Makhachev Questions Jones' GOAT Case Over Doping in Social Media Spat

Islam Makhachev didn't set out to torch Jon Jones' legacy — he just refused to hand it over clean. Speaking to Red Corner MMA on Monday, the two-division champion argued that Jones' vaunted winning streak shouldn't be counted as valid because he was caught doping twice, including the turinabol positive that flipped his 2017 win over Daniel Cormier into a no-contest and cost him the 205-pound belt.

Makhachev was careful to say he isn't denying Jones is one of the greatest athletes the sport has produced. His point was narrower and sharper: Jones went into a fight on PEDs and won, so in his view that's where the clock should have reset. It's a distinction with teeth, given both men have won and defended titles in two divisions apiece.

Jones Fires Back

Jones didn't let it sit. He hit social media to defend himself, took a swing at Cormier for good measure, and suggested Makhachev hasn't yet earned a seat at the GOAT table alongside him. Standard Jones — deflect, counter-punch, remind everyone who's at the top.

Makhachev's reply came hours later and landed harder than the setup. He again insisted he wasn't trying to shrink Jones' résumé, then noted that Jones' entire career seems tied to breaking rules one way or another — and that somehow he's never the one who ends up wearing the blame. Coming from the current welterweight king, it wasn't a throwaway line.

Where They Actually Stand

Makhachev is very much active and building. He's the reigning welterweight champion off wins over Jack Della Maddalena and #1 contender Ian Machado Garry (17-2), the Irishman handed a decision loss in his most recent outing. Jones, by contrast, walked away after finishing Stipe Miocic in 2024 to keep the heavyweight crown, closing the book — for now — on the sport's most decorated and most divisive career.

This is the modern GOAT argument in a nutshell: résumé versus asterisks. Jones has the accolades and the wreckage; Makhachev has the momentum and a point about clean sheets. Neither man is going to concede an inch, and honestly, that's the fun of it.