Khabib Nurmagomedov has shared his opinion on Jon Jones’ complicated legacy after the former heavyweight champion dropped the belt and refused to fight Tom Aspinall. It’s both complimentary and a little harsh in its truths.
In an extensive interview with Russian outlet Hustle, Nurmagomedov said his fans were shocked when he congratulated Jones for retiring, saying “Bones” was “the best to ever do it in UFC history.” He explained why he didn’t take Jones’ many PED test failures, stripped titles, and arrests into consideration.
“Legacy and achievement are two different things, a lot of people confuse those two concepts,” he said. “What is legacy? Legacy is when kids look at you and feel inspired by you. As a fighter, he’s the best. As a person, in terms of inspiration, character, when it comes to personal qualities and behavior, there will always be questions.”
Khabib breaks down the comparison between him and Jon Jones — explaining that legacy and achievements are two very different things.
“In the UFC, achievements and legacy are different things. As far as achievements go, no one can compare to Jon Jones in the UFC, and it’ll… pic.twitter.com/hDzQ1r8203
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) July 22, 2025
“As an athlete, he reached greatness. He has no equal but there will always be questions about doping, whether he was caught or not. And yes, he was caught. That’s a fact.”
As someone who walked away from the sport in his prime, Khabib had an honest opinion of Jones sticking around for as long as he did.
“I mean, he’s like 38 now. He’s been gone for a while. Let’s be honest,” he said. “How many fights has he had in the past five years? One or two in five years. He’s been done for a while, and even those last fights, [Thiago] Santos and [Dominick] Reyes, they were controversial. His prime was clearly behind him. His prime is long past. When he fought Ciryl Gane, I think they just gave him the money.”
“Everyone has their prime,” Nurmagomedov concluded. “And his was long past.”
