White: There’s no debate Jones is #1 P4P
“It’s Jon Jones,” said Dana White unequivocally. “There’s no debate now. Jon Jones is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.”
At the beginning of the year, determining the sport’s top Pound for Pound fighter was complex. A little dumb and ultimately meaningless, but complex.
Back in Jan UFC President Dana White said the P4P #1 was ‘probably’ Renan Barao, who had not lost since his very first fight in 2005, if Barao beat Urijah Faber at UFC 169 in Feb, which he did.
In the same time period White also said [If Chris Weidman beats Vitor Belfort] he’s the best. He’s #1. How is he not #1 pound-for-pound in the world if he beats Vitor Belfort? It’s impossible not to call him the No. 1 pound-for-pound guy.
So according to White’s calculations, Barao was ‘probably’ the P4P champ for a time, pending the outcome of Weidman vs. Machida, if Machida was an equivalent fighter to Belfort, which he was not, as he did not kick knockout three top fighters in a row.
In short, it was complicated.
Now T.J. Dillashaw beat Renan Baroa, and the top P4P fighter in mixed martial is undisputed.
During an interview with the Albuquerque Journal, White was asked who’s #1?
“It’s Jon Jones,” said White unequivocally. “When Renan Barao was undefeated for 32 fights and nine years and everything else, there was some debate there. There’s no debate now. Jon Jones is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.”
Here are all the UFC champions:
Heavyweight : Cain Velasquez
Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones
Middleweight: Chris Weidman
Welterweight: Johny Hendricks
Lightweight: Anthony Pettis
Featherweight: José Aldo
Bantamweight: T.J. Dillashaw
Women’s Bantamweight: Ronda Rousey
Flyweight: Demetrious Johnson
Can you make an argument for any of them besides Jones as the best fighter in the sport?