:33was acting like he beat the greatest heavyweight of all time, but when you fight the so-called

01:37greatest heavyweight of all time, the timing matters. Jake Paul beat Mike Tyson, but that

01:42doesn't mean he's a greater boxer than Mike Tyson or something, because Mike Tyson was pushing

01:4660 when they fought. In the same way, Aspinall getting a win over Jones isn't nearly as significant

01:51as it would be had that fight happened five years ago. So while I don't think retiring

01:55to avoid the Aspinall fight puts a stain on his legacy in any way, it's still a huge relief

01:59that he retired because now we can finally get things moving again. It's really a shame

02:03that he held up the division so much. I think he should have done this a long time ago instead

02:07of pretending like he was interested in the Aspinall fight, which I doubt he ever was. I honestly

02:11don't know why the UFC gave him so much time to decide when it quite literally cost them

02:15hundreds of thousands of dollars, possibly millions, to have given up so many potential

02:20heavyweight fights over the last three years. There was some news that came out that supposedly

02:24Jones is being charged for a hit and run that happened back in February. Now, I don't

02:28know if his retirement has anything to do with that. I'll just leave it at that. To this

02:31day, I still think Jon Jones is the GOAT because of the sheer number of title defenses he has,

02:36and the fact that he became champion and defended his belt in two divisions. It's hard to dispute

02:40how massive that achievement is. A lot of people like to say that he's disqualified from being

02:44the GOAT because of being pot for PEDs, but even if you erase those wins from his record

02:48that were tied to PED use, his resume is still kind of insane. Now, going forward, Aspinall

02:53has vowed to be a really active champion, so I think the next few years are going to be

02:56really exciting for the heavyweight division. And Tom Aspinall is awesome, much more exciting

03:01and overall better fighter than Jones at this time. And as for his next opponent, I think

03:05Cyril Gaunt is kind of the obvious choice. Though it seems kind of weird given that he's already

03:09had two opportunities to fight for the belt and lost both of them very decisively. But

03:13like, who else should fight for the belt instead? The next ranked guy is Alexander Volkov, but

03:17he just lost to Cyril Gaunt, so that doesn't really make any sense. Even though the decision

03:21for that fight was kind of sus, Cyril Gaunt officially won that fight, so it wouldn't really make

03:25sense to give it to Volkov. Plus, we've already seen Volkov fight Aspinall, and Aspinall

03:30made easy work of him, so it's a little less interesting to me than the Gaunt fight. Gaunt has really

03:34great footwork, and I've always been a fan of his stand-up. That being said, the path

03:38to victory here is really straightforward for Aspinall. I think it will be fairly easy for

03:41him to take him down and submit him. Down the road, I'm really curious to see how

03:45Jailton Almeida does against Aspinall. He has such explosive takedowns, and great finishing

03:50abilities. In a way, he kind of reminds me of Hamzat Shemaev. I honestly think the Derek

03:54Lewis fight was just a bizarre performance, and unfortunately it made a lot of fans hate him

03:58and label him as a crotch sniffer, because objectively speaking, his finish rate is ridiculously high.

04:03He has 23 wins, and the only decision he has was against Derek Lewis. I think Almeida

04:08is someone who can give Aspinall a real run for his money when it comes to athleticism

04:11and technical ability, in a division where the bar is very low for both technique and athleticism.

04:16Let me know who you guys think will be Aspinall's most interesting fight in the near future.

04:20If you want to support me and help me make more videos, you can become a channel member,

04:23which also gets you access to my weekly picks on my community page.

04:26Thanks for watching.

04:34Have a nice day.

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