After Jon Jones failed yet another drug test following his victory over Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 this past summer, “Bones” was stripped of his Light Heavyweight title, which was subsequently returned to Daniel Cormier.
More on that fiasco here and here.
Still, there are those who feel Jones is the “real” Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 205-pound king, including Alexander Gustafsson.
“He has the belt, and I want to fight Cormier again for sure. I want the belt. But the real champion is Jon Jones, of course, because he has been destroying everybody in the division,” said “The Mauler” on The MMA Hour. “Everything that he’s done, nobody has done it before. So to me he is the real champion, but I do accept ‘DC’ a champion, too. He is a good guy, good fighter and the only guy he lost to is Jon Jones. He is the real deal and champion material.”
Still, the towering Swede wasn’t surprised at all when news broke of Jon’s latest transgression, saying it’s just one thing after another from his old foe.
“I wasn’t shocked, I wasn’t surprised. I feel sorry for him. What can I say? I just feel sorry for him. New things come up all the time and I am not surprised at all. I just feel sorry for him. It’s bad for him, it’s bad for the sport,” he added.
“Look, what he did to ‘DC.’ He’s a beast and nobody has done what he’s done. He’s just getting caught over and over again. It must be something wrong there. You just don’t do that if you … he’s just making wrong decision all the time and I feel sorry for him, basically.”
As for Jon’s fighting future, that is still up in the air, as the dominant former champion could be out for quite some time, with some going as far as saying he won’t ever return. As for Gustafsson — who lost to Jon at UFC 165 back in 2013 — he hopes to see “Bones” return in order to get his long overdue rematch.
“I want him back. I want to fight him at some point in the future. I want to fight him one more time. For that reason, I want him to come back. But, at the same time, he’s been caught a lot of times and if he doesn’t come back he doesn’t come back. It’s sad for the division, for the sport,” he reiterated.
Assuming he cleans up his act, says Alex.
For now, “The Mauler” is still recovering from shoulder surgery but says a few more weeks of rehab should allow him to start full contact training shortly thereafter. Once he returns, there is no telling who will be sitting on the 205-pound throne, as Cormier is set to defend his title against Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220 on Jan. 20, 2018 in Boston.