The debate for the UFC’s biggest star got even more convoluted thanks to iconic announcer Bruce Buffer.
As Buffer read out the introductions for the main event of UFC 313 between Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev, Buffer did something he had only done for two previous superstars of the octagon.
When he announced Pereira, Buffer bestowed the Brazilian with a four-word phrase: ‘The one, the only.’
It made Pereira just the third fighter to be introduced as such by Buffer, although it didn’t inspire him to victory as Ankalaev took home the unanimous decision win.
The other two fighters to have received the honour were UFC superstars Conor McGregor and Jon Jones.
McGregor was introduced as ‘the one, the only’ before his bout against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 in January 2020.
As for Jones, his special introduction came at UFC 285 in March 2023 when he stopped Ciryl Gane in his heavyweight debut.
ESPN MMA’s Instagram account took note of Buffer’s iconic introduction for Pereira and made a post to celebrate the moment, labelling the trio ‘an elite group of superstars’.
However, Jones was quick to heap praise on one individual in particular among the three men.
In a comment on the post, Jones wrote: “There’s only one Conor McGregor.”
Even though McGregor’s last outing in the octagon was in July 2021, the Irishman headlined eight of the UFC’s ten best-selling pay-per-views of all time.
McGregor was slated for a return last year against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 but was forced to withdraw after he suffered a broken toe in sparring.
Although Jones believes McGregor is the UFC’s biggest star, social media superstar and boxer Jake Paul believed neither Pereira or ‘Notorious’ could hold a candle to the heavyweight champion.
Under the same post, Paul wrote: “Guess that’s a face but shouldn’t compare undefeated Jones to these two.”
Unfortunately for Paul, Jones is not undefeated as he boasts a record of 28-1, with his sole loss coming in 2009 when he was disqualified for using illegal elbows.
Jones is considered by many, including UFC president Dana White, to be the greatest fighter of all time.
However, ‘Bones’ has come under fire from some fans for his supposed lack of desire to defend his heavyweight title against interim champ Tom Aspinall.
Jones’ last defence came last November when he stopped a 42-year-old Stipe Miocic who had not fought in three-and-a-half years.
But in the UFC 313 post-fight press conference, White revealed Jones ‘definitely wants’ a fight against Aspinall.
“It is just when and where, that is what we are working on right now,” White said.
“I’m very confident that the fight happens, yeah.”
White added he hopes the highly-anticipated heavyweight showdown between Aspinall and Jones will take place in the summer.
