Jon Jones

Jon “Bones” Jones is the greatest mixed martial artist who has ever lived, and that assessment comes with enough asterisks to fill a separate article — but the fighting resume is beyond dispute, and in combat sports, what happens inside the cage is supposed to be what matters. Born on July 19, 1987, in Rochester, New York, Jones became the youngest champion in UFC history at age 23 and proceeded to dominate the light heavyweight division with a brutality and creativity that redefined what was possible in the sport. His 28-1 record with one no-contest is the most impressive resume in MMA history.

Jones claimed the heavyweight championship in 2023 by choking out Ciryl Gane and defended it with a spinning back kick TKO of Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November 2024 — at 37 years of age, because Jones’s talent has never had an expiration date, only his willingness to compete. Dana White announced Jones’s retirement in June 2025, then Jones re-entered the USADA testing pool in July, then expressed interest in the proposed UFC White House event, and then in February 2026 revealed he qualifies for a hip replacement due to severe arthritis.

The Jones retirement saga is exhausting in the same way the Jones career was electrifying — you never know what happens next, and the uncertainty is half the point. Whether he fights again is genuinely unknowable. What is knowable is that the legacy is cemented in granite. The greatest fighter in UFC history. The most talented martial artist the sport has produced. And a reminder that genius in the cage does not require virtue outside of it.

Fight Record

Fighter Profile

Jon Jones stands at 28-1 and atop the argument for the greatest MMA fighter in history. The former two-time Light Heavyweight Champion and Heavyweight Champion has dominated every era he has competed in, and his competitive future remains as uncertain as his legacy is secure. Whether he fights again or not, “Bones” changed the sport forever. The rest is noise.

VS — Chief sports columnist, australiafootball.com