Joe Rogan believes three fighters can lay claim to the mantle of the MMA GOAT – but one stands out above the rest in his mind.
The 57-year-old has been involved with the UFC since 1997, where he started as a backstage interviewer at UFC 12.
He has since gone on to establish himself as a leading voice in the sport and has spent over two decades as a color commentator for MMA‘s premier promotion.
Part of his sensational rise can be credited to his record-breaking podcast ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’, which draws in over 190 million downloads every month.
During a recent episode with film director Peter Berg, Rogan was quizzed on who he thought was the best MMA fighter of all time.
After pausing for a moment, he went with reigning UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, although former flyweight king Demetrious Johnson and ex-welterweight and middleweight title holder Georges St-Pierre were up there as well.
“He has been a world champion for 14 years,” Rogan said of Jones.
“I think of paper for sure. The problem with that on paper is who did he fight vs who did Georges St-Pierre fight vs who did Khabib fight?
“Out of just the sheer longevity I have to say Jon Jones [is the greatest].
“But I could see the argument for Mighty Mouse [Demetrious Johnson] being the best martial artist I’ve ever seen.
“I think he’s the best expression of martial arts talent and technique that I’ve ever seen.
“But then Georges St-Pierre is right up there too, and he was a multiple-division world champion.
“He won the welterweight title and then he came back after four years off to beat Michael Bisping for the middleweight title.
“He’s in the argument too, but I just think there’s a real problem with saying ‘the number one of all time, the greatest of all time’.
“But if you were going to give it to someone, I’d say give it to Jon.”
Jones’ claim to the throne is well deserved.
‘Jonny Bones’ has never lost a fight, discounting a controversial disqualification loss to Matt Hamill in 2009 for a 12-6 elbow, and is one of only nine UFC fighters to have picked up world titles in two separate weight classes [light heavyweight and heavyweight].
At his peak, he was virtually unstoppable and strung together a remarkable 11 light heavyweight title defences during two separate reigns.
