Anthony Smith isn’t going to vilify Jon Jones after his latest drug testing scenario.
Jones, 36, was alleged to have threatened Drug Free Sport International (DFSI) during a random visit in March 2024. Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) Heavyweight champion entered a plea deal after being handed a pair of misdemeanors this week.
Despite United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) no longer working with UFC, longtime fighters have become familiar with the process. Understanding how Jones is, as one of his past opponents, Smith sympathizes with “Bones’” situation.
“I kind of stuck up for him at the beginning of it because it is a pain in the ass to do the whole drug-testing thing,” Smith said on Believe You Me (h/t MMA Fighting). “I’ve always been lucky that my drug testers have always been pretty cool. They’re fairly respectful of your time, they’re fairly respectful of the inconvenience that they’re creating for you. So they always show up like, ‘Hey, I know it’s not the best time, sorry, let me get this sample and we’ll get out of here.’
“But I have had one, I’ve had them before — not here at home or in Denver, but just been out somewhere and they find this random person, somebody you’ve never had before, and sometimes they can be assholes,” he continued. “They have this power trip or some sort of power over you like they want to boss you around or point the finger at you.
“If he got one of those bad ones, I understood him — because he’s a little bit hot-headed at times — I can understand him kind of flipping out and going off,” Smith added. “And apparently he was having a party, so I think he was drinking and had some friends over. They show up, started to be assholes, kind of being disrespectful at times — I could see him kind of going off. But once you start touching people and taking their phones and stuff, that’s a problem. But if [they’re] being an asshole to him, then it’s kind of in his right. That’s not illegal.”
The former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Jones, successfully defended that division’s title for the ninth total time when he defeated Smith via a unanimous decision at UFC 235 in March 2019. Jones officially moved to Heavyweight when he earned a first round guillotine choke victory over Ciryl Gane in March 2023 (watch highlights).