Jon Jones is the new UFC heavyweight champion—and very possibly the greatest MMA fighter of all time.

The GOAT debate is, by nature, totally subjective. You may consider Demetrious Johnson, Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Jose Aldo or Fedor Emelianenko as the sport's greatest fighter, and you would not be wrong.

All of those fighters have incredible resumes. Yet after Saturday night's UFC 285 card in Las Vegas, when Jones won the vacant heavyweight title with a quick submission win over Ciryl Gane by way of guillotine choke, his claim to that lofty title is stronger than ever: He is now a two-division UFC champion with one of the greatest resumes in the history of the sport.

Jones (27-1-1) first got his hands on UFC gold in March 2011 when he claimed the light heavyweight title with a stoppage win over Brazilian legend Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. He went on to win 13 title fights in the light heavyweight division, defeating the likes of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira and Daniel Cormier—all when they were still in the primes of their fighting lives.

That streak alone gave him a real claim to the title of all time, but it's his win over Gane made him more difficult to deny than ever.

Ahead of the fight, there were ample—and understandable—questions about Jones. He had not fought in three years. He was moving up a weight class. He's 35 years old, which is not old for a heavyweight, but not young either. Not only that, but Gane is in the prime of his fighting career and very recently held the UFC interim heavyweight title.

None of that seemed to matter as the American plowed into Gane's range, tied the Frenchman up, dragged him to the mat and submitted him with a guillotine inside a single round.

"I'm so excited," he said in his post-fight interview with commentator Joe Rogan. "I've been working for this for a long time.

"I really had this strong conviction that if I got to him to the ground, the fight would be in my area," he added. "I've been wrestling since I was 12 years old."

"I felt a little goofy on the feet, it's been a while, but once I got my hands on him, I knew I was in control."

It was a feel-good moment for Jones, but there was a definite elephant in the room after his win.

The key detail is that the heavyweight title was only vacant to begin with because the former undisputed champion, Francis Ngannou, left the UFC, as he was not satisfied with the way the promotion was compensating him.

The Jones vs. Gane fight was always a consolation prize for the Jones vs. Ngannou fight we all wanted. And after Jones' victory at UFC 285, the idea of a fight between him and Ngannou—arguably the hardest puncher in all of combat sports today—is more appealing than ever.

Unfortunately, that won't be happening.

Barring a miracle, Ngannou will not be returning to the UFC. He seems to have done a good job of alienating the promotion's top brass—most notably the increasingly bellicose Dana White—and also seems set on fighting the stars of the heavyweight boxing world like Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder.

The good news is that Jones has a solid backup option for his next fight: former heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic.

The Croatian American holds the record for most heavyweight title defenses in UFC history and is considered the greatest heavyweight the promotion has ever produced. He's also 1-1 against Ngannou, having first beaten the knockout artist by decision before suffering a brutal stoppage loss in their rematch.

Jones was quick to set his sights on Miocic after beating Gane.

"Y'all wanna see me beat up Stipe?" he said, egging an excited crowd on. "Stipe Miocic, I hope you're training, my guy!"

A Jones vs. Stipe fight would still be a letdown compared to a Jones vs. Ngannou fight. Yet a win over Miocic would only cement Jones' claim to MMA's GOAT title, which is already verging on irrefutable following his heavyweight title win.

With a second championship belt now sitting in his trophy case, he clearly still has plenty left to give.