Jon Jones regained his long-held UFC light heavyweight title by dominating Alexander Gustafsson in the main event of last night’s (Sat., December 29, 2018) UFC 232 from The Forum in Inglewood, California.
But that hardly means Jones is in the clear with the majority of the mixed martial arts fanbase. The lead-up to his latest return at UFC 232 was marred by yet another performance-enhancing drug-related controversy. We don’t need to rehash the details of that, as anyone reading this has at least read or followed much of the saga that saw UFC 232 relocated from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.
It’s lead to some claiming Jones will always have an asterisk hanging over his latest reign – and perhaps his whole career – as a result of his many outside-the-cage issues with drugs. But Jones isn’t going to let all that talk get to him. In a post-fight interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Jones said whatever his critics say just doesn’t matter to him now:
“It won’t matter, it don’t matter to me, honestly. It doesn’t matter. Nobody has been there with me. Doing the push-ups, running the miles, doing the sprints, doing the wrestling tournaments, dealing with the criticism, dealing with all of it, nobody’s been there. I don’t really care what anyone says. In my heart and my team’s heart, we know we’ve done nothing wrong.”
Science Backs ‘Bones?’
Jones then offered his belief that his latest adverse drug tests, where he tested positive for a minuscule amount of anabolic steroid
“Science is going to prove that eventually. There is no asterisk next to this belt. This is hard-earned right here. Every scientist in the world is saying that this picogram crap has given him zero athletic performance benefits. Zero. –
“And people will, never mind that, because I have greatness on my heart, greatness on my shoulder right now. So, I can’t allow what naysayers say affect anything I have going on here and here. There is no asterisk next to this belt. I earned this belt. Earned, not given.”
There’s no doubt that Jones’ fighting skills alone have not only earned him the 205-pound title, but arguably the title of the best in-cage athlete to ever live. But it’s never just about fighting with Jones. It could even be said the real work lies ahead for Jones, with endless drug tests from both USADA and VADA and another hearing in front of the NSAC coming his way.
If he can pass those tests, his path to greatness may be restored. If not, well, the asterisk will certainly remain.
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