What was the prime of Jon Jones in your opinion?

[Luffy]

Do you think his dominant run against the first era, defeating the fighters who were beast on PRIDE and then were the big names of LHW until JJ made it look easy vs them, like... The era JJ couldn't even be challenged?

Or during his run at the next generation in UFC LHW, with his legendary sagas vs DC, Gustafsson... Dominating Glover, who was on a 17 wins streak, etc...

Or his run at the third generation of LHW, defeating Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos and Reyes? I guess this would be the least likely to be appointed as JJ's prime ofc.

Or now, after 3 years, going to HW and finishing Gane in 3 minutes (Gane who had defeated in tremendous fashion many HW big names except Francis), plus finishing Stipe, the HW with most belt defenses and, likely, top 3 HW of all times, dominantly, before the championship rounds... ? At least according to JJ's interview pre Gane fight, in those 3 years, he had shown a training consistency that was lacking after a certain point of his career, where, as per himself, he'd train and study his opponents but not as much as initially, and would end up relying a lot on talent to win the fights. He said he wouldn't miss a day of training and also, obsessively analysing many fights, trending moves, the evolution of the game, etc...

IMO, athletically speaking, JJ's run through the first generation was the best JJ, as well as that hunger. Skill and knowledge wise, with polished techniques, etc. the HW JJ. The one who had those sagas vs DC and Gus may be the best one in terms of balancing improved skills (in comparison to first era JJ) and athleticism (in comparison to the HW JJ), though his many controversies might have hampered his performance, perhaps. Even when you're at the top of your game, I think mentally, he was off in many ways and that has an impact, for sure.

 

[Sean Chowdhury]

definitely not right now, he looked slow and fat against stipe. Probably the 2nd DC fight

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

From the Bader win all the way to DC pt. 1 imo, after that he's basically started winging it in terms of prep inbetween his absences/suspensions

 

[DesiredUserName]

when he did the most PEDs

 

[Prazeres]

His best performance are in his rematches with DC and Gus, tho this might have more to do with him being deeply familiar with both of those fighters at this point.

 

[CatchtheseHands]

Definitely not after the 2nd DC fight..

 

[TR1]

When he could juice with impunity.

 

[TheNewGame]

From the Bader win all the way to DC pt. 1 imo, after that he's basically started winging it in terms of prep

Funny enough that's precisely when USADA was brought in.



His prime was pre USADA, and his best win during USADA was against a shot Gus while he was "pulsing".

 

[J'Ghasta]

Prime was 2011 - present. His peak was 2012 - 2015 from Vitor to Cormier 1.

 

[tgv976]

From Shogun to Sonnen. Big name wins in there with all fights finished except Rashad.

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

Funny enough that's precisely when USADA was brought in.



His prime was pre USADA, and his best win during USADA was against a shot Gus while he was "pulsing".

You'll get no argument from me lol, Jon is Jon after all.
But the guy who manhandled Bader before taking Shogun apart at the joints 2 months later to become world champ at 23 years old, I can't say he wasn't a special cat at that time.

 

[Arm Barbarian]

when he did the most PEDs

Yep. He was melting tests around the time he faced DC, and that was the sharpest he's ever looked imo.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Glover, 2nd Gustafson, and 2nd DC fights were far and away his best performances against his hardest competition

 

[TR1]

Glover, 2nd Gustafson, and 2nd DC fights were far and away his best performances and against his hardest competition

Pretty damning when 1 of those fights is a NC, and another had to be moved to another state because of PEDs lol.

Quite the career indeed.

 

[Typrune Goatley]

definitely not right now, he looked slow and fat against stipe. Probably the 2nd DC fight

He tested positive for steroids for the 2nd DC fight

His best performance are in his rematches with DC and Gus, tho this might have more to do with him being deeply familiar with both of those fighters at this point.

He tested positive for steroids in the 2nd DC fight. He was still "pulsing" leading up to the rematch with Gus, meaning he still had traces of steroids in his system.

 

[Luffy]

You'll get no argument from me lol, Jon is Jon after all.
But the guy who manhandled Bader before taking Shogun apart at the joints 2 months later to become world champ at 23 years old, I can't say he wasn't a special cat at that time.

And even though the way he defeated Shogun was like "damn, this kid is a beast... The biggest talent maybe we have seen"... I don't think anyone would imagine that he'd defend his LHW title 11 fucking times, with his last LHW belt defense being ~ 10 years after he beat Shogun, vacating the LHW belt after 11 defenses, not losing even one fight... And then, on top of that, to go on and defeat an active, young, among the current best HWs without even receiving a punch and defending it vs Stipe dominantly... All while being, still, more than 10 years after the Shogun fight, top 3 not only pfp, but also, a candidate for being still in this age, the strongest current fighter depending on how he fares vs Tom...

Not even the inhumane way he dealt with a Shogun, a champion that was well recognized as a real deal, in the way he did at just 23 yo, would make someone think he'd fight 16 times after, all for world championship, and win them all, including 2 of those being in the HW class. Not speaking as a fan, but as a realist, that's a feat that seems ungodly... I mean, I've never seen something like this, it seems almost like a... Dream, something unreal, legendary.

 

[Prazeres]

He tested positive for steroids for the 2nd DC fight


He tested positive for steroids in the 2nd DC fight. He was still "pulsing" leading up to the rematch with Gus, meaning he still had traces of steroids in his system.

He very likely was juicing in most if not all of his fights, I wouldn't single out any particular fight.

 

[JKS]

2015 - 2016 IMO

 

[Captain Herb]

I am somewhat of an autodidactic scholar of the enigma that is the fighter Jon Jones and I can definitively postulate with evidence that the peak performance denoting the zenith of the pugilistic career of said subject was the occasion where he did Roid Rage against poor Glover Texeira shortly before the notorious USADA Era came into existence (It should be noted with emphasis!)

 

[nonoob]

He was prime getting arrested beating his babymama bloody in front of his traumatized kids,

then the Vegas cops saved her, took Pico away crying like a little girl whining "I hate you."

Jon Jones - LEGEND of a Scumbag Coward​