What Will It Take for Jon Jones to Be Recognized as an All-Time Great?

Anderson Silva, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Royce Gracie. Those are four names that one would be hard pressed to argue against being recognized as an all-time great for what they have done inside the Octagon.

Current UFC light-heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, has been on a streak that we don't see too often within the UFC.

Professionally, Jones has a MMA record of 16-1. His lone defeat was by disqualification in his fight against Matt Hamill for using "12-to-6 elbows." Other than that, he has been nearly flawless.

At the age of 24, Jones has yet to reach the prime of his career. His next fight will be against MMA legend Dan Henderson (29-8) slated to take place this Fall.

Theoretically if Jones were in his 30's would he be considered an all-time great already? The man has 10 UFC wins and has made three title defenses. "Bones" has also earned bonuses for submission of the night, knockout of the night and two fight of the night awards.

In most sports, when the talk of a young athlete being considered as an all-time great is posed, many will discredit him simply because of his age. There is this notion that to be considered one of the best ever you have to have to prove you can maintain your success over a long period of time.

Unless you were camping in the middle of a desert over the weekend, without any connection to social media, you are aware of Jones crashing his car and being arrested for a DUI. While many people are disappointed, including Jones himself, this controversy will pass.

By the time Jones fights Henderson in September, this incident will be a distant memory and Jones will continue his quest to be one of the best ever.

How many more title defenses will it take for Jones to be considered one of the all-time greats? Or do you already have him ranked as one of the best ever?

Follow Joe Chacon on Twitter @JoeChacon