Georges St-Pierre believes Jon Jones is current GOAT: ‘People have no idea how tough he is’

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Wild

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Georges St-Pierre has Jon Jones at the top of his GOAT list – for now.

When discussions are had about the best MMA fighters of all time, St-Pierre and Jones are typically at the front of the conversation alongside Khabib Nurmagomedov, Anderson Silva, Demetrious Johnson, Fedor Emelianenko, and others. St-Pierre, though, himself has said on multiple occasions that pound-for-pound talk is somewhat frivolous.

That said, on the aptly named Pound 4 Pound podcast, St-Pierre was again asked for his opinion on who is MMA’s greatest, and he didn’t shy away from praising the UFC’s reigning heavyweight champion.

“In terms of where we are now, I think it’s hard to find someone better than Jon Jones,” St-Pierre said. “Jon Jones is so good. Jon Jones is extremely talented, but he’s also extremely tough. People have no idea how tough he is. I’ve trained with him, I’ve seen him going through the grind. He’s so freaking tough. I remember the fight that he had with Vitor Belfort, I think his arm got dislocated, and he fought even with a dislocated arm. Even one of his fights, his toe was broken.

“Most of the time when you have a guy that is very talented, it doesn’t come with toughness. Jon Jones is the full package. He’s got everything. Elite striker, elite grappler, [and] he’s good everywhere.

“Of course, there’s things that people will say, ‘He did this, he did that,’ but in terms of who’s the best, he came back, beat Ciryl Gane the way he did. It’s hard to have an argument.”

Georges St-Pierre believes Jon Jones is current GOAT: ‘People have no idea how tough he is’ - MMA Fighting
 

Lamont Cranston

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I saw the interview with GSP and Kamaru/Cejudo and I have to say that I love to listen to GSP's take on many things.
 

jason73

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when has jon jones ever shown elite striking? he cant box, doesnt kickbox, he doesnt know karate or muay thai . he throws eye pokes and oblique kicks . the res is dirty boxing up against the cage , elbows and shit .i agree that jones is the current GOAT but even the erm current GOAT is stupid. current greatest of all time currently .
 

Rambo John J

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when has jon jones ever shown elite striking? he cant box, doesnt kickbox, he doesnt know karate or muay thai . he throws eye pokes and oblique kicks . the res is dirty boxing up against the cage , elbows and shit .i agree that jones is the current GOAT but even the erm current GOAT is stupid. current greatest of all time currently .
His elbows and grappling is great. The rest is mostly cheap garbage he uses against smaller dudes. As many fouls as he can get away with, is his gameplan.

He has far too many decisions and lackluster performances for me to be excited about watching him. Him finishing Gane was surprising, but before that he had gone 9 decisions in his last 11 fights or something like that.

There is no Goat IMO. There are only fights and runs of wins by great fighters. I respect finishes and finishers more than guys that win via judging.
 

thadius

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Feb 16, 2022
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when has jon jones ever shown elite striking? he cant box, doesnt kickbox, he doesnt know karate or muay thai . he throws eye pokes and oblique kicks . the res is dirty boxing up against the cage , elbows and shit .i agree that jones is the current GOAT but even the erm current GOAT is stupid. current greatest of all time currently .
I dont know if it "elite" but his spinning back elbow that put Bonnar into the canvas face first was pretty sweet.

that being said, jones is a cheater straight up. between the needle pokes and the eye pokes I can't agree with gsp.

current GOAT? I'm not sure if there is one. I guess jones is the "best" right now but I'd rather watch Sean O'Malley any day.

I feel as if currently the skill level is so high and so close that nobody really stands out as the goat.
 

cantlogingoddamnit

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Aug 13, 2024
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This is an interesting one, because it’s definitely more unique than it is “elite”. Not high level in any certain striking discipline, but decent at all of them, and has an insane reach and no fear of being taken down.

He’s also won the majority of his fights, “on the feet” as opposed to on the ground, especially in most of his decision wins.

So, elite? No. Unique, crafty, frustrating, cheap as hell and borderline illegal sometimes? Yes.

What he is though, is possibly the most EFFECTIVE fighter on the feet ever. He’s never lost a fight, on the feet or not and he’s only lost a couple rounds on the feet.

Im not the biggest fan of how he fights by any means, but for the most part he’s been the very stifling in the stand up fame, and has won most of his fights there