Jon Jones will never get Colby Covington’s vote of support in the all-time great debate.

During their time at Iowa Central Community College, Covington and Jones were roommates, chasing the dream of being the best wrestlers imaginable. Unfortunately, Covington turned sour on his old friend after they parted ways when moving on with their athletic careers, finding MMA and ultimately UFC success.

Jones’ accomplishments are well-documented in the octagon having recently captured his second divisional title, becoming UFC heavyweight champion this past March. The first-round guillotine choke over Ciryl Gane was “Bones’” 15th win in UFC title fights — the most in promotional history. Unfortunately for the legend, troubles outside the cage have also been large story points throughout his run. Whether with fight-related incidents like performance-enhancing drug (PED) speculations via test findings and failures or legal issues, it’s enough to overshadow Jones’ talent for “Chaos.”

“That’s opinion-based,” Covington told MSCS Media in response to Jones being called the greatest fighter of all time. “That’s whoever’s opinion that was writing that from ESPN that day. That’s cool, that’s your opinion but there’s probably 20, 30, 40 million people in America that don’t think the opposite. People in the Republican party respect people that are blue-collar, that have a clean slate, that aren’t breaking the law, doing these violent acts.

“Everybody knows the multiple steroid tests that he failed so how can you call yourself a clean-cut athlete and the greatest of all time when you cheated on multiple steroid tests and broke many laws? For me, the greatest fighter of all time has to be a good fighter in the cage and outside the cage.”

With Jones recently capturing another undisputed UFC title, Covington remains in hot pursuit of his first after holding interim gold in 2018. In his 20-fight career, Covington has only been bested by the former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in title bids and now finds himself seemingly set to challenge the now-best 170-pounder on Earth, Leon Edwards. While the matchup is the expected next welterweight title bout, nothing is yet official.

Covington has managed to stand out during his run in the UFC thanks to his outspoken personality and high-volume wrestle-kickboxer type of style. In the greatest of all time debate, there is a name similar to himself that Covington puts atop the list. The name happens to contradict what he said about Jones, however, as during their 49-fight career, they tested positive for banned substances on multiple occasions and have fully and openly admitted their guilt.

“A guy that stands out to me: Chael Sonnen,” Covington said. “A guy from the same place that I came from. Oregon wrestling, those roots and became a larger-than-life figure and was able to transcend the sport and move the pay-per-view needle. And he’s a great person outside. A family man, fights for the republic, loves Donald Trump, God-fearing American. We need more guys like that on our side.”

---

TOP STORIES

Main Event. Kai Kara-France reacts to controversial split decision loss to Amir Albazi at UFC Vegas 74

Line. Beneil Dariush will ‘take Justin Gaethje’s advice and possibly riot’ if UFC skips him for next title shot

Okay. ‘I will make that fight’: Dana White doubles down on Jon Jones vs. Tyson Fury UFC bout to crown baddest man on the planet

Controversy. Amir Albazi blames himself for close decision, argues he’s next for UFC title shot over Brandon Royval

Scoring. Israel Adesanya blasts UFC Vegas 74 judges: ‘How many times will they rob athletes of their moments of glory’

Undisputed. Chael Sonnen on PFL’s recent bevy of PED suspensions: ‘I didn’t see a big problem with it’

Robbery? ‘Nah bro, f*** yous’: Pros react to Amir Albazi’s decision win over Kai Kara-France at UFC Vegas 74

Boxing. Terence Crawford on megafight with Errol Spence Jr.: ‘This fight sells itself’

Sponsor. Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya become first official athletes of Logan Paul’s Prime

---

VIDEO STEW

UFC Vegas 74 Post-Fight Show.

UFC 289 Countdown.

Bellator in 2023.

Sergio Pettis highlights.

A wonderful night.

Full fight.

The War Room: UFC 289.

Poatan in Australia.

Baddy.

One Chip Challenge.

Advice.

---

MORNING MUSIC

---

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Okay, Cowboy.

Insanity.

Ouff.

More KSW chaos.

What the what?

Let’s go.

Fight week.

---

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Yana Santos (14-7, 1 NC) vs. Macy Chiasson (9-3); UFC Vegas 76, July 1

Polyana Viana (13-5) vs. Iasmin Lucindo (14-5); UFC Vegas 78, Aug. 12

Gerald Meerschaert (35-16) vs. Andre Petroski (9-2); UFC 292, Aug. 19

---

FINAL THOUGHTS

Those KSW environments are something else, man. How Mamed Khalidov can still pull moves off like that one just doesn’t make sense.

Thanks for reading!

---

POLL POSITION

Last Week’s Results:

Friday: 56% of 641 total votes answered “Andrei Arlovski” when asked, “Who will retire first?”

Thursday: 47% of 489 total votes had “Leon Edwards” and Colby Covington” tied when asked, “Who is the toughest fight for Belal Muhammad among the three?”

Wednesday: 76% of 856 votes answered “No” when asked, “Will Jake Paul and Conor McGregor ever box each other?”

Tuesday: 68% of 480 total votes answered “Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus Du Plessis winner” when asked, “Who will Israel Adesanya face if he does fight at UFC 293?”

Monday: 73% of 259 total votes answered “Kai Kara-France” when asked, “Who wins this weekend?” Amir Albazi defeated Kara-France via a split decision in UFC Vegas 74’s main event.

Today’s exit poll:

---

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.