Jon Jones: 5 Reasons He Will Go Down as the Best Ever

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In the above picture are two of the greatest fighters on the planet.

On the left is Anderson Silva. He is the UFC middleweight champion and has won 15 consecutive fights. He is almost universally considered to be the greatest fighter ever, and easily the greatest fighter in UFC history.

On the right is the man who will one day be known as the greatest of all time, current light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones.

Jones has decimated his competition, and is well on his way to being the greatest light heavyweight ever. Here are five reasons why he will eventually be known as the greatest fighter ever.

He's Young

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Jon Jones is just 24 years old. He is the light heavyweight champion, has a record of 16-1—the lone loss being a DQ—and he has wins over five of the top 10 light heavyweights.

Want to know what Anderson Silva was doing when he was 24?

He was 2-0, and hadn't fought in two years. He wouldn't make it to Pride for three years, and wouldn't make it to the UFC for another four years after that.

Jones has a bit of an edge in my book.

His Size

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Jon Jones generally towers over his competition. He stands at 6'4" and has an 84" reach. For those who aren't good at math, that means his wingspan is seven feet.

His last five opponents have been 5'11", 6'1", 6'1", 6'0" and 6'2". He has had no less than a two-inch height advantage and an eight-inch reach advantage.

His size gives him a—pun intended—huge advantage over his competition. It also means that he may inevitably move to the heavyweight division.

He Could Win 2 Belts

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Only two UFC fighters have ever held belts in two different weight classes: Randy Couture and BJ Penn. They are known as two of the greatest fighters in history.

The only fighter that has ever held two belts of a major organization at the same time is Dan Henderson—Pride welterweight (183) and middleweight (205).

If Jones can put himself in the same elite company, it will be a major accomplishment to add to his resume.

No Lack of Top Fighters

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When many people bash Anderson Silva, the first thing they say is that his competition has not always been top tier.

Fighters like Thales Leites, James Irvin, Travis Lutter and Patrick Cote have not exactly been the cream of the crop.

Meanwhile, Jones has beaten five top 10 fighters in a row, and he is scheduled to fight his sixth in a row when he faces Dan Henderson at UFC 151.

After that, Jones may have a rematch with a previous opponent, or he may face someone new. The next two new fighters who would likely face Jones would be Alexander Gustafsson and Phil Davis.

Assuming he wins those matchups, Jones will have beaten eight top 10 fighters in a row. Perhaps there's a move to heavyweight somewhere in the middle of all that, but he will have a lot of top wins.

His Camp

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Jon Jones trains at the best camp on the planet, Jackson's MMA.

Jackson's has trained Nate Marquardt, Shane Carwin, Brian Stann, Carlos Condit, Georges St-Pierre, Rashad Evans and many more.

Jackson comes up with some great game plans—and the occasional dud—but regardless of how the fight goes, Jackson fighters end up with the win more often than not.

Jones has a chance to be the greatest of all time, he just needs to make sure he keeps his head on straight, and stays out of trouble.

 

Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow him on Twitter @TimMcTiernan.