Joe Rogan has highlighted one key difference between two of the UFC’s greatest-ever fighters.

Jon Jones is the current heavyweight title holder in Dana White’s promotion and the youngest-ever UFC champion of all time.

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Jones is also a two-division UFC champion, having dominated the light heavyweight roster for 10 years in a period when he defended his belt nine successive times.

Conor McGregor, meanwhile, skyrocketed to superstardom in 2015 when he knocked out Jose Aldo after 13 seconds in their main event clash at UFC 194.

‘The Notorious’ was crowned the brand-new featherweight champion on that night in December 2015, and also went on to become the King of the lightweight division too.

McGregor became the first UFC fighter to hold two of the organisation’s belts are the same time when he knocked out Eddie Alvarez one year later at UFC 205.

“Jon’s in a different category,” Rogan told Josh Brolin on The Joe Rogan Experience when asked to compare the two UFC icons.

Brolin first got famous for his role in the 1985 film The Goonies and gained wider recognition for playing Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Conor self-destructed in a lot of ways because of money,” Rogan added. 

“He took that fight with Floyd Mayweather, made a ton of money off that, and then took a long time before he came back to MMA—and he’s just not been the same guy since.

“I think that’s just money, it’s a lot of partying, but it’s the same kind of thing. It’s just wild. But when Conor was in his prime, he was a f****** assassin.”

Rogan went on to have a fascinating discussion with Brolin about Mike Tyson and how other sporting combat icons can self-destruct once they reach a certain level of fame.

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“There’s people that are just different,” Rogan continued. “They’re wired different and they are uncommon amongst uncommon men.

“They rise to the top of the top and they just dominate—and that’s Jon, he’s just the greatest of all time. He’s 37 years old and he’s still the greatest. That’s crazy.”

Jones defended his heavyweight belt for the first time against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 on Saturday night.

He submitted Ciryl Gane after a three-year hiatus last March to claim the 265 lbs strap in what was his first UFC bout since defeating Dominick Reyes at the start of 2020.

“Jon is a special dude, when he’s gone, we’re all going to miss him,” Rogan said. 

“He’s a different kind of guy. I mean, he’s been at the top for 14 f****** years. He was the youngest guy to ever win a UFC title, 23…But when Jon Jones won that title at 23, it’s just been [a] destruction of everyone ever since. 

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“Never ducked anybody, fought all the best, destroyed everybody, and dominated his division—went up to heavyweight, dominates at heavyweight.”

Ironically, Rogan mentioned the word ‘duck’ in his assessment of Jones, in a time when the heavyweight champion has remained consistent on not fighting Tom Aspinall.

Aspinall is the current UFC interim heavyweight champion and the natural path of progression for an interim champion is usually to unify the division in their subsequent bout.

The 31-year-old Briton revealed on Thursday that he is currently ‘in negotiations’ with UFC President and senior officials regarding his next fight.

He has cleared out the entire division and has been campaigning for a shot at Jones’ full world title for the last 12 months to no avail.

It is likely the UFC will have to offer Jones a whopping seven-figure payday in order to get him in the octagon with Aspinall.