(Jones is so committed to clean competition that he carries a bottle of fresh, hot urine with him at all times. / Photo via Getty)
Earlier this month, Jon Jones revealed to FOX Sports that he requested random drug-testing for himself and Glover Teixeira in advance of their light-heavyweight title fight at UFC 172 (April 26th, Baltimore). At the time, it seemed like Jones was taking up the Anti-PED Superhero mantle from Georges St-Pierre.
“It was something me and my management team asked for several months ago,” Jones said. “We thought it would be great to make sure everyone was playing fair in this fight. I’m not accusing my opponent of anything, but it’d just be great to see. [The Maryland State Athletic Commission] said they would need the UFC to approve it, the UFC approved it and paid for the whole thing and they never told me or Glover when our tests would come…
“I just think it’d be great to know that the athletes that are competing are competing clean,” Jones said. “I’ve never taken any kind of performance-enhancing drug and I don’t think any of my opponents should. I know that I’ve probably fought people in the past that have, and I’ve still come up with a way to win, but I just think it’s important that it goes away.
“I want our sport to be a clean sport. I want athletes to have pride and hard work and that’s why I thought I would put my money where my mouth is and get the test for myself. I have no right to accuse [Teixeira] of being on anything,” Jones said. “I know when people get chances to fight for world titles maybe they’ll do anything to get an edge, and I think the only edge you should have is work ethic so I thought we should both get tested.”
Now, in a follow-up interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Jones explained what really motivated him to request enhanced testing for this fight, and it has nothing to do with any lofty goals of cleaning up the sport. Basically, Glover Teixeira is 34 years old, he’s strong as an ox, and Jones finds that kind of suspicious:
“I just thought I would have Glover tested because he’s not the youngest fighter and everyone raves about how strong he is.”
“Some fighters, you just know they’re not on anything just by looking at them. Part of (Teixeira’s) mystique is his amazing physical strength and I just questioned it. I have no reason to think he’s on steroids but I do wonder how someone can be so strong.”
“I called Dana White and said, ‘Hey, I want Glover to take steroid tests for this fight,’” Jones said. “He asked me, “What, you think he’s on steroids?’ I told him I don’t know and I have no reason to accuse him of anything but I would like to be sure.”
“Dana told me how the Georges and Johny Hendricks thing became one big cluster because Georges wanted Johny to be tested by a certain company. He recommended I not go that way and talk to the commission directly so I said, ‘OK.’ ”
Alright, so maybe this isn’t going to help his narc reputation, but if Jones wants to use his pull as champion to demand additional drug testing for title fights, how is that a bad thing? Along with the recent ban on TRT and Dana White’s claim that all UFC fighters will be drug tested on fight cards going forward, the environment for PED users is growing more hostile. Baby steps, people.
The question now, is: What happens if Teixeira tests dirty for something and has to be pulled from the card on a week’s notice? Would you draft Phil Davis into the main event, or just cancel this thing altogether?