Dana White said there is no denying Jon Jones is the greatest UFC athlete of all-time after the American marked his return to the octagon with a stunning victory to become heavyweight champion.
Competing for the first in more than three years, Jones submitted No 1-ranked contender Ciryl Gane in the first round of the headline bout at UFC 285 on Sunday morning to claim the vacant belt.
The former long-time light heavyweight champion, last in action in February 2020, needed only two minutes and four seconds to see off Gane by guillotine choke, sending the sell-out crowd at T-Mobile Arena wild.
In winning on heavyweight debut, Jones became only the eighth UFC athlete in history to secure belts in two different divisions. His professional record stands now at 27-1.
Speaking to reporters after the event, UFC president White said: “Anyone deny this guy is the 'Goat' [Greatest Of All Time] anymore? I don’t think anybody would deny it. Not only is he the greatest light heavyweight ever, he looks like the greatest heavyweight ever too.
“There were a couple of interviews leading up to this fight where he was saying, ‘I’m going to make this look easy.’ And I thought that was a silly thing to say. The guy is unbelievable, man. He really is.”
White has a long and colourful history with Jones, with the UFC's youngest champion in history involved in a pay dispute with the promotion for some time. It was one of the reasons that delayed Jones' comeback; his most recent outing before Sunday was his contentious victory against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247.
“Let’s just put it this way, there’s no doubt that Jon Jones is special,” White said. “He’s the greatest of all time; he’s undefeated; he’s never lost a fight ever in the UFC; he’s fought all the best competition out there.
“But dealing with him is like dealing with an artist, is the best way to explain it. I don’t know what’s going to happen from here on out. I’m just happy we got to see what we saw tonight."
White added: “I’m a big believer in ring rust and what it does to you. We didn’t even get to see any ring rust. Who knows if there was any ring rust tonight?
"He just went in there and literally made it look like nothing, like it was the easiest thing in the world for him to do. He’s a total freak of nature. And he’s the best ever.”
Jones, 35, said immediately afterwards that he wants to defend his title against two-time heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic.
Miocic, who has not competed since losing the belt to Francis Ngannou in March 2021, has already said he is targeting Jones for a clash during International Fight Week in Las Vegas this summer. That event is expected to be UFC 290 on July 8.
“I don’t know when, but he’s definitely fighting Stipe.” White said.
Meanwhile, White joked that he was concerned how Jones would celebrate his win. The Albuquerque, New Mexico native is known also for a series of transgressions outside the octagon.
When informed Jones had an afterparty booked in Las Vegas, White said: “It does worry me a little bit.
“I told [UFC chief business officer] Hunter [Campbell], ‘Charter a jet and send him right back to New Mexico right now. Let’s get him home, safe and sound’.”
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Poacher
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
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Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
SPECS
Toyota land Cruiser 2020 5.7L VXR
Engine: 5.7-litre V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 362hp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh329,000 (base model 4.0L EXR Dh215,900)
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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The biog
Favourite Quote: “Real victories are those that protect human life, not those that result from its destruction emerge from its ashes,” by The late king Hussain of Jordan.
Favourite Hobby: Writing and cooking
Favourite Book: The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
- Ban fruit juice and sodas
- Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
- Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
- Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
- Don’t eat dessert every day
- Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
- Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
- Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
- Eat everything in moderation
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