After months of speculation regarding the future of the UFC’s heavyweight division, we finally have some clarity on Jon Jones’ current status.
Jones has been teasing retirement for some time but the news has now been made official, with ‘Bones’ confirming his exit on social media after Dana White spoke to the media following UFC Baku.
The interim champion has been promoted to undisputed with Tom Aspinall now targeting new opponents in Jones’ absence.
While the former champion has received a lot of criticism over the past few months, he’s still widely considered to be the greatest of all time.
One of the first big names to congratulate Jones on his career was Jake Paul, who followed his reaction up by naming his MMA Mount Rushmore.
Jake Paul features Jon Jones and Khabib Nurmagomedov on his MMA Mount Rushmore
For all of the controversies that have taken place during his career, it’s hard to argue that Jon Jones’ accomplishments alone don’t make him the greatest of all time.
Jake Paul acknowledged this on social media when sending a short message to ‘Bones’ following the confirmation that he has retired at 37 years old.
“Congrats Jon Jones. You the GOAT.”
Paul went on to name the four fighters that would make it onto his MMA Mount Rushmore as the best fighters in the history of the sport.
He unsurprisingly picked Jones alongside Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre, who are likely to appear on the vast majority of lists.
The one name that did cause some debate amongst the fans was Paul’s inclusion of Khabib Nurmagomedov, who retired as the UFC lightweight champion with an undefeated record of 29-0.
Many of the replies suggested that former UFC flyweight king Demetrious Johnson should be in Nurmagomedov’s spot, though ‘The Eagle’ is certainly a name that is in contention.
Jake Paul has a six-man hit list that he wants after facing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr
On June 28, Jake Paul returns to the boxing ring to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in his first fight since his record-breaking clash with Mike Tyson.
While ‘The Problem Child’ has spoken about wanting to rematch Nate Diaz in MMA, his primary focus is on boxing at this moment.
If he’s able to get past his next opponent, Paul has even bigger names on his wish list, having told Most Valuable Promotions that Gervonta Davis, Anthony Joshua, KSI, Tommy Fury, Ryan Garcia and Badou Jack are all opponents he is interested in.
Before he can get too carried away with what’s next for him, Paul will need to defeat Cesar Chavez Jr, who has won back-to-back fights following a loss to UFC legend Anderson Silva.