UFC superstar Jon Jones is still listed at the top of the UFC’s official pound-for-pound list, but at least one of his main rivals to the label of being the best MMA fighter of all-time believes Jones has recently been surpassed. Like Jones, retired UFC star Georges St-Pierre is one of the most decorated fighters in history. Unlike Jones, “GSP” doesn’t have “Bones” listed at the top of his personal pound-for-pound list.
“I think [Kamaru] Usman, right now, is the best pound-for-pound,” St-Pierre told Bleacher Report. “In terms of performance, I think he’s one of the best right now and he’s an active competitor.”
So GSP believes Usman deserves the top spot over Jones.
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St-Pierre’s Reasoning Seems Based on Activity
Usman, 34, is arguably the most dominant UFC welterweight champion since St-Pierre.
But it’s St-Pierre’s reasoning about him being an active competitor that sticks out most about the claim. In fact, that seems the be the main determining factor in him ranking Usman as the top pound-for-pound UFC star because St-Pierre didn’t even call Usman the single best fighter in the world.
Instead, he called him “one of the best”.
Jones is arguably the most decorated fighter in any weight class in UFC history. He’s won more UFC title fights (14) than any fighter, and he’s been considered one of the best UFC fighters in the world for basically a full decade now.
But Jones hasn’t fought since defeating Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February 2020, and it doesn’t appear he’ll be back inside the Octagon anytime soon due to his ongoing negotiations with the UFC. His inactivity along with Usman’s absolute dominance over one of the deepest divisions in the sport seems to have bumped him down on St-Pierre’s list.
How long might it be before the rest of the world does the same?
He looks great in photos and videos beefing up for his desired run in the heavyweight division, but he’s been out of action for over a year now and that could move him off the radar in the eyes of some.
Heck, that already seems to be happening with GSP.
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GSP Shares Fave Fighters List
According to that same interview, Jones isn’t even listed as one of GSP’s favorite fighters right now.
The 40-year-old legend named Usman, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, and UFC bantamweight champion Brandon Moreno as his fave fighters.
“All the champions,” said St-Pierre, but he also added rising heavyweight phenom Cyril Gane to the list.
St-Pierre seemed particularly enamored right now with Moreno following the Mexican’s shocking win over Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 263.
“If we’re talking about who’s the greatest, I think Moreno is pretty amazing,” St-Pierre said. “The way he beat Figueiredo, that was amazing. It was an amazing performance—as good as it gets.”
But Jones has been left off that list, too.
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Jon Jones Not Named Top Pound-for-Pound Fighter in UFC