NEW YORK – After months of claiming Jon Jones to be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, Dana White finally feels his point was proven.
Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) defended his UFC heavyweight title against former champion Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in the main event of UFC 309 in Madison Square Garden. It was a dominant showing that ended with Jones landing a spinning back kick to the body to put away Miocic in the third round of their contest.
With the win, Jones not only defended his heavyweight belt and cemented himself as arguably the greatest fighter in the sport’s history but also proved that he’s the best fighter today – at least according to White.
“This guy’s fight IQ is off the charts,” White told reporters at the UFC 309 post-fight press conference. “Everybody going to admit now he’s the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world?
“And let me tell you, this thing had upset written all over it, too. All the talk about Jon Jones, Stipe seemed pissed, focused, and he came here to win. He looked good, he was physically in great shape, and the list goes on. Jon picked him apart. … He looked incredible. I just don’t know how any of you guys don’t see how he’s the greatest fighter in the history of f*cking people fighting.”
As far as what’s next, Jones didn’t lean towards any direction in terms of opponent, but he definitely didn’t retire and mentioned he’d like to re-negotiate his contract with the UFC brass.
White, who believes Jones vs. Tom Aspinall would be the greatest heavyweight fight in MMA history, is not worried about the potential negotiation with Jones, and is confident he can get a title unification done.
“I got Tom waiting outside for me right now,” White said. “You let Jon do Jon. Jon is going to disappear. Not only won’t you hear about him, and neither will I, but then he’ll resurface, he’ll call, and we’ll get it done.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.