For Dana White, there’s absolutely no one who can step up the way Jon Jones has throughout his UFC career. Still hailing him as the pound-for-pound fighter, dismissing Islam Makhachev’s status, the UFC CEO never fails to beat the drum for ‘Bones’. However, his longtime employee and commentator, Joe Rogan, seems to have a different outlook on this whole debate.

Joe Rogan sat down with Belal Muhammad in the recent ‘JRE MMA Show’, touching upon the development of Islam Makhachev since he stepped inside the Octagon for the first time in 2015. After he evaluated the run the lightweight champion’s been in, the 57-year-old claimed that Makhachev’s standing in the UFC is above Jon Jones.

Joe Rogan gives Islam Makhachev, and not Jon Jones, the nod after improving his standup game

Jon Jones hasn’t been as active as the reigning lightweight champion, which isn’t the same for Islam Makhachev. The latter’s performance against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 was one to remember as he pulled a last-minute submission to secure his title. Joe Rogan had been on commentary that night, and he echoed the same sentiment when he conversed with Belal Muhammad that Makhachev had indeed, on another level as a fighter, separated from the rest of the roster.

“He’s got real power now on his feet, which is a new addition. Over the last x amount of years, his standup has gotten elite,” said Joe Rogan. The most surprising thing about Islam Makhachev, from which the JRE host arrived at his claim, was when the Dagestan native showcased an exceptional standup game. Being a grapple-heavy fighter, the lightweight champion adding the leg kick to his arsenal has really changed his game. “He knocked down Oliveira… the Volkanovski head kick, though, and also the way he set it up. He kept kicking the body,” Rogan further stated.

A bunch of exciting performances was enough for Joe Rogan to declare Islam Makhachev is not only a well-rounded fighter but could also be the best on the current roster, including Jon Jones. “He’s as good as it gets [and] he’s the most complete fighter on the roster because he submits people… He can also knock you out. He literally does everything,” Rogan added.

However, the road to becoming a well-rounded fighter wasn’t always easy for Islam Makhachev. If we take a look at the first time he tried to drift away from his wrestling and tried to trade hands, he suffered the only loss in his MMA career, something that Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s father wasn’t really a fan of.

Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov wasn’t happy with Makhachev’s attempt to trade strikes in 2015

So far, only former UFDC fighter Adriano Martins can claim the title of the only fighter to beat Islam Makhachev. However, it wouldn’t have happened if he’d stuck to the game plan that his late coach and Khabib’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, laid out for him. The blame was placed on AKA coach Javier Mendez and Makhachev’s late coach did not like the advice he gave the now-lightweight champion of going head-on in the standup game.

“In my work, I think the biggest regret is that I agreed with Javier Mendez about exchanging punches in Islam fight [against Adriano Martins]. Islam came up to me and said ‘I’ll exchange punches’. I said ‘You can give the first round as a last resort, but don’t go in exchange, he is very dangerous in the first round’. To which Javier said, ‘Islam is ready, let him do it.’ I did not agree with them,” Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov revealed a few years ago.

Well, Islam Makhchev learned his lesson and polished his skills enough to be called the most complete fighter by Joe Rogan. But do you agree with the longtime UFC commentator? Drop your comments below.