George St Pierre has praised UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones, calling him the greatest of all time.
It is hard to argue against GSP, given Jones’ record. He only has one loss, getting disqualified against Matt Hamill. Bones picked up his opponent and slammed him to the floor before unleashing numerous combinations. The referee stopped the fight, as he was disqualified.
Since then, Jones’ record has been remarkable. The champion won all his fights, but his win against Daniel Cormier was overturned. Jones failed a test, and the result was changed to a no-contest. Jones would win his next four fights.
After three years out of the Octagon, he returned to win the UFC Heavyweight Title, beating Ciryl Gane in the first round at UFC 285 last year. However, he pulled out of his title defense against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 with an injury. A win over Miocic could solidify Jones as one of the best. But for GSP, the argument was settled.
GSP On Jones
“If you ask me in terms of where we are now, I think it’s hard to find someone better than Jon Jones. Jon Jones is extremely but he’s also extremely tough, people have no idea how tough he is. I’ve trained with him, I’ve seen him going through the grind. He’s so freaking tough. I remember fights with Vitor Belfort, his arm got dislocated and he fought with a dislocated arm.
“Even in one of his fights his toe was broken. Most of the time when you have a guy that is very talented, it doesn’t come with toughness. Jon Jones is the full package, he’s got everything, elite striker, elite grappler, he’s good everywhere, of course, there are things people will say he did this, he did that, in terms of who’s the best, and he came back, beat Ciryl Gane the way he did. It’s hard to have an argument,” GSP said
Jones’ Future
Nevertheless, Jones has been criticised for avoiding Tom Aspinall. The Brit is the current UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion. Once Jones pulled out of his title defense against Stipe Miocic, the Brit wanted the UFC to strip Jones. This was because he wanted to face Miocic for the title, allowing the winner to face Jones. Dana White dismissed the idea, leaving Aspinall waiting on the sidelines. Given that Jones is currently out injured, he was not best pleased by Aspinall’s antics.
“I’m over here fresh off the operation table and you’re making tags on the Internet, framing yourself as if I’m running from you. Even though I announced potentially retired before you beat Sergei. Bro I became champion before you were 18 years old. I’ve been here for years. I don’t know where you’ve been this whole time but I have always been here,” Jones stated
If Jones does manage to secure a victory over Miocic, the calls on him to face Aspinall will increase. Failure to do so may leave question marks over his legacy.
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