I don't think most of Sherdog understands what a "great athlete" is supposed to mean. You are right, Jones looks incredibly awkward and uncoordinated with the basketball and when jumping. What may be the best way to describe a great athlete is someone who can excel at almost any sport naturally; they will never look awkward when trying to dunk a basketball, for instance. Take Bo Jackson, who many people consider the greatest pure athlete of our time. He excelled at football and then became a very good professional baseball player later in life, as well. A great athlete can become better at a given sport with much less practice than a less athletic player.
The standards that many people use to determine a great athlete are not by coincidence many of the same metrics used at the NFL combine. Think of speed, strength, and explosiveness (not in the way that Sherdog uses that term). Both speed and explosiveness are measured in the 40 yard dash. Vertical jump and broad jump test explosiveness. 3 cone drill and shuttle measure speed and ability to change direction on the feet. In addition to tangibles like these measures, there is the intangible element that I described earlier about being able to transition to any sport and excel and not look awkward.
Jones has never shown to be a great athlete. His vertical is obviously horrendous (shown by the dunk video), and he has shown to be awkward and not adept at any other sports. His brothers even make fun of his lack of athletic ability. That being said, there is no denying that he has become successful at winning fights under the current rules. There is obviously more to being a successful fighter than just pure athletic ability.
To be fair, I am not sure how good of a pure athlete Cormier is either, but he isn't the one that brought the issue up.
