After Jon Jones announced his retirement over the weekend, it didn’t take long for the conversation regarding his legacy to begin with Ariel Helwani leading the discourse.
But while there’s no questioning that the now-former UFC heavyweight champion was one of the most talented — if not the most talented — fighters to ever step into the octagon, Helwani doesn’t believe that he belongs anywhere near the GOAT conversation.
Why not? Because there’s a larger context to Jones’ career that has typically overshadowed his pure talent. And according to Helwani, factors including his multiple PED suspensions and even the circumstances surrounding his retirement should disqualify the 37-year-old from such discussions.
“I don’t want to hear the GOAT talk,” Helwani said on Monday’s episode of The Ariel Helwani Show. “I’m sorry. I’m tired of beating around the bush here. You cannot be the GOAT if you have multiple PED infractions on your record. You can’t. And you cannot be the GOAT if you didn’t want to do what others did for you. Time-honored tradition, you fight the top contenders. Not only was Tom Aspinall the top contender, he was the interim champion for almost two years. You didn’t want to fight him.”
Ariel Helwani continued to focus on Jones’ failure to fight Aspinall, who was named the new UFC heavyweight champion following his retirement.
“The Tom-John fight would have been the biggest fight of Jon Jones’ career since [his second fight vs. Daniel Cormier] in 2017, eight years ago,” Helwani said. “Dana White himself called it the biggest heavyweight fight of all-time… so this idea that [Aspinall] doesn’t excite you, that he hasn’t done enough is hogwash. Look at his resume, look at Jon Jones’ resume. Not even close. As far as heavyweight, not even close, not even close.
“Tom is a natural real heavyweight who has fought them all. And done it the right way and has had the shortest time in the octagon. And what did I tell you guys from the beginning?… he was in and then he was out. They got him the money and then they didn’t. Meaning he was in and then he said he didn’t want to fight anymore. And Dana White said at the presser in Newark, ‘he’s in, he agreed.’ And what did I say on the Monday after? He’s not telling you the other side of that story.”
While the PED suspensions will likely stick to Jones’ legacy more than his reluctance to fight Tom Aspinall long-term, Helwani’s larger point seems to be that there’s too much controversy clouding his resume to consider him “the greatest of all-time.” To that end, it’s also worth noting that the Aspinall fight wasn’t the only red flag connected to his retirement, as it was later revealed that he’s once again facing legal troubles.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.