After knocking out Fabricio Werdum to become the undisputed heavyweight champion last May, Stipe Miocic successfully defended his title for the very first time in the main event of UFC 203 this past weekend (September 10, 2016) from his home of Cleveland, Ohio. Despite getting dropped early on, Miocic battled back to score an impressive
After knocking out Fabricio Werdum to become the undisputed heavyweight champion last May, Stipe Miocic successfully defended his title for the very first time in the main event of UFC 203 this past weekend (September 10, 2016) from his home of Cleveland, Ohio. Despite getting dropped early on, Miocic battled back to score an impressive first round stoppage over longtime veteran Alistair Overeem.
Miocic has a few options for his next title defense, but his name was also recently brought up by former longtime light heavyweight champion and former pound-for-pound king Jon “Bones” Jones, a man who has teased a jump to heavyweight for quite some time.
Despite currently serving out a temporary suspension that could potentially transform into a two-year suspension, “Bones” said that he’d be the ‘challenge of a lifetime’ for Miocic. Today (September 13, 2016), Miocic responded to the call out, saying that although Jones is a ‘very nice guy’, he’d be open to fighting him:
“I’ll fight whoever,” Miocic told TMZ. “He’s a great guy, we’ve talked before, very nice guy to me. Like I said, I’ll fight whoever they want me to fight. If they want me to fight Jon, I’ll fight Jon or whoever they want me to fight next — Cain (Velasquez) JDS (Junior dos Santos), (Fabricio) Werdum — I don’t care.”
At this point in time, however, it seems as if Werdum and Velasquez are the leading men for a title shot. Werdum got back in the win column at UFC 203 as well, scoring a decision victory over Travis Browne. Velasquez’s most recent win also came over Browne, as the ex-champion knocked out “Hapa” in the first round of their UFC 200 bout.
Despite his laundry list of issues outside of the cage, former longtime light heavyweight champion and former pound-for-pound king Jon “Bones” Jones will likely receive an immediate title shot if he avoids a two-year suspension regarding a potential anti-doping violation. Former Jones foe and top 205-pound contender Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson doesn’t see this as
Despite his laundry list of issues outside of the cage, former longtime light heavyweight champion and former pound-for-pound king Jon “Bones” Jones will likely receive an immediate title shot if he avoids a two-year suspension regarding a potential anti-doping violation. Former Jones foe and top 205-pound contender Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson doesn’t see this as fair, however:
“It wouldn’t be fair, giving him a title shot,” Gustafsson said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I’m not saying I’m going to get it. I’m just saying, after everything that happened, it’s not fair to other fighters too, who’ve been working their asses off and they’ve been fighting each other. So, not a title shot right away. Just give him a fun fight first and that’s it.”
Jones is currently serving out a temporary suspension, but he recently hinted that good news could be coming regarding his troubled situation that saw him get pulled from his highly-anticipated grudge match with Daniel Cormier just days prior to July 9’s UFC 200.
Gustafsson, on the other hand, recently got back in the win column with a decision victory over Jan Blachowicz in Hamburg, Germany after dropping two straight to Cormier and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. “The Mauler” admits that he’s unsure what lies ahead for him, but he did say that he would be open to a rematch with Jones, a fight that has been longed for ever since the two took part in an instant classic back in 2013:
“I’m up for suggestions (for my next opponent), so why not?” Gustafsson said. “But let’s see what they say. I’m up for suggestions, so whatever they give me, I’m down with a second fight with Jones, who knows. It’s going to be good though.”
Would you like to see these two light heavyweight stalwarts once again do battle?
Former longtime UFC light heavyweight champion and former pound-for-pound king Jon Jones is currently dealing with a possible anti-doping violation that forced him to be pulled from his scheduled UFC 200 (July 9, 2016) title fight with bitter rival and current champion Daniel “DC” Cormier. The situation has yet to be resolved, but “Bones” has
Former longtime UFC light heavyweight champion and former pound-for-pound king Jon Jones is currently dealing with a possible anti-doping violation that forced him to be pulled from his scheduled UFC 200 (July 9, 2016) title fight with bitter rival and current champion Daniel “DC” Cormier. The situation has yet to be resolved, but “Bones” has hinted that positive news could be coming. If the ex-champion does indeed avoid a two-year suspension, he’d likely return to the 205-pound division where he appears to have some unfinished business, but he may not remain there forever.
In fact, Jones has teased a possible jump to heavyweight in the past, and it could be a very realistic possibility. “Bones”, when he does fight, has come dangerously close to cleaning out the light heavyweight class, and he also has the size to compete at heavyweight.
