When did Jon Jones start to become a GOAT candidate?

[Davidjacksonjones]

Jones is frequently mentioned during GOAT talks, along with other legends such as GSP, Silva, Fedor, Aldo, etc.

This thread is not a debate of who is the GOAT, but rather, when did Jones become agreed upon as a GOAT candidate, or potentially the GOAT?

After beating Shogun, a lot of us definitely saw serious potential, but he was obviously not GOAT status that time. Which point of his career/victory sealed him as one of the best?

 

[mjfan23]

When he scored his best win: TKO for life win over USADA via pulsing exemption.

no one ever had done something that impressive before in this sports history

 

[Get To Da Choppa]

Right after he knocked out Cormier, but before the win got overturned into NC because he got busted for pico.

 

[Aurelian]

I'll say 2011 for potentially being the GOAT. That year he had 4 fights Bader, Shogun, Rampage, and Machida and he finished them all. Everybody knew Jon was very special.

 

[Raptors2019]

When he defended the belt for the first time. That's usually the standard here to label someone as GOAT.

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

Pretty sure the GOAT discussion threshold starts at 10 title defenses or x number win streak / cleaned out division (s) with quality wins...

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

I'll say 2011 for potentially being the GOAT. Everybody knew Jon was very special.

Shogun, Bader. Rampage, Machida, all in one year. Remarkable. I wasn't on MMA forums then, did people call him GOAT by then? It was probably the start of it

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

Pretty sure the GOAT discussion threshold starts at 10 title defenses or x number win streak / cleaned out division (s) with quality wins...

Yeah, 10 title defenses sounds reasonable, along with cleaning out division against legends of the division. Im guessing around the DC win then

 

[Gamer2k4]

Honestly, probably over a decade ago. The Belfort fight in 2012 was his fifth title victory in a row, not to mention his fifth consecutive win against a former LHW champion. He was still probably the youngest champion then, had never legitimately been defeated, and the majority of his wins were by finish. Even then, people were saying, "Who in the world is next to fight this guy? He's beaten everyone!"

 

[Aurelian]

Shogun, Bader. Rampage, Machida, all in one year. Remarkable. I wasn't on MMA forums then, did people call him GOAT by then? It was probably the start of it

They didn't call him the GOAT but he was so young still. Jon won the belt at 23 years old. Naturally people would expect him to continue to improve and he was dispatching legends easily.

 

[AmonTobin]

By 2015, I thought "man, this guy's done it all".
The PED's though. Can't ever forget about that.

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

Honestly, probably over a decade ago. The Belfort fight in 2012 was his fifth title victory in a row, not to mention his fifth consecutive win against a former LHW champion. He was still probably the youngest champion then, had never legitimately been defeated, and the majority of his wins were by finish. Even then, people were saying, "Who in the world is next to fight this guy? He's beaten everyone!"

Yeah, he definitely established himself as an elite caliber fighter very quickly. A lot of people doubted the young new kid would have a chance against legend Shogun. Then he started to destroy legends back to back and seemed invincible

 

[Dr. Stoppage]

IMO he's kind of between generations which has hurt him as a star. His peak era was post golden era and before the ESPN+ contract.

 

[Mondo Freaks]

Crucifixing Vladamir Matyushenko

 

[C0NCH3TO]

Lmao like Mjfan23 said… and also all the title defenses. That many title defenses are insane to pull even if a few of them are razor thin or cheating. The second DC win sealed the deal to me.

 

[AdamWarlock]

ufc goat don't mean shit

this sport is such a joke that double digit title defenses automatically make you the best of all time

 

[C0NCH3TO]

ufc goat don't mean shit

this sport is such a joke that double digit title defenses automatically make you the best of all time

It’s extremely difficult to do what Jon, Khabib, Fedor, Anderson and Gsp did. Mma is not a joke.

 

[TheAmericanGazelle]

It'll be different times for different people.

For me, it was after DC 1. But I think people knew he on a GOAT-pace (minus self-destruction) when he blew through the Shogun/Machida/Rampage/Evans quartet with minimal resistance.

This is not considering the PED issue and taking everything at face value.

 

[Gamer2k4]

ufc goat don't mean shit

this sport is such a joke that double digit title defenses automatically make you the best of all time

Given that double-digit title defenses probably mean you've been the best in your division for nearly a decade straight, I think that's a fair basis for division GOAT, isn't it? Especially in a sport that's only 30 years old?

 

[VanMMA]

Hard to remember, honestly. I think the first DC win solidified his GOAT candidacy.