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The debate over who truly deserves the title of "Greatest of All Time" (GOAT) in MMA is never-ending. While UFC president Dana White continues to back Jon Jones as the undisputed pound-for-pound king, legendary MMA coach Javier Mendez has a different take. Mendez recently drew a bold comparison between Jones and infamous cyclist Lance Armstrong, suggesting that Jones' legacy could one day be stripped away just like Armstrong's, all because of doping.
“Dana is still insisting that Jon Jones is pound-for-pound #1,” Mendez said in a recent interview. “He has his valid points, but my valid point is I just want to say one thing: Lance Armstrong.”
For those unfamiliar, Lance Armstrong was once hailed as the greatest cyclist of all time. He won the Tour de France seven times, but it all came crashing down after it was revealed that he had used performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) throughout his career. Armstrong’s titles were stripped, and his once-legendary career is now synonymous with scandal and deceit.
Mendez sees a similar narrative playing out in MMA.
“Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France how many times? And basically, he got all those titles taken away from him because of one thing—doping. Even though it was many years later that they caught him, he lost all the Tour de France titles. Well, it’s been a fact, it’s been proven, Jon Jones has been caught doping. So, I’m sorry, I think that disqualifies him just based on that alone.”
Jones’ legacy, like Armstrong’s, is undeniably impressive on paper. He’s dominated the sport for over a decade, with victories over the biggest names in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. His unique combination of striking, wrestling, and fight IQ has made him a puzzle no one has fully solved in the Octagon. However, his career has been tainted by multiple failed drug tests.
In 2015, Jones was stripped of his UFC title after testing positive for cocaine. A year later, he was removed from UFC 200 after testing positive for banned substances clomiphene and letrozole, both linked to performance enhancement. Although Jones claimed it was due to a tainted supplement, the shadow of doping has continued to follow him.
For Mendez, Jones' multiple infractions put a huge asterisk next to his accomplishments. The MMA community often turns a blind eye to these issues when considering his legacy, but as Mendez points out, it’s only a matter of time before history could look back on Jones’ career in a different light.
If someone like Lance Armstrong, who was so revered, can have his accolades taken away years after the fact, what’s to say the same won’t happen with Jon Jones? Mendez suggests. You can’t ignore the fact that he’s been caught doping. How can we, in good conscience, continue to call him the GOAT?
Mendez's comments raise a question that many fans and analysts have danced around for years: Can an athlete still be considered the greatest if they've been caught cheating? The answer isn’t clear-cut. While many fans are willing to forgive Jones’ indiscretions due to his undeniable talent and dominance, others, like Mendez, argue that the integrity of the sport is at stake.
If Jones' legacy were to take a hit similar to Armstrong’s, it could reshape the GOAT debate entirely. Fighters like Georges St-Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Anderson Silva—who have either stayed away from controversy or faced fewer accusations—might move up in the ranks. The MMA community may start weighing character and integrity as heavily as skill and accomplishments when discussing the GOAT.
For now, Jon Jones remains at the top, both in terms of UFC rankings and in the eyes of many fans. But as Mendez's comparison to Armstrong shows, legacies in sports are fragile. One wrong move, or in Jones' case, one more failed drug test, and everything he’s worked for could crumble.
Whether or not Jones will one day face a similar fate as Lance Armstrong remains to be seen. What is certain is that the conversation around his legacy is far from over. Fight.TV is here for it!
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