Ahead of title bout, Jones' legacy as greatest fighter in UFC history clouded by personal issues

NEW YORK (AP) — UFC runs a contender for card-of-the-year each November at Madison Square Garden where the main event bouts often stand as a referendum on the company's endless debate:

Who’s the “Greatest of All-Time” in UFC?

Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre and Daniel Cormier have all choked, clinched, counterpunched inside the fighting cage at MSG.

All could stake a claim at some point as the best mixed martial arts fighter to headline in New York.

The true GOAT just might be on-deck when the star-crossed Jon Jones makes his anticipated debut at the Garden for his heavyweight title fight on Saturday night at UFC 309.

“It’s all a huge honor to have your face on the billboards of Times Square,” Jones said.

It's a greater one to have a hand raised in victory.

Jones is set to defend his title — a year after the fight was postponed when he suffered a torn pectoral tendon during training — against two-time heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic.

Rehab is over, a year of hype has reached its crescendo, and the fighters are ready to throw down.

“Everyone cares about this fight, it feels like,” Jones said.

The 37-year-old Jones hasn't fought since he ended a three-year sabbatical and choked out Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023. Miocic, 42, last fought when he dropped the belt to Francis Ngannou at UFC 280 in March 2021.

Jones stirs a crowd like few fighters outside of McGregor can wherever he travels. After a string of undercard fighters came-and-went at a midtown Manhattan hotel conference room, most MMA media instantly stood and crowded the stage with their smartphones for snapshots when Jones took the microphone. His UFC belt resting on the table, Jones wasn’t quite ready for a fashion shoot; he briefly left in his black short-sleeve shirt to find a jacket.

(“It’s a little chilly in here.”)

Jones has cooled on the idea of fighting his next challenger, should he defeat Miocic. British fighter Tom Aspinall has held down the division as interim heavyweight champion — a title necessitated by Jones’ lengthy absence — and has been chirping for months about a unification bout.

Likely trying to troll the overzealous Aspinall, Jones says he has no interest in that fight.

“What’s in it for me?” Jones said.

Except for one profane shot as Aspinall, Jones was eloquent and expressive as he discussed his legacy, impeccable manners worthy of a man raised by a pastor and a nurse that belies a personal life dogged by demons that have marred his reputation and career.

His list of offenses stretches beyond his number of title fights, a docket that includes doping suspensions, arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery domestic violence, arrested for aggravated DWI, and a hit-and-run incident top the list of legal and code-of-conduct violations.

His second win against Cormier, his long-time foil, was overturned in 2017 to a no-contest after Jones tested positive for the steroid Turinabo. Cormier, a former two-division champion who now calls fights for ESPN, said Jones’ repeated offenses should factor in the “GOAT” debate.

“This is his big week and he should be praised and applauded,” Cormier said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But for me, it’s just hard. When I was on the outside and on the other end of all those issues, that’s where the problem comes. I’m not jealous of Jon Jones. I really don’t care. It’s hard for me to say somebody is the greatest at anything of all-time when you have so many of those negative things attached to your name, especially in fighting. You can’t test positive for steroids in fighting, so that makes it hard.”

Jones talked in loose terms about living with regret but otherwise dismissed his detractors by quoting scripture, and saying: “I’m very aware that the man that I am today has turned out to be a pretty solid human being."

Try and throw out his rap sheet — though its fastened to his legacy as much as the belt around his waist — and Jones boasts career achievements that make him a no-brainer as perhaps MMA’s greatest ever.

At 23, he was the youngest champion in UFC history when he beat Maurício Rua for the light heavyweight crown. His lone professional defeat came in 2009 on a disputed DQ for illegal elbows. Jones holds light heavyweight division records for most title defenses, most wins, and longest win streak before he vacated his belt. He then won his heavyweight debut against Gane.

The loudest cheerleader among those who think Jones is the best just might be the champ himself.

“If I’ve gotten this close to be considered in that realm of conversation, I might as well embrace it,” Jones said. “I might as well advocate for myself because reaching this level just doesn’t come often. What I’ve done is a really special thing.”

Jones has teased retirement should he beat Miocic — the challenger will all-but call it a career with a loss — but has also called for a fight against light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

“Pereira's worth risking it for me,” Jones said. “I'm looking for the legacy stuff.”

Jones can only pad his GOAT credentials should he beat Miocic and send the firefighter back to Ohio a title-fight loser.

Even his fiercest rival can't deny Jones' MMA greatness.

“I’ve never fought anybody better than Jon Jones,” Cormier said.

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