Gable Steveson outlines what a UFC fighter must do to dethrone Jon Jones as MMA GOAT

Jon Jones has lately made an impact in the capacity of a coach, mentoring Olympic gold medalist freestyle wrestler Gable Steveson in his MMA journey. 

Steveson, on his part, has been quite vocal about his respect for "Bones." The 26-year-old wrestling savant has consistently suggested that the 39-year-old Jones is the consensus GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) in the sport of mixed martial arts.

He's now reaffirmed that belief, whilst outlining what a UFC fighter ought to do in order to dethrone Jones and become the new MMA GOAT. 

MMA GOAT debate heats up amid talks of Islam Makhachev surpassing Jon Jones

Jon Jones, a former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, boasts the highest number of UFC title fight wins, at 16.

He's followed, on that list, by fellow MMA great and ex-two-division UFC champion Georges St-Pierre, whom many consider the MMA GOAT. "GSP" is a former UFC welterweight and middleweight titlist. The retired MMA icon has 13 UFC title fight wins.

Furthermore, as of this time, Islam Makhachev has seven UFC title fight wins to his name, five at lightweight and two at welterweight. 

Speaking of the concept of the greatest in MMA or any other sport, a number of fans and experts often deem it largely subjective, as mere statistics aren't necessarily an accurate depiction of the entire story. 

Nevertheless, as of late, many in the MMA community have hailed former UFC featherweight kingpin and reigning UFC lightweight champ Islam Makhachev as the new MMA GOAT. He recently broke former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva's record of the longest UFC win streak (16). Makhachev outpointed Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 on August 15, extending his UFC win streak to 17. 

Gable Steveson alludes to UFC title defense criteria to dethrone Jon Jones as MMA GOAT

During a recent conversation with Mike Heck for MMA Fighting, Gable Steveson responded to the recent developments in the Jon Jones vs. Islam Makhachev MMA GOAT debate. Steveson, who's honing his MMA craft under the watchful eyes of his compatriot Jones, seemingly opined that the latter is still the MMA GOAT. 

Steveson stated, "You know, actually, me and Jon talked about this yesterday on the phone. He called me, and he was like, 'I guess there's a new GOAT now.' I said, 'Well. I think they're handing it off to Islam (Makhachev).' So, but, you know, then he posted a picture of he has 17 defenses." 

The American added, "I think the world is changing now where guys are introducing the GOATs a lot earlier because, you know, the fans are different. The fans are younger. They wanna see a new guy come along. They wanna see a new guy dominate. And that's what Islam (Makhachev) is doing now." 

It's noteworthy that Steveson appears to have erroneously implied that Jones has 17 UFC title defenses to his name. "Bones" has 16 UFC title wins, including the fights where he was the challenger and not the defending champion. Also, his light heavyweight title win in his rematch against Daniel Cormier in 2017 was overturned to an NC (No Contest) due to his testing positive for PEDs in relation to that matchup. Some of Jones's critics often point out that he counts that as a title win on his record regardless. 

All things considered, Steveson explained, "And Islam's a fantastic champion. He's pound-for-pound number-one by far right now. But I think until you beat that 17 defense number, it's got to be really hard." 

Steveson is fresh off a KO win over Elisha Ellison in their heavyweight MMA bout at UFC 329 last month. Moreover, he outpointed Anthony Cassioppi with a 6-0 margin in his latest freestyle wrestling match, which transpired at RAF 12 on Saturday.

He's vowed to ascend to the UFC heavyweight throne soon. Steveson is currently booked to take on Sean Sharaf in a heavyweight showdown at UFC 331 in Los Angeles on September 19. 

As for Jon Jones, he last fought in MMA in November of 2024, wherein he defended the heavyweight belt by TKO'ing Stipe Miocic. He vacated the title last year, which led to Tom Aspinall being promoted as the new heavyweight champion.

Even though Jones retired from MMA last year, he re-entered the drug testing pool of the UFC and has expressed interest in fighting again. 

Watch Gable Steveson's assessment on what's needed to surpass Jon Jones and become the MMA GOAT below (*comments at the 5:30-minute mark of the video):