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Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones is an obvious contender for the GOAT in MMA. Yes! 'Bones' record as the youngest UFC champion still holds intact.
The American clinched his maiden UFC gold when he was just 23 years of age. 'Bones' captured the light-heavyweight title in his eighth fight in the UFC.
Jon Jones defeated Mauricio Rua on March 2011, by a third-round stoppage at UFC 128 to become champion. He then went on to defend the title for a record eight times before being stripped of the title in 2015 for violating the athlete's code of conduct.
Watch the UFC 128 fight between Jones and 'Shogun' below:
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'Bones' was stripped of the title after being involved in a hit-and-run incident in 2015.
The closest anyone has come to breaking Jon Jones' record was when former featherweight champion Jose Aldo was elevated to the undisputed featherweight champion after WEC was absorbed by Zuffa, the parent company of UFC.
The Brazilian was just 24 years and two months old when he became a UFC champion. Interestingly, Aldo became the WEC champion when he was just 23, but he was elevated to UFC champion only a year after that.
If the the UFC had, merged WEC into its ranks a bit earlier, Jose Aldo would have been the youngest ever UFC champion.
UFC's youngest signing Raul Rosas Jr. vows to break the youngest UFC champion record held by Jon Jones
It looks like Raul Rosas is not done making history just yet. Rosas became the youngest fighter in history to receive a UFC contract after triumphing over Mando Gutierrez during week 9 of Dana White's Contender Series (DWCS) season 6.
During the post-fight conference, The 17-year-old declared yet another herculean task that he has his eyes set on. The American said that becoming the youngest UFC champion was the next goal on his radar:
“I’m just ready to fight every week, every month, I don’t even care, all gas, no brakes. I’ll rest when I’m retired, when I’m old, right now we’re just getting started so there’s no reason to take a break. I know it won’t be easy. Nothing’s easy in this life, but I will become the youngest UFC champion... Nobody’s going to take this away from me. If I could fight a guy from the top five for my UFC debut, I would, but I’ve got to work my way up there and I will. I will be up there soon. I will become the youngest UFC champion when I’m 19, 20, 21. It doesn’t matter.”
Watch Raul Rosas Jr.'s post-fight interview below:
Seeing as Jon Jones became a UFC champ at 23, Rosas has a comfortable six-year time period within which he could break the former light-heavyweight kingpin's record.
Raul Rosas Jr. is currently 6-0 as a professional. The unanimous decision win against Gutierrez was the only time a finish has eluded the young American. Rosas Jr. currently competes in the bantamweight division.
