Has Jones helped or hurt his legacy since moving to HW?

[Safwan ibn Muattal]

Compare Jones' legacy if he retired after fighting Reyes  vs win over Gane + likely win over Stipe.

Even though those are two nice names on his already stacked resume, I feel like his blatant dicking of Tom Aspinall has left a sour taste in tbe mouths of many, even some Jones fans are fed up with the champion of a division refusing to fight his interim challenger.

What are your thoughts?

Imo if he doesn't end up fighting Aspinall, his legacy would be hurt more than helped. This would be like if GSP chose to rematch Bisping after winning the MW belt instead of fighting Whittaker. Instead, GSP, the ever shrewd operator, chose to vacate the belt instead of holding up the division, and boosted his legacy instead.

 

[CinemaKingdom]

He won, so it helped. Though he beat a guy with no ground game so it doesn't mean much. But it made people forget how bad he looked at LHW in his last few fights.

 

[GrantB13]

If anything this is hurting. Even when he came back at LHW he was fighting contenders. Did anybody give a crap about the matchup with him and OSP or Anthony Smith in terms of it being a legit high level fight? Probably not, but at least he fought them. Purposely avoiding Aspinall is ridiculous.

 

[TheBulge]

You're talking legacy. These type of things aren't remembered much. Guys like Tom aren't remembered unless they create a legacy of their own.

History has shown that guys who were 'supposed' to beat Jones or gave him a good fight don't end up very well in MMA. Aspinall could likely end up as one of many guys who was the one at some point.

 

[Arm Barbarian]

It all depends on whether one believes he had a legacy to begin with or not.

Some will cheer Jon on no matter what he does, some recognize him for the absolute disgrace he is.

Neither will likely change those views at this stage of his career imo.

 

[VinceArch]

History has shown that guys who were 'supposed' to beat Jones or gave him a good fight don't end up very well in MMA. Aspinall could likely end up as one of many guys who was the one at some point.

Which is fine but Jon is avoiding him like the plague at the moment.

 

[Luthien]

He destroyed Gane, that was fun Wish he would do more

 

[Domitian]

Which is fine but Jon is avoiding him like the plague at the moment.

Until Dana and the UFC wants to make that fight and puts a contract in front of Jon it doesn't make sense to claim Jon is ducking him. For some reason Dana is hell bent on making the Stipe fight. Maybe this ducking argument will have merit in the future but as of now it doesn't.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Considering Gane was supposed to murder Jon and BonesGOAT made it look easy, nothing but help.

 

[VinceArch]

Until Dana and the UFC wants to make that fight and puts a contract in front of Jon it doesn't make sense to claim Jon is ducking him. For some reason Dana is hell bent on making the Stipe fight. Maybe this ducking argument will have merit in the future but as of now it doesn't.

Dana is hell bent as is Jon and Stipe. I don't see anyone else being as enthused for this fight than those 3. If Jon doesn't get it for whatever reason, he's already admitting he wants to fight Alex Pereira when he has an interim champion in his division. How you don't see this as him ducking, I don't know but to me, it has merit enough already.

 

[RockyLockridge]

I don't see how moving up and winning a fight can possibly hurt your legacy. you'd have to be a pretty derranged hater to think so.

 

[Kryptt]

Every picture tells a story, don't it.

 

[Domitian]

Dana is hell bent as is Jon and Stipe. I don't see anyone else being as enthused for this fight than those 3. If Jon doesn't get it for whatever reason, he's already admitting he wants to fight Alex Pereira when he has an interim champion in his division. How you don't see this as him ducking, I don't know but to me, it has merit enough already.

Prize fighting is a business. Anyone can see Pereira will sell way more PPVs than Aspinall would and Jon would make more money.

I get why Stipe wants the fight, but I'm not so sure why Jon and Dana do. Regardless, fighters can't make their own fights and sign the contracts themselves. They have to have the UFC to go along with them and UFC being a business wants to make as much money as possible.

 

[Morning Star]

I guess it depends how Gane's career goes from here. Also depends on how he beats Stipe. If he starches him like Big Frank did means a lot more than if he goes life and death with a geriatric.

 

[ferrisjso]

It validated everyone who said the top HWs were not as good as the top LHWs and were ignored for a decade by the "why won't Jones challenge himself and fight fatter people he must be scared" crowd.

In reality is should have done nothing for Jones's legacy because people should have assumed Jones would clap anyone at HW easily but given the hate filled narratives out there this wasn't the case. He shouldn't have NEEDED to prove himself but some annoying fans nagged him into doing so.

 

[king hippo]

helped. looks out of shape and slower but he's still way above everyone else.

 

[AfroBanana]

Acting like he got one punched by Conor or KO’ed by Dan. His legacy is intact and he smoked Gane who has never really lost a fight outside of NNN and that shit was razor close. Like one bad decision away from winning. How does a net positive for someone who is already cemented beyond everyone else hurt.

He has a long way to go before he’s Fedor, Silva or Aldo. He’s never been defeated outright like other GOATS like GSP, Mighty and Amanda etc. Even his “bad decision” isn’t nearly as bad as anyone else’s “bad decisions” or showings where they were eaten up or nearly finished. The only thing you can weaponize against him is his character flaws and mistakes. On paper he has a long way to fall to catch up with other GOATs in terms of hurting his legacy.

He can go beat up 50 year olds on a RIZIN card for the next 5 years and it won’t tarnish the career he made and how far ahead he is of everyone else. You can only judge what’s real and that’s his stellar career. You can’t autistically take away anything because you’re butthurt over his current decisions on who he wants to fight. That has nothing to do with the records he set and the division he dominated. Everything is a cherry on top of other cherries now. It’s just extreme butthurt and low IQ that would think winning a HW title and fighting Stipe changes anything he’s already done.

 

[Psychojoe86]

His legacy is absolutely collapsing. He's ducked numerous top contenders at heavyweight, only fought once against an easy opponent, and is now trying to go after Alex in the weight class below him. On top of injury, inactivity, tons of steroid abuse in the past, and more and more.

In fact... his legacy really pretty much is mush.

 

[DOMMA]

Jones to moved the Heavyweight? Thought he retired years ago.

 

[VinceArch]

Prize fighting is a business. Anyone can see Pereira will sell way more PPVs than Aspinall would and Jon would make more money.

I get why Stipe wants the fight, but I'm not so sure why Jon and Dana do. Regardless, fighters can't make their own fights and sign the contracts themselves. They have to have the UFC to go along with them and UFC being a business wants to make as much money as possible.

You know how Pereira's stock raised? He was put on cards that were stacked but he also had the advantage of having wins over Izzy. Tom has been booked on fight night cards for most of his UFC tenure so it's obviously been harder for him, had he gotten the PPV treatment like Alex, I'm sure it would be different. As for why Jon wants it? It's the easiest defense and Dana is along for the ride cause piece of shit recognizes piece of shit. Also, it's just another way to stick it to Ngannou.