Saying that you are the Michael Jordan of something means that you are the very best at it- that is how good and dominant ‘MJ’ was. After all, two three-peats, six Finals MVP awards, and five regular season MVP awards are nothing to scoff at. But perhaps the most intriguing and impressive part of Jordan’s illustrious career was that he was able to sustain peak form for almost the entire decade of the nineties. However, Joe Rogan thinks that this feat cannot be replicated in MMA, except by one man- UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones.

“A guy like [Michael] Jordan- how long was he in his prime? It was a decade, right? At least for a decade, he was dominating basketball. You can’t really do that in fighting. Jon Jones is the only one that’s been able to do that,” Rogan told guest Burt Sorin on episode #2242 of the JRE podcast.

Jones, of course, has remained essentially undefeated and dominated the light heavyweight division for nearly a decade between 2011 and 2020 before turning his attention to the heavyweight division. This, of course, is an unprecedented feat in MMA, where even the best of the best like Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre lost eventually. After all, it takes one mistake, one momentary lapse of concentration to end up on the canvas. In addition, there is the physical toll the sport takes on athlete’s bodies, as Rogan pointed out.

“The damage to your body is huge because there’s so much damage that happens just in training. I mean Jon tore his pec off of his shoulder in training… And then there’s the impacts that you get, and then there’s the back stuff. You get thrown weird you land on your back weird… A knee hits you weird, you know, your ribs break all the time, hands break all the time,” Rogan added.

Indeed, this dominance for this long period of time is exactly why UFC CEO Dana White feels so strongly that Jon Jones is the greatest ever to enter the Octagon. It is worth noting that Rogan didn’t say that Jones was the ‘Michael Jordan of MMA’, only favorably compared their longevity. However, Jones has the chance to cement himself as the Michael Jordan of MMA with his next fight.

Why the Tom Aspinall fight is so important for Jon Jones’ claim to being the GOAT?

Jon Jones is negotiating with the UFC to fight interim champion Tom Aspinall, which Dana white has predicted will be the biggest fight in UFC (and thus MMA) history. More importantly for ‘Bones’, however, that fight would also be the biggest, most consequential contest of his career which may well define his legacy.

After all, Aspinall is a generational talent and has all the attributes and the game required to beat Jones. Plus, Aspinall is younger, hungrier, and naturally bigger than Jones, which is why the Englishman has opened as the (slight) betting favorite against the GOAT contender.

If Jones wins this fight (which may be the last of his career), he will undoubtedly have the strongest claim to being the GOAT. On the other hand, if he loses, he will no longer be de facto undefeated, which is one of the main reasons even Dana White thinks Jones is the greatest ever. What do you think about Joe Rogan comparing Jon Jones to Michael Jordan?