Jon Jones will look to defend his belt for the fifth straight time this Saturday at UFC 159. According to UFC president Dana White, the "1" on UFC light heavyweight champion's record that indicates his only loss, "Should be a Zero."
"Jon Jones is undefeated," White said yesterday during a fan Q and A in New York City, sponsored by Metro PCS. "That '1' that is on his record is because of a moronic referee who had no idea what he was doing."
White was making reference to Jones disqualification loss to Matt Hammil back at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale due to illegal "12-6" elbow strikes.
Steve Mazzagatti is the referee White was referring to, that made the controversial decision on disqualifying Jones. The only blemish on Jones' record is also the first time in the history of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, that instant replay was used to determine an outcome of a fight.
White explained the real reason it bugs him is because he believes Jones could continue his dominance of the division for quite some time.
"I was talking about an article that came out on Yahoo, that compared him to Sugar Ray Robinson at the same point of his career," White said. "He's a young kid and if he goes to 30 years old he could be 35-0 and it makes me sick that he has that '1' on his record."
Jones may have that lone loss on his record, but he has yet to truly be beaten inside the Octagon. With a win over Sonnen, Jones will tie Tito Ortiz's record for most light heavyweight title defenses in UFC history.
White had a second issue he took umbrage with in regards to criticism of Jones.
"Number two, everybody talks about how it's unfair that he's in the light heavyweight division," White said. "He's so big and he's so rangy. Yeah, there's a lot of guys with a lot height and reach, who are rangy that aren't as athletic as he is. That guy is so athletic. He can do things that other people can't do, which is what makes him so great."
