Jon Jones

Overview

One loss on the record, and it came by disqualification. Jon Jones is 22-1 in the UFC with one no contest, and the only blemish is a DQ against Matt Hamill in 2009. He has since gone 19 straight without losing.

He fights at heavyweight, with a 28-1-0 professional record across all promotions. Twelve of his 22 UFC wins are finishes, split six by knockout and six by submission. Nine of those wins came against opponents our model rates as elite.

That's the résumé. The rest of this page is the detail.

UFC Career

Jones debuted in August 2008 with a unanimous decision over Andre Gusmao, then beat Stephan Bonnar on the scorecards and submitted Jake O'Brien in the second round of UFC 100. The Hamill fight in December 2009 ended in a first-round disqualification, 4:14 in. It is the only loss on his UFC record.

The run that followed is the core of the résumé. He headlined against Brandon Vera and Vladimir Matyushenko, both first-round knockouts, then beat Ryan Bader by submission, Mauricio Rua by third-round TKO and Quinton Jackson by fourth-round submission.

Then came the elite names. Lyoto Machida was submitted in round two. Rashad Evans went five rounds. Vitor Belfort tapped in the fourth. Chael Sonnen lost by first-round TKO, and Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira, Daniel Cormier and Ovince Saint Preux all went the distance with him.

The second Cormier fight, at UFC 214, ended in a third-round stoppage and is recorded as a no contest after being overturned. He returned in December 2018 with a third-round TKO of Gustafsson, then took decisions over Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos (split) and Dominick Reyes.

After nearly three years away, he came back in March 2023 and submitted Ciryl Gane in 2:04 of round one. His most recent win is a third-round TKO of Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, 4:29 into the round.

Nineteen straight wins carried into the next fight, and no loss since 2009.

Fighting Style

The profile is complete, not specialized. He lands more strikes per minute than the average UFC fighter and absorbs far fewer. His accuracy and striking defense both sit far above the UFC average.

On the ground, he also lands more takedowns than most, and his takedown defense is far above average. The one soft spot is submission attempts, which he throws less often than the average fighter. Yet six of his wins are submissions, so the output is low and the conversion is not.

His finishes come in all kinds of places: four in round one, three in round two, three in round three and two in round four. The late finishes show up too, with two fourth-round submissions. And on the other side, ten of his wins went to the scorecards, nine of them unanimous, which says he is happy to win a five-round fight when the finish isn't there.

Notable Wins

• Lyoto Machida — submission, round 2, UFC 140 (2011)
• Alexander Gustafsson — TKO, round 3, UFC 232 (2018)
• Ciryl Gane — submission, round 1, UFC 285 (2023)
• Stipe Miocic — TKO, round 3, UFC 309 (2024)

Quick Facts

• Division: Heavyweight
• UFC record: 22-1, 1 no contest
• Professional record (all promotions): 28-1-0
• UFC debut: 2008
• Stance: Orthodox
• Height / reach: 6'4" / 84.5"
• Team: Team Jones
• Born: Rochester, NY, United States