If he were to indeed make the move up, he’d likely find himself in a huge right off the bat, and he recently touched on a potential title fight with reigning champion Stipe Miocic on his official Twitter account. When asked about the possible scenario, “Bones” said that he’d be the ‘challenge of a lifetime’ for Miocic:
I’m starting to realize the hype is real with that guy. He’s legit, I would be the challenge of a lifetime https://t.co/ybke2pAtAC
The reigning heavyweight king secured the title with a brutal first round knockout over Fabricio Werdum last May. He followed that performance up with another first round stoppage over Alistair Overeem in his first title defense this past weekend (September 10, 2016) at UFC 203.
Would you like to see Jones and Miocic one day do battle in the Octagon?
Alexander Gustafsson is a man closely tied to former longtime light heavyweight champion Jon Jones due to the fact that “The Mauler” took “Bones” to his limits in a five-round slug fest back in 2013. Jones has since lost his title due to legal issues that forced the UFC to suspend him in 2015, but
Alexander Gustafsson is a man closely tied to former longtime light heavyweight champion Jon Jones due to the fact that “The Mauler” took “Bones” to his limits in a five-round slug fest back in 2013. Jones has since lost his title due to legal issues that forced the UFC to suspend him in 2015, but Gustafsson remains as his stiffest challenge to date. “Bones’” latest issue outside of the cage came when he was pulled from his scheduled UFC 200 headliner just days prior after USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) notified him of a potential anti-doping agency.
As far as Jones’ latest issue goes, Gustafsson said it’s ‘sad’:
“As a role model, people look up to him. It’s just sad to see it,” said Gustafsson in an interview with Sporting News earlier this week. “He’s one of a kind. He’s been made something for him that nobody else has ever done in this sport and then he just throws it out the window. I just think it’s sad.”
A rematch between the two 205-pound titans has been wanted since the final bell rang to end their first bout, but at this point, “The Mauler” appears to be more focused on another title shot. If a bout with Jones could launch him into a shot at gold, however, then Gustafsson would be all for it:
“As long as he gets me to a title shot, I’m up for anything,” added Gustafsson regarding a potential rematch with Jones. “It’s not just because it’s Jon Jones. I want to take that fight. It’s not that. The faster I can get to it, I’ll take it. It doesn’t matter if it is Jon Jones or anybody else. The fight we had is history to me now.”
“It’s nothing that before I was looking for that rematch and I wanted it real bad, title fight or not. Right now, I just take every fight that’s logical and will take me somewhere. If it’s Jon Jones, it’s Jon Jones. I’m not going to wait for a second fight.”
Where should Gustafsson go after his win over Jan Blachowicz this past weekend?
Heading into his light heavyweight title fight with then champion Jon Jones at UFC 172 in April 2014, Brazilian slugger Glover Teixeira had won an incredible 20 straight fights including five straight inside of the Octagon, but he ended up proving to be no challenge to Jones, as he was dominated throughout their five round
Heading into his light heavyweight title fight with then champion Jon Jones at UFC 172 in April 2014, Brazilian slugger Glover Teixeira had won an incredible 20 straight fights including five straight inside of the Octagon, but he ended up proving to be no challenge to Jones, as he was dominated throughout their five round bout. Now, Teixeira finds himself in yet another fight with a title shot possibly looming in the balance, as he’s set to meet fellow former title challenger Anthony Johnson in the co-main event of this weekend’s (August 20, 2016) UFC 202. This time, however, the winner won’t be headed towards a scrap with Jones.
Jones’ fighting future is currently unclear after he was pulled from his scheduled UFC 200 (July 9, 2016) headliner with reinging champion Daniel Cormier due to a potential anti-doping violation. UFC President Dana White recently said that things are looking up for Jones, who’s had quite the troubled past few years. Teixeira, speaking on the matter, said it’s ‘sad’ to see ‘the best fighter in history’ do these types of things:
“It’s hard to comment. Jon Jones is the best fighter in history,” Teixeira said, according to a translation from Bloody Elbow’s Lucas Rezende. “He could be doing what Usain Bolt is doing. He’s one of the best fighters ever, defeated everybody in the weight class and then does what he’s been doing for the past couple of years. It’s sad. We want a chance to fight the guy. To get in there and knock him out. But it’s part of the sport.”
Continuing on, the Brazilian said that he hopes Jones rebounds, but he also compared the former pound-for-pound king to controversial cyclist Lance Armstrong, who had a plethora of his titles stripped after being busted by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency):
“We never want anything bad to happen, especially to an athlete like Jon Jones,” Teixeira said. “I hope he can get back on track. I don’t think Jon Jones needed to take anything. He’s younger than everybody else. Plus, if he took something he shouldn’t, he should lose his title.
“He’s like Lance Armstrong, who won all those titles and then they took them away from him. So the question remains. Was he really a champion or could anybody have been the champion if they were taking what he was taking?”
Former undisputed light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones found himself in a spot of bother again before UFC 200. After serving a suspension that saw him stripped of the 205-pound title, Jