Jones: USADA proved my innocence

Jon Jones is likely the greatest fighter in mixed martial arts history. And in the eyes of many, he has the PED asterisk by his name and legacy. However, a careful evaluation of his failures indicates he is an all too human f*** up, but not a doper. 

Jones successfully defended his title for the eighth time vs. Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 on January 3, 2015. On April 28, Jones was stripped of his title for violating the UFC’s Athlete Code of Conduct policy; Jones had gotten in a car accident, hitting a pregnant woman and breaking her arm, before fleeing on foot.

Jones returned from that suspension and beat Ovince Saint Preux via Unanimous Decision for the interim belt at UFC 197 on April 23, 2016. Jones was later stripped of that title and suspended after testing positive for clomiphene and letrozole. The source of the failed anti-doping test was determined to be a tainted, bootleg, erectile dysfunction pill.

Jones returned from that suspension and defeated Daniel Cormier via KO at UFC 214 on July 29, 2017, only to see the bout changed to a No Contest and the title stripped after he tested positive for the Turinabol metabolite M3. The amount found in his system would have no performance enhancing effect, and the timing is just as exonerating. M3 can be detected for 45 to 60 days, or more. Jones passed tests for Turinabol and its metabolites on July 6 and July 7. So Jones took Turinabol between July 8 and July 28. But given window for Turinabol metabolites, you wouldn’t take the PED knowing you were going be tested at the end of the month on fight day.

After going through USADA arbitration, Jones was suspended for just 15 months and has been eligible to fight since October 28. He had faced up to 48 months away from his profession. The reduction was due to the determination that the fighter did not knowingly take anything, that the amount found was useless in terms of performance, and because Jones provided USADA with Substantial Assistance – information bringing forward an Anti-Doping Policy Violation by another person.

Jones appeared recently on ESPN’s First Take” and defended himself vs. charges that he used PEDs.

I think what you do is you look at the science, said Jones, as transcribed by Steven Marrocco for MMAjunkie. “Instead of judging and saying, ‘Oh well, this guy’s lying,’ because he’s always been a winner, you look at the science. And USADA is a credible drug-testing agency; they always have been. They’ve tested Lance Armstrong and lots of great athletes, the highest level athletes throughout history, and they don’t make mistakes. So the fact that I’m here back fighting is because they don’t make mistakes, and I was able to be proven innocent.

I’ve been able to do great things in this sport and unfortunately, I had a hiccup with this steroid situation, and I’m grateful that USADA came on and proved my innocence by saying, hey, this was a little bit of a misunderstanding. And it goes to show how dominant I’ve been in the sport.

I am the best fighter in the sport. I always have been the best fighter in the sport. Nothing’s changed, so I should perform exactly the way that I’ve always.

Is Jones accurate when he said USADA proved his was innocent? It’s a little more complex than that. But saying Jones uses PEDs is a lot less true.

Jones rematches Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 on December 29, 2018 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada for the light heavyweight championship.