Jon Jones Retires: An in-depth Look at the Career of the UFC's Goat

Zak Drapeau
5 days ago
9 min read

by Zak Drapeau 6/23/2025 FansOnlySportz

The greatest fighter in the history of the UFC retired on Saturday. Jon Jones who was the current Heavyweight Champion at the time of his retirement has announced that his career is over after 16+ year career is over.

Jones holds several records in the UFC while simultaneously being "sort of" undefeated in 30 fights. A 2-time Light Heavyweight Champion and 1-time Heavyweight Champion, Jones will forever be remembered more for his Light Heavyweight legacy; with a 26-1 (1 NC) record in 28 fights. His only loss was by disqualification in 2009 by an archaic rule that has since been retracted.

Jones close-to-decade long reign as King of the Light Heavyweights and Pound-for-Pound #1 in the UFC was the greatest prime of any fighter in the close to 50-year existence of Mixed-Martial Arts' history.

While Jones does take flak for his long breaks in between fights over the last 4 years or so, the beginning of his career was anything but. Before becoming the youngest Champion in UFC history at the age of 23 in 2011, Jones had fought 8 times in 2 and a half years. Once he got the title, he would defend against the Best of the Best, with 7 more wins in his first 2 and a half years as Champion.

The Legend Killer

These first 8 title fights in his career would be arguably the "toughest" 8-stretch fight of ANYONE in UFC History... ya i sad it. The Championship bouts he would face in would be against:

Shogun Rua (KO)

Rampage Jackson (Sub)

Lyoto Machida (Sub)

Rashad Evans (UD)

Vitor Belfort (Sub)

Chael Sonnen (KO)

Alexander Gustaffson (UD)

For those of you new to the game and don't know the significance of Shogun, Rashad, and Vitor, and maybe have only heard of the "legends" of Rampage and Chael, these guys were all in the Top-15 fighters of ALL TIME in the late 2000s. Over the next 2-3 years, Jones would face and beat all of them and almost all of them would be finished by him. All before Jones would turn 27 years old.

Some compare the rise of Jon Jones in the UFC to the rise of Michael Jordan in the NBA. Not only was he beating everyone and taking no prisoners while doing it, but he made us all recognize his GOAT-potential while still being in his early-to-mid 20s.

Once the "Legend Killer" phase of his career was over, Jones would embark on his "second career" in the UFC, one marked by controversy including suspensions and even convictions. Yet one still cloaked in unquestionable greatness.

Jones and Cormier's Infamous Rivalry

In the year 2014, the UFC was showing a bit of a spike in viewership with Jon being the center of it all with a 14-1 record and 7 title defenses to his name. At the same time of Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey's ascension in the mid-2010's, Jon Jones would also be making headlines and drawing crowds but for a much different reason.

Towards the end of 2014, Jon Jones was on top of the world but would see his superstardom ascend even higher amongst a building feud with Daniel Cormer. The former Strikeforce World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist hadn't been in the UFC for 2 years at this point but was still 4-0 and the #1 contender for Jones' crown. The heated nature of their rivalry started with war of words in video interviews and would boil over with a now infamous press conference-brawl on September 27 of the same year.

After fines and legal sanctions were avoided, the two would finally square off for the first time in January of 2015, with Jones earning a unanimous decision over Cormier in a fight that did little-to-nothing to put the two's animosity aside.

The win would evidently be a climax of Jones journey as the next 2-3 years would be a steep fall off for the Champ. After their January of 2015 scrap, Jones would soon be stripped of his title following a charge and subsequent conviction of "leaving the scene of a crime" in April of the same year. The incident would infamously include a hit-and-run of a pregnant woman in her car; the woman and her baby would suffer no long term injuries.

Jones would be reinstated and scheduled for a rematch against Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 who was now himself the LHW champion, but Jones would again be suspended by USADA, (United States Anti-Doping administration) after he was "flagged for a potential doping violation in an out-of-competition sample", collected just 3 weeks before the event.

Jones would return to the Octagon in July of the next year and finally have maybe the MOST anticipated rematch in UFC history against Daniel Cormier in July of 2017. In their very-intense fight, Jones would land a devaststating head kick and subsequently KO his rival in the Second Round making him a new, 2-time LHW champion. If only that "high" would've lasted for Jon...

A month and a half later after a now 3rd positive doping violation from Jones, the fight was overturned to a No-Contest and Jones was stripped of his LHW title for a 2nd time. The substance, known as Turinabol, is considered a performance-enhancing drug by USADA and was found in his system in a sample collected before the fight.

While the record between the 2 is technically 1-0-0 (1 NC), most in the world consider Jones the definitive winner of it. This rivalry will go down in UFC history as potentially the most heated rivalry of all-time and for having two of the greatest as part of it, Daniel Cormier himself being an arguable Top-10 fighter in it's history as well.

"Is Jon Jones Getting Old"

After his wars with Cormier and USADA were over, Jones would move on to some of the newer blood in the division. After a 17-month layoff, Jones would again defeat Alexander Gustaffsson and take revenge on the single-closest fight Jones had ever been in in the two's 2013 encounter. This fight was again for the LHW crown and made Jones a 2-time LHW champion officially. His next 3 fights would see him square off against some of the UFC's brightest stars and be a part of controversy once again but for much different reasons.

After annihilating Anthony Smith in his first title-defense, Jones would have back-to-back defenses against Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes. Santos would take Jones to the limit and bring Jon to the first Split-Decision of his career, one where Jon would still ultimately win.

