Jon Jones has made no secret of seeing himself as the greatest fighter in UFC history, but he says there was one man who had him looking over his shoulder for that title until just recently. According to multiple outlets, Jones named Ilia Topuria as the fighter he viewed as the first real threat to his GOAT status, at least until Topuria's loss to Justin Gaethje.

The reporting lines up across MMA Fighting, BJPenn.com and Yahoo Sports, all of which have Jones crediting Topuria as the closest thing to a rival for that mythical spot. It made sense on paper.

Then Topuria ran into Gaethje. Our data has the two meeting on June 14, 2026, with Gaethje stopping Topuria by knockout in the fourth round at the five minute mark, a finish that cost Topuria his undefeated record and, according to Jones, his case as the next great threat to the GOAT conversation.

The numbers back up just how close that fight was before it ended. Our Elo model has Topuria at 1599 and Gaethje at 1579, both built off six tracked bouts, a gap tight enough to explain why the finish landed as such a seismic result. Topuria still sits at number one in the lightweight rankings, but Gaethje is now the man holding the belt.

For Jones, the loss seems to have settled the argument for now. Topuria's unbeaten run was the foundation of any case against him, and once that run ended inside the Octagon against Gaethje, so did the most serious challenge to Jones's claim on the title he values most.