Do any of you remember in Ghostbusters when that demon possessed Louis Tully and he started spouting all that strange demi-god history? He warned that during the third reconciliation of the last of the Meketrex supplicants, a new form would be chosen for Gozer the Traveller. Well, that might as well have been Jon Jones. He’s a destroyer, simple as that. When he debuted in the UFC nine years ago today, our world would never be the same. We might have not known it then, but we sure as hell know it now.

Aug9.2008

9 years ago today,

21 year old Jon Jones made his UFC debut, & def. André Gusmão by unanimous decision pic.twitter.com/QbpB50gcJ2

— MMA History Today (@MMAHistoryToday) August 9, 2017

What Jones has done so far in his career is absolutely incredible, and it all started at UFC 87 against Andre Gusmao. Watching the entire fight back, it’s hard to believe the monster Jon Jones would metamorphosize into. Then again, it’s hard to imagine it even while experiencing it first hand. We’re still trying to fathom taking out Daniel Cormier — far-and-away the second best light heavyweight of all time — then calling out Brock freakin’ Lesnar.

The fact of the matter is, in order for another Jon Jones to exist, there would first have to be another Shogun Rua, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Daniel Cormier, along with many others. …And they would all have to get beat. So, what’s next? Alexander Gustafsson looms in the background while Anthony Johnson threatens to end his retirement. We all know the hype behind a Lesnar fight. The current booking climate of the UFC dictates it definitely could happen, even a fight with Stipe Miocic isn’t too far in left field. I’m sure if you’d ask The Keymaster, he’d tell you Jon Jones’ final form is that of a UFC heavyweight.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 8/9/2017.