In his next fight, Dominick Reyes would have an even "closer" fight in most peoples' eyes, out-striking Jones for his first time in his career, and arguably winning the first 3 rounds before Jones dominated the back-2. In one of the UFC's most controversial judges decisions, Jones would win a Unanimous Decision that night as the crowd booed, ready to see Jones first "Real Loss".

After this, Jones 26th UFC win, a strong narrative would be placed on Jon of the then, 33-year old being "past his prime" and "a lucky champion", with most claiming that he would almost assuredly lose very soon in the daunting LHW division.

To fuel the fire and create even more chaos and chatter he was certainly used to by this point, Jones would do something extreme.

Heavyweight Jon Jones

Jones would announce his vacation of his title and subsequent move to heavyweight about 6 months after beating Reyes. Jones had long been in rumors of a move to 265 but after the last several years, fans didn't know what to expect. A long-dreamed super fight between him and Heavyweight Champions Stipe Miocic and shortly after Francis Ngannou had been FEVERISHLY wanted.

Jones would cause even more specualtion and chatter amidst a 3-year absence from the Octagon to, in his words, "gain weight the right way", and even though it was heart-breaking to watch Miocic get knocked out by Francis and then see Francis leave the UFC during this time... could anyone blame Jon for doing what he did?

Well it certainly seemed like we couldn't after Jon's first fight at Heavyweight a full 37 months removed from the Reyes fight. This time, Jones would be facing another up-and-comer, Ciryl Gane who was considered one of the "Futures" of the division and a VERY feared Heavyweight striker with a 8-1 record coming into the fight; his only loss was to the aforementioned Ngannou.

The fight was announced in January of 2023 and for the first time in his career, Jones was a betting underdog at +100.

In the best-selling PPV of the previous 12 months, Jones would quickly prove all of his haters wrong AGAIN with a swift and jaw-dropping 2-minute defeat of the "Future of the Division".

When Ciryl Gane tapped out to a guillotine choke 2:04 into the First Round, everyone from the stands in Las Vegas and watching on PPV all around the world was dumbfounded. Even those who always believed in his incredible technical abilities including MYSELF, were shocked.

Jones was now 36 and trying to essentially start a 3rd UFC career in a new division against a deadly youngster and made it look EASY.

The world wanted to see Jones vs Ngannou and unfortuanetly would never get the chance, but another great superfight would be in store for a consolidation prize.

Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic was blasted all over the internet and announced for November of 2023 as most of the world cheered. Alas, Jones would tear his bicep in preparation for the fight. Many questions about both men's futures would rise as the then 37-year old Jones and 41-year old Stipe were definitely in the final years of their career.

The biggest questions were around if Stipe should be in the fight at all. Before their eventual bout in November of 2024, Stipe was 42 and hadn't fought since being FLATLINED by Francis in March of 2021. His biggest draw was the almost-unquestionable Heavyweight GOAT status but even that wasn't good enough to overshadow his decline.

The OTHER QUESTIONS were regarding the promise and potential showdown between another up-and-comer in the division, Tom Aspinall, (and we'll get to Tom shortly).

The Superfight commenced in November of 2024 and even though for most, "Jon Jones would easily beat the Old Stipe", the aura of it was unreal. Here were 2 of the Greatest of All Time, and unquestionable GOATs at their respective divisions, fighting in the Octagon for the Title.

In yet another jaw-dropping moment, Jon Jones would knock out Stipe in the Third Round but for the first time in his career, would do it from a BODY KICK.

As if Jones legacy wasn't already solidified at the top, Jones that night would earn his 28th UFC victory, his 12th stoppage including his 6th KO and his 16th victory in Championship bouts, (not including the NC with Cormier.)

The Greatest of All Time

It would be 7 months later that Dana White would announce that Jon Jones had retired. In the wake of his retirement, Aspinall has been upgraded from Interim HW Champ to undisputed HW Champ.

The legacy of Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall will forever be another of "UFC's greatest lost fights". Aspinall is a remarkable fighter and athlete and would have almost certainly tested Jones to the point of potentially beating him. The potential matchup between the two is too great to fully get into here, but it would have certainly been a "passing the torch" moment and one last chance for Jones to solidify his standing as GOAT.

But then again, why would Jones have to prove that any more than he has?

With the record for most Championship Wins at 16, most Championship fights at 17 and NEVER LOSING A F*&$ING FIGHT IN 30 TRIES!!!! Jones is the Greatest to Ever Do It.

Can you bash him for "ducking" Aspinall, I guess maybe. But in doing so you are claiming that he had something to prove and he obviously didn't.

Can you bash him for his doping violations, yes you for sure can although to Jones' credit he's admitted to one and disputes the other two.

Can you bash him for his multiple legal battles, absolutely. His charges are unexcusable and he has shown progress in improving as a man and taking full responsibility for his actions.

Ultimately, did Jones leave us with more questions than answers across his 16-year career? Potentially.

Most of the GOATs in other sports have been linked to "wild nature" and some have even been convicted of their own criminal charges. Some people have even claimed "if you want to be the very best you have to be kind of insane," like Joe Rogan has repeatedly on his JRE Podcast.

Is Jon insane? That's debatable.

Is he the UFC's GOAT? Somehow... that is also debatable.

Whether you like or hate the man, if you have a brain you respect this man's skill and resume as a fighter.

Thank you for your career Jon and the many entertaining fights and dominant career. I hope you find what you're looking for in retirement.