Jon Jones Gave Joe Rogan an Ultimate Proof of “Special Talent” 13 Years Ago in Unprecedented Incident

Jon Jones has come under a lot of flak since becoming UFC heavyweight champion. Since his bout with Stipe Miočić at UFC 295 last November fell through and Tom Aspinall became interim champ in the replacement bout, the UFC world has been calling for ‘Bones’ to fight the Englishman next.

However, Jones is insistent on fighting Miocic next. Which many have seen as ‘Bones’ trying to ‘duck’ the MMA prodigy that Aspinall has proven to be. But that hasn’t affected Joe Rogan‘s love for the reigning undisputed heavyweight champion, whom he witnessed firsthand Jones become one of the greatest ever since his debut in 2008.

Joe Rogan discusses Jon Jones’ greatness

Joe Rogan, of course, thinks Jon Jones is the greatest male fighter ever to lace up the fingerless gloves. And that assessment doesn’t seem to have changed. In a conversation with rapper Action Bronson on his JRE podcast, the host recounted Jones’s greatness as Bronson recalled watching ‘Bones’s UFC debut bout against Andre Gusmao back in August 2008 on Spike TV and had followed his career ever since.

Rogan felt that this was natural because of the ‘special talent’ that Jones was, which ‘Bones’ had demonstrated when he defeated the legendary Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua at their 2011 UFC 128 bout to become the champ at 23 years old. It made Jones the youngest-ever UFC champion, a record he holds to this day.

“Yeah, man. If you run into a special talent like that, like you know Jon’s the youngest ever UFC champion and he beat a legend, Mauricio Shogun Rua in Jersey. Demolished him, and by the way captured a burglar the day of the fight. That day. Chased some dude down who like, I think snatched some lady’s purse or something. Tackled the dude,” the UFC commentator added.

Also, comparing how most boxers choose to fight down in competition when they are on the come-up to how the UFC throws fighters straight to the deep end, Rogan gave the example of Jon Jones. He recounted how even new fighters in the Dana White-led promotion could face someone like 21-year-old Jon Jones on debut, observing that if a fighter becomes a star in the UFC, they have to fight dangerous opponents, unlike boxing.

“But the UFC does not do that, they feed you to the wolves. The UFC is like ‘This is a wolf farm, all right. If you’re not a wolf, we don’t build you into a wolf’… Like you could get a guy like Jon Jones right off the bat, you know. 21 years old just smoking people, like that’s your first fight in the UFC,” Joe Rogan said.

While the commentator has said nothing about Jones allegedly ducking Aspinall, his opinion on the subject can be determined from the comments he made last year about the interim heavyweight champion.

Joe Rogan termed Aspinall as the best heavyweight in the UFC

Jon Jones, of course, has insisted he would only be fighting Stipe Miocic, who is 41 and is nearing retirement. Almost everybody wants him to fight Aspinall. However, the GOAT contender has cited various reasons why he doesn’t want to fight the Englishman, ranging from Aspinall not being a big enough name to his CV not being up to the mark. It is an unwritten rule in the UFC that a champion fights the interim champion when returning to action.

Not to mention there is a consensus that Miocic’s best days are behind him and the once-heavyweight GOAT is not expected to be much of a challenge for the reigning champ. Even Joe Rogan, when asked by Dwayne Johnson who he thought was the best fighter in the heavyweight division, had promptly answered “Tom Aspinall” calling the interim 270-pound champ the “next advancement of the evolution of the sport” because “he can do everything.”

A UFC championship is nothing if not the way to determine who the best fighter in a weight class is. Do you think Jones is doing right by not fighting Aspinall? Share your views in the comments below.