Jon Jones has publicly requested to be removed from the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Last year, when Khabib Nurmagomedov retired from competition, his final request was to be placed #1 on the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings. After initially not contesting this idea, Jones later argued that Khabib was undeserving of being placed above him due to Jones having more title defenses and a lengthier overall stint at the top.
One year later, after dropping down to #2 in the pound-for-pound rankings earlier this week, Jones wants off the list altogether.
“When your ranked over Jon Jones on a pound for pound list but know you can’t defend a takedown” Jones posted with a shrug emoji.
This is almost surely in reference to Israel Adesanya’s loss to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259, as the only other fighters ranked above Jones are Kamaru Usman (#1) and Alexander Volkanovski (#2), neither of whom have had any takedown defense issues. Plus, Jones went out of his way to roast Adesanya immediately after his loss to Blachowicz, a bout in which Adesanya was taken down multiple times.
It was at this point that Jones made his request to be removed from the pound-for-pound rankings.
“It’s funny seeing people have the satisfaction of being ranked over me when I’m not even competing. Just take me off that silly list.”
When a fan suggested that his new spot on the rankings is due to the game passing him by, Jones responded with sarcasm.
“Lol I guess so, I guess you can have 1/3 of an MMA game and be considered the real deal these days. This is some new shit right here.”
The reason for Jones’s slip in the rankings is no doubt due in large part due to his inactivity. Jones has not fought since UFC 247 against Dominick Reyes, which was in February of 2020. Oddly enough, Joanna Jędrzejczyk has not competed since May of 2020, yet she has already been removed from the rankings due to inactivity.
Jon Jones is expected to make his heavyweight debut in 2022 and is currently battling charges of battery domestic violence and injuring and tampering with a vehicle.
When the next rankings report comes out, do you expect to see Jon Jones’s name removed?
