Dana White has always remained adamant regarding Jon Jones’ stance as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. ‘Bones’ even proved himself against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, defending his HW championship title for the first time. However, many have claimed otherwise, pointing out that Miocic was slow, old, and an easy target for the HW champ. These claims engulfed ‘Bones’ and his legacy in a bit of controversy, with the only way for him to rise back up being a fight against Tom Aspinall. However, Israel Adesanya has now come forth with his defense for the undisputed heavyweight champion.

Taking to his YouTube channel, ‘The Last Stylebender’ pointed out, “I think he was 21 when he made his debut. That’s 16 years + in the game. He’s given enough. I mean he doesn’t owe the game anything.” Jones was indeed just 21 years old when he first fought in the professional setup at Untamed 20. He won 7 back-to-back fights in 2008 and stepped into the UFC in the same year. With 28 flawless victories and just 1 controversial loss, Jones established himself as the GOAT. 

As far as the fight between Aspinall and Jones was concerned, Adesanya wanted to watch the fight, even though he believed that ‘Bones’ had nothing to prove anymore. The talks even included a matchup between Jones and Francis Ngannou. The former 2-time middleweight champion said, “I still want to see the Tom Aspinall vs. Jon Jones fight. I still want to see the Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones fight. There are all these other fights, but then again, this thing is, when you’re in this game so long at the highest level, you get burnt out. But again, he’s had time off because of things outside the Octagon, which helped. But that’s another load of stress you have to deal with in your own life. So, you get burnt out.”

Israel Adesanya’s words managed to create an uproar in the fighting community. But little did he know that his quotes would split the fight fans into two factions. Let’s see how the MMA fans reacted to Adesanya’s words.

Israel Adesanya’s support for Jon Jones stirs the MMA realm

Many fans believed that Jon Jones was simply holding up the HW division by not fighting Tom Aspinall. One of the comments read, “So he should vacate. He’s the champ and the champ has duties. As long as he holds that belt he does “owes” us the fans, the challengers, and the organization.” Meanwhile, another fan wrote, “He owns Tom Aspinall a title fight because unless jones vacates or retires he’s holding the belt hostage from Tom which is not fair at all.” Even though a few fans agreed with Adesanya, they still wanted Jones to fight Aspinall. A fan commented, “He doesn’t owe anyone anything , but he does need to vacate if he’s unwilling to unify the belts. Hopefully sooner rather then later Let’s get the Heavyweight division actually moving again.”

Nevertheless, there were fans who lifted the HW champ high. One of the fans pointed at Jones, being the youngest fighter to win the championship belt in the history of UFC. The comment read, “Won the belt at 23 and ain’t looked back since.” On top of that, he had fought legendary fighters like Quinton Jackson, Glover Teixeira, Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, and many others. One fan reflected on this and wrote, “The most incredible record of all time. Especially since he fought 8 straight legends while he was in his early 20s.” Another fan commented, “In 16 years have 17-0 in title fight, undefeated, 2 division champ, beat 9 champion in his resume, have the best resume and accomplished ever no doubt bruh jones is the goat of mma hes the best.” 

The fight fans kept debating about the outcome of the fight between Jones and Aspinall. Many claimed if Jones was still in his prime, he could easily defeat the Britisher. But the fight is something that remains to materialize. After all, it is one of the matchups that would further cement Jones’ legacy in the golden pages of MMA history. 

What are your thoughts on Jon Jones’ GOAT status? Do you think he needs to fight Aspinall in order to remain the GOAT? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.