Jon Anik had the cojones to leave Daniel Cormier off his top-five GOAT list in front of DC himself
Jon Jones #JonJones
By Simon Samano, The Blue Corner | October 24, 2020 9:30 pm Follow @SJSamano
Undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement from MMA on Saturday after pushing his record to 29-0 when he submitted Justin Gaethje in the second round of their lightweight title fight at UFC 254.
Nurmagomedov’s surprise announcement got folks reflecting on his legacy, with his 13-0 UFC mark being the second longest unbeaten streak in the promotion’s history behind only former middleweight champion Anderson Silva. On the ESPN+ post-fight show, host Jon Anik, Daniel Cormier and Michael Chiesa did a segment in which each guy revealed his top give greatest fighters of all time.
There was plenty of crossover on both Cormier and Chiesa’s lists – Georges St-Pierre, Demetrious Johnson, Amanda Nunes, and Cormier. DC, for what it’s worth, listed himself in a tie for fourth with fellow former UFC champ-champ Henry Cejudo.
Noticeably absent from both Cormier and Chiesa’s lists was Jon Jones.
Anik’s top-five list was revealed last, and it went like this:
Noticeably absent? Cormier – with DC standing right next to him! And to pour a little salt in the wound, Cormier’s biggest rival was No. 1!
“Boy, you love guys that have bad (drug) tests,” Cormier told Anik. “I don’t know what’s gonna come out on Jon Anik later. I mean, he’s got Anderson Silva and Jon Jones on this list!”
In response, Anik said: “So I did give some love to Anderson Silva, because uh, because I did. Georges St-Pierre is gonna be the guy who is on all of these lists. I think Khabib really could’ve supplanted Jon Jones for me, but I’m just telling you: The most skilled, best fighter that I’ve ever seen in UFC history is Jon Jones. And, uh, that’s my list, and I’m sticking to it.”
Let me just go ahead and say that it takes cojones for Anik to leave Cormier off his list with DC standing two feet next to him. And to put Jones No. 1 on top of it? Major cojones.
That said, DC might’ve been a little miffed, but he was a good sport about the whole thing and took it in stride.
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