Jon Jones is a survivor.
The reigning UFC heavyweight champion, who previously held the promotion’s title at 205 pounds, wasted little time in clearing his own name (yet again) following this week’s announcement that USADA would no longer be drug testing UFC fighters.
After all, there was “no business upside” to its “untenable” relationship.
“Man I survived USADA,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “First they said I was guilty of having picograms, then they considered me innocent, next picograms became legal. Guess what I’m still here, still unbeaten. That BS no contest over ‘DC’ needs to be taken off my record. I’ve never cheated this sport and I will stand by that until the day I die.”
Jones, 36, failed multiple drug tests over the years, including his UFC 214 exam back in summer 2017. That forced the commission to overturn his knockout victory against longtime rival Daniel Cormier, leaving the 27-1 “Bones” with one “No Contest.”
USADA was later accused of unreasonable protocols to “justify its paychecks.”
Jones is also responsible for adding “picograms” to the combat sports lexicon. The promotion worked hard to reassure fans that “Bones” was a victim of salty swimming pools and routinely moved mountains (and fight cards) to keep him employed.
In the end, things got so bad that UFC CEO Dana White had to abandon the USADA “nightmare,” though it’s unclear how the promotion will handle drug testing moving forward, if at all, or simply leave it in the hands of local athletic commissions.
Jones returns against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 on Nov. 11 in New York.