In Khamzat Chimaev’s opinion, Jon Jones is the greatest fighter of all time.
Chimaev already has expressed interest in training alongside Jones and thinks the former UFC light heavyweight king should be the UFC’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, not welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (20-1 MMA, 15-0 UFC).
Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC), who relinquished his 205-pound title, is currently ranked No. 7 in the UFC’s pound-for-pound pecking order and hasn’t competed since he edged out Dominick Reyes in February 2020.
“Nobody’s like him,” Chimaev said on “The Triple C & Schmo Show.” “He beat a lot of guys. He beats the monsters. I did all my training with Alex (Gustafsson). I know how good he is, and if Jon Jones could stop that guy, it’s scary. And he beat not easy fighters. It was crazy good fighters (with) knockout power. On the ground, it was good. Everything was perfect. (Daniel Cormier) – you know how his pressure is, good wrestling, and he has good boxing, and he has mentality of just pressure the fighters and kill them, and (Jones) stopped that guy, as well.”
Chimaev argued that with Jones having beaten the likes of his training partner Gustafsson twice and former UFC dual-champ Cormier twice, his resume is incomparable. Chimaev also said Jones has logged in more title defenses than Usman.
“You can’t say Kamaru is better than him,” Chimaev added. “If he stays in the game, (Jones) has to be pound-for-pound No. 1.
“Usman has only one belt, and how many times did he defend his belt? Three times? Four times? Jon Jones did it all his career and defended his title like 11 times. It’s different. Kamaru didn’t beat the guys that Jon Jones beat. The guys are different level.”
Usman has five successful title defenses since he won the welterweight belt with two wins each over Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal and one over Gilbert Burns.
Chimaev is currently hunting for Usman’s title. The unbeaten star is slated to face Gilbert Burns in a No. 1 contender fight at UFC 273 on April 9 and if victorious, should get a shot at the winner of the expected matchup between Usman and Leon Edwards.
Khamzat Chimaev: Jon Jones should be UFC’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter over Kamaru Usman
