Jon Jones still feels he is the best pound for pound fighter in the UFC, despite the emergence of Conor McGregor.
'Bones' will make his eagerly awaited return to the octagon in April after a year away from the sport for legal issues, and despite the lay off, he believes he is the top fighter within the organisation.
The former light heavyweight champion was speaking at the UFC Unstoppable press conference on Friday night, and addressed McGregor's claims that he is the real number one.
McGregor, officially ranked number three on the list, told reporters that he considered himself top of the pile in the pound for pound rankings ahead of Jones and flyweight Demetrious Johnson.
When responding to the question about the claims, Jones was initially drowned out by a chorus of Irish fans chanting in support of the Dublin fighter.
"Conor is great for the sport.....
"Okay, calm down, calm down you Irish.
"Like I was saying, Conor is great for the sport. He is a magnificent competitor. He is someone I have been watching a lot. I love the way he is doing a lot of things.
"He is bringing a lot of notoriety to the sport. We have a lot of celebrities watching us so I'm definitely grateful that Conor is bringing that to the sport.
"And, you know, before I was the pound-for-pound number one, I used to look at Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre and I'd tell myself 'One day that is going to be me' and I'd tell myself why I could be that.
"So Conor definitely has the right attitude. That's the way he should look at himself, as the pound-for-pound number one. But at the end of the day, it is all an opinion thing.
"In my defence, I've won nine world titles so, you know. But I do respect his competitive spirit."
Source: Youtube/MMAweekly.com
Jones will fight for the first time in over a year on April 23rd, where he will face the current light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, and the two exchanged heated words at last night press conference, which you can watch in full below.
Source: Youtube/ UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship
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