He denies it, says it is and remains a goal, but former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is the best fighter in the history of mixed martial arts. He never lost a fight.

He lost his title for out of arena irresponsibilities. And was disqualified in a fight he was utterly dominating, for throwing an illegal 12-6 elbow. His opponent was deaf, and when he didn’t respond to the referees questions, the match was over.

So no man ever beat Jon Jones. But that is just the beginning.

Jon Jones run as champion was a murder’s row:
Maurício Rua
Daniel Cormier
Glover Teixeira
Alexander Gustafsson
Chael Sonnen
Vitor Belfort
Rashad Evans
Lyoto Machida
Quinton Jackson

By contrast, Fedor run as PRIDE champion was filled with greats, and some not greats:
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
Egidijus Valavicius
Kazuyuki Fujita
Gary Goodridge
Yuji Nagata
Mark Coleman
Kevin Randleman
Naoya Ogawa
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka
Mirko Filipovic
Zuluzinho
Mark Coleman
Mark Hunt

Modern mixed martial arts began with Royce Gracie, who was and remains BJJ based. The blueprint was set by Pat Miletich – you have to be good enough in wrestling to hang with national class wrestlers in practice, good enough in BJJ to hang with national class wrestlers while rolling, and good enough in striking to hang with national class kickboxers while sparring.

Jon Jones took that blue print, and did it better than anyone has to date. Jones knocked out ‘Shogun’ Rua. Jones choked out Vitor Belfort. And Jones outwrestled the former captain of the US Olympic wrestling team. While there are some new trends that may take the sport right now to the next level, right now, no one has ever done it better.

Jones did not dominate everyone he faced, as Ronda Rousey had. But when Jones was taken into deep, deep waters by Alexander Gustafsson in 2013, he showed a champions heart, and won again. Jones came out of the close fight not diminished, but greater still.

Jon Jones is the best fighter in the history of mixed martial arts.

The best fighters in MMA history include:
Fedor Emelianenko
Royce Gracie
Dan Henderson
Kazushi Sakuraba
Anderson Silva
Georges St-Pierre

Who do you think is best?