Jon Jones considered Ilia Topuria the ‘first threat’ to his ‘GOAT’ status until his loss to Justin Gaethje

Jon Jones is widely considered the greatest of all time in MMA, but he considered former UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria as potentially the best candidate to possibly take that legendary spot from him.

Before his final fight for the UFC White House card, Topuria was already a two-division champion, undefeated and held victories over several future UFC Hall of Famers. But Justin Gaethje ultimately produced a stellar performance to stop Topuria in the fourth round as he won the belt and ended his run.

“Ilia Topuria (excites me),” Jones said while speaking to Prince Street Pizza. “Before this White House card, I considered him (invincible). As much as I want other fighters to come and break my records and become the next greatest, there is another part of me that wants to keep that up for the sake of my child and the honor of my family.

“Honestly, I thought Ilia would be the first threat to be considered the greatest of all time and then we saw what happened to him.”

Even though the loss was shocking and definitely a setback in Topuria’s career, Jones still praised him for what he has been able to do so far in the UFC.

“But when it comes to entertainment, his boxing, his power, his confidence and everything about him,” Jones said. “I like the way he carries himself outside the ring. He comes from a successful family and he’s a guy who doesn’t need to fight, he doesn’t need money but he does it for love and those are the reasons that made me a big fan of Ilia.”

Jones added that he expects Topuria to bounce back and that thanks to sharing the same manager, he has heard that the former UFC champion is definitely doing everything to get back to winning ways.

“He does all the right things,” Jones said. “His recovery, all that, he’s a guy who deserves to win.”