UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is considered by many as the GOAT of MMA. The 36-year-old from Rochester, New York, is the youngest fighter to win a championship in the UFC.
Jones first became champion when he won the UFC light heavyweight championship by defeating the legendary Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua at UFC 128 in 2011. He made 11 total successful title defences of the 205-pound belt across two championship reigns.
In his last bout, Jones submitted Cyril Gane at UFC 285 to become the UFC heavyweight champion.
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Bones was a high school and NJCAA champion wrestler before starting to train in MMA at the age of 19. Because he was a natural at mixed martial arts, Jones made his professional MMA debut one year later. Bones won his first six bouts via stoppage, including four knockouts to catch the UFC’s attention.
The UFC signed Jones to a four-fight deal and he officially became the youngest fighter on the UFC’s roster at 21 years and 22 days when he made his promotional debut.
Jon was just 26 years old when he broke the UFC record for most defences of the light heavyweight title at six. After adding two more successful titled defences to his record, he was stripped of the belt in 2015 after a hit-and-run incident that violated the UFC’s Athlete Conduct Policy.
He recaptured the belt one fight later, only to be stripped again after failing another drug test.
At 30 years of age, he became a three-time UFC light heavyweight champion when he defeated rival Daniel Cormier for the second time at UFC 214. For the second consecutive bout, he tested positive for a banned substance. He was stripped of the belt again and his win over DC was overturned into a no-contest.
Jones won the belt for the fourth time after knocking out Alexander Gustafsson in their rematch at UFC 232. He made three successful title defences against Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos, and Dominick Reyes. He vacated the belt after beating Reyes and took a long hiatus to prepare for a move to the heavyweight division.
After three years, Jones returned to make his highly-anticipated UFC debut at UFC 285. Looking like he never left in the first place, 35-year-old Jones easily submitted Cyril Gane to become the UFC heavyweight champion. Bones has not fought in over a year but is expected to make his first title defence against former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic later this year.