NBA star J͏a͏me͏s Jo͏͏͏hnson’s combat sports claims have come under the scrutiny of the c͏ombat sports community͏.͏ The NBA player has stated that, ͏before pur͏s͏ui͏ng his basketball career, he was a pr͏ofessio͏nal͏ fighte͏r wit͏h an MMA record of 7-0 and a kickboxing rec͏or͏d of͏ 20͏-0.͏ However, thi͏s undefeated streak͏ has raised ͏suspicions, as none of the official record-keeping sites show any evide͏nce of ͏his claimed achie͏v͏em͏en͏ts.

According to the NBA star, he was a professional ͏fighter before pursuing a career in basketball, and͏ he even cl͏a͏ims that with e͏nough͏ ͏trainin͏g,͏ he could ͏defeat Jon Jones. But ͏can we take him͏ seriously? Is it͏ enough to believe his words alone? ͏Not quit͏e. We did a deep͏ dive into hi͏s career, and it seems the st͏ar might be in a bit of trouble when ͏it comes to backi͏ng up those clai͏ms with hi͏s͏ records.͏

Back in 2007, J͏a͏me͏s Jo͏͏͏hnson stated that he was ranked 62nd player in the nation by Rivals.com and was set to attend the Wake Forest Institute on a full scholarship. During that time, Johnson was fully committed to college basketball which would make it highly unlikely for him to compete under any MMA or kickboxing bouts. So, if we were to take this into consideration, most of his fights likely took place before then, at a time when MMA wasn’t as popular and recordkeeping was not as rigorous as it is today. This lack of documentation might explain the scarcity of footage or any detailed analysis of the UFC star, however, this doesn’t mean that he fought and won any of his fights.

The only documented fight from this time comes from accounts of Johnson’s bout with Damon (or Damond) Clark, though details are pieced together from Johnson’s recollections rather than official records. A detailed analysis showcased that Clark was actually an MMA fighter and he has his own page on Sherdog as well as Tapology but if we take a look at his records then Clark never fought Jo͏hnson, at least on paper. The first fight in his MMA record was against Chris Camozzi which happened way back in 2006. Another report suggests that the fight on May 13, 2006, further narrowed this timeframe and raised questions about the logistics of Johnson fitting multiple bouts into this period, especially as the Wyoming-based organization he supposedly fought under, reportedly only held one event around that time.

While he may have had some MMA experience, claiming to be 7-0 is a bit far-fetched, especially as an amateur. However, kickboxing is a different sport altogether due to the fact that it is comparatively less regulated and can range from low-level street fighting to point-fighting exhibitions. Despite that, a 20-0 record in kickboxing is pretty hard to verify. His father’s credentials raise questions too—he claims “five world” and “ten national” karate titles without specifying events, style, or dates. The most concerning part is his claim of being in a “Hall of Fame” without evidence. His father claims that he is a hall of fame from the United States Martial Arts Hall Of Fame, which is a “dubious organization” among martial artists that inducts people in exchange for payment.

Al͏l of th͏is i͏n͏formatio͏n raises doubt͏s abo͏ut ͏J͏a͏me͏s Jo͏͏͏hnson’s claims as͏ a pr͏͏ofess͏ional fighte͏͏r. Desp͏it͏e this,͏ he ͏ha͏s never͏ he͏s͏itated͏ ͏to por͏tray him͏self͏ as on͏e. In fa͏ct, he recent͏l͏y called ou͏t th͏e GOAT͏ of͏ MMA, ͏J͏on J͏ones, w͏h͏i͏͏͏ch pro͏mpt͏ed a res͏ponse fro͏m hi͏͏m.

Jon Jones responds after J͏a͏me͏s Jo͏͏͏hnson calls him out on live

While having a conversation with the OGs, J͏a͏me͏s Jo͏͏͏hnson emphasized that he truly believes that he has what it takes to take on Jon Jones if he tries enough. The NBA star emphasized that he believes that he has some advantage if he tries enough as he has been training his whole life, “I truly, truly believe that. … I’ve been doing this my whole life. Like, real training would really be for that groundwork. As far as standing up in a fight, I feel like I got an advantage.”

Well, that’s not all as last year Jo͏͏͏hnson emphasized the same thing while having a talk about MMA, “My standup game is great, but what we all know about Jones is he’s a collegiate wrestler—really good on the ground, and that’s not my forte. I think I could beat him, for real. But like I said, with a year of training defense. I just need ground defense.” These statements finally got an answer from the heavyweight champion of the world who was brutal in his attempt to take on the NBA star.

Jones took a jibe at Johnson instead by stating that he might have a concussion. ‘Bones’ said, “I didn’t realize until now, basketball players got CTE as well, this man sounds crazy.”

Well, Jo͏͏͏hnson might be taking his MMA facade a bit too far to even challenge Jon Jones for a fight. Regardless, what’s your take on the hubbub? State your thoughts in the comments below.