Demetrious Johnson may go down as one of the best fighters in MMA, but when it comes to his personal choice for the GOAT, retired fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov wasn’t his pick.
As far as Johnson is concerned, the MMA GOAT is former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
“Jon Jones has gotta be No. 1 for me,” Johnson said to MMA Junkie. “His title reign, I’ve seen him train before, how he’s beaten so many great light heavyweights before. And then after that it starts to get cloudy, I’m not gonna lie. I think there are athletes that are on their way, like if Khabib would keep on fighting and do five or six or seven or eight more fights, then I’ll definitely throw him in. For me, I like to see longevity. I like to see dominance. Longevity is a big thing. When you look at Jon Jones, I think he’s 15 world title fights? That’s a lot of work of staying motivated, staying on top to keep on winning. I think Izzy is on his way. If he goes up to light heavyweight and beats the champion there, and he goes up to fight Jon Jones, he’s definitely on his way.”
Jones has taken aim at Nurmagomedov in the last few weeks, ever since Nurmagomedov took Jones’ spot in the UFC’s pound for pound fighters list.
Johnson also makes his choice for the MMA GOAT based on a specific set of criteria.
“Is it a popularity contest? What exactly puts you in that discussion of greatest of all time?” Johnson said. “For me, it’s longevity, how many championships have you done, a little bit of everything. For me, that’s why I put Gegard in there because when I watch him, I’m like, look at his hands, look at his grappling, look at his submissions. He can do it all. Jon Jones, look at his grappling, look at his hands, look at his submissions, look at how long he’s been a champion.”
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