Jon Jones still up in arms over pound-for-pound snub, blames “casual fans”
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is still up in arms after being surpassed by Khabib Nurmagomedov in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Jones sat atop the UFC’s pound-for-pound list for many years, but lost his spot this week thanks to Nurmagomedov’s dominant defeat of Justin Gaethje in the main event of UFC 254 last Saturday.
He’s made no secret of his disappointment since then, railing against his ranking demotion on Twitter all week.
That trend continued on Wednesday, when he aired his grievances on Instagram, blaming the issue on “casual fans.”
“My first four championships, a whole staggering 11 championships ago,” Jones wrote. “This is what I classify as elite competition, pretty sure these men are in the Hall of Fame already. If the new casual fans want to consider someone they didn’t know before Connor McGregor the P4P best that’s cool. But leave this goat stuff to the more experienced fans.”
What Jones is attempting to articulate here is that he has been far more successful in UFC title fights than Nurmagomedov, going 15-0 in championship bouts compared to the lightweight champ’s 4-0 record in those spots.
Jones also made a similar point on Twitter, pointing the sheer length of his light heavyweight title reign.
I’ve been champion so long, I’ve probably been Dominic‘s motivations since his very first practice. Beating guys who have been preparing for a single fight against me for years. Dream crushing isn’t always as easy as it looks
— BONY (@JonnyBones) October 29, 2020
“I’ve been champion so long, I’ve probably been Dominick [Reyes’] motivation since his very first practice,” Jones wrote. “Beating guys who have been preparing for a single fight against me for years. Dream crushing isn’t always as easy as it looks.”
Jon Jones vacated the UFC light heavyweight title earlier this year with plans to move up to heavyweight. The details of his heavyweight debut are still unclear.
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