Dana White's recent 'crusade' against the fact that Jon Jones not occupying the first position in the UFC pound-for-pound ranking has bothered not only Islam makhachev, lightweight champion (up to 70,3 kg) and leader of the ranking, as the fighter's team. The Russian's main coach, Javier Mendez went further and stated that the heavyweight champion (up to 120,2 kg) should not even be mentioned in the discussion of the greatest fighters in history, comparing it to the case of cyclist Lance Armstrong.
In a recent edition of his podcast, Mendez used the doping cases involving Jones to draw a parallel with Armstrong, who was banned from cycling and had his seven Tour de France titles stripped after being caught using banned substances.
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“Dana still insists that Jon Jones is number 1 pound for pound. He has valid points, but my valid point is only one: Lance Armstrong. How many times did Lance Armstrong win the Tour de France? And basically all of those titles were taken away from him because of one thing: doping. Even though they caught him years later, he lost all of his titles. It's a fact, it's been proven that Jon Jones was caught doping. So, I'm sorry, I think that's enough to disqualify him,” the coach said.
As for the particular issue of the UFC pound-for-pound rankings, Javier Mendez believes that in order to claim the top spot in the rankings, Jon Jones, which occupies the third position behind Makhachev and Alex Poatán, should be more active as champion.
“He could be considered, but he hasn’t fought since 2023. I don’t know how you can put him first based on what he’s done in the past. He’s not active. If he was active, it would be more challenging, but he’s not active. His skills? Of course I can see it. He’s one of the best of all time, for sure. But for me, I value the greatest in history based on what they do outside and not inside,” he concluded.
