Dana White has long held that Jon Jones is the pound-for-pound best fighter in his book. Despite ‘Bones’ being third on the P4P ranks behind Islam Makhachev (#1) and Alex Pereira (#2), the UFC president is adamant about his No.1 pick – “You can’t be that f–king stupid to think that Jon Jones is not the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world and the GOAT.” But Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez disagrees, and strongly. Although fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Alexander Volkanovski have taken Jones’ top spot on the rankings over the years, Dana White refuses to acknowledge anyone but Jones as the MMA GOAT. With both his fighters not being considered by the head honcho, coach Javier Mendez came forward to completely disregard White’s claims about Jon Jones being the actual P4P king.

Speaking to ‘Red Corner MMA’ Mendez shared his opinion on Dana White’s comments. The AKA head coach stated that while Jon Jones might be the greatest to ever step inside the octagon, he shouldn’t be the #1 P4P fighter currently due to his inactivity. He said, “If Jon Jones was active, then maybe I would have a different opinion. But when’s the last time Jon Jones fought? When’s the last time he fought? I mean, he fought, what, in 2021? You know, how can you be pound-for-pound if you haven’t fought? You have to fight, you have to be active.”

He further added, “You can’t continue to say you’re pound-for-pound [the greatest]. Can you say he’s one of the greatest fighters? Absolutely. But pound-for-pound? Come on, you gotta be active. He’s not active. That, to me, is the only reason why I don’t put Jon Jones in the pound-for-pound—because he’s not active.” Since becoming heavyweight champion, Jon Jones held the division hostage by not taking on new contenders in the division, being adamant about facing ‘the greatest heavyweight in UFC history’.

Javier Mendez’s comments come two weeks out from Jon Jones’ first heavyweight title defense at UFC 309. Dana White’s comments seem to have irked Mendez because Jones refused to defend his heavyweight title against Tom Aspinall. This led the UFC to create an interim title that Aspinall had to defend against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304.

Jon Jones made his heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane for the vacant title in March 2023. Despite facing a dangerous striker in his divisional debut, Jones ensured his ͏victory by taking ‘Bon Gamin’ down and submitting him via a first-round guillotine. After more than a year-and-a-half of inactivity, ‘Bones’ will clash against arguably the greatest UFC heavyweight Stipe Miocic.

Stipe Miocic ‘excited’ to fight Jon Jones at UFC 309

The last time Stipe Miocic fought, he got viciously knocked out by Francis Ngannou at UFC 260. After more than three years away from the sport, the two-time UFC heavyweight champion will now face his biggest test against Jon Jones at UFC 309. Speaking to Jake Paul on the ‘B/S podcast’, Miocic stated the following, “I’m excited, honestly.”

He further added, “It’s finally here. It was supposed to happen last year, unfortunately an injury took it away, but here we are. We’re three weeks away. I’m ready, man. I’ve been pumped. I keep quiet. I focus on the task at hand – just worry about my fight. That’s all I worry about.” The former champion is locked in on his target and is expecting a clash of his life. Lucky for him, Jones has been equally inactive and is coming off of an injury.

Jon Jones is half a decade younger than Stipe Miocic and has been training with Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson, and Gordon Ryan – considered the greatest jiu-jitsu athlete of this era. Jones might try and grapple with Miocic, as the Croatian-American has incredible striking with 15 knockouts on his record. Ahead of their clash, Jones’ coach Brandon Gibson said the following to MMA Fighting about high fighter, “He would be a nightmare to coach against because there’s no path to victory against Jon Jones.”

What do you think of Javier Mendez’s comments on Jon Jones not deserving the #1 P4P spot? Are there chances we see Stipe Miocic do the impossible and beat Jones in what could be the biggest upset in MMA history? Let us know in the comments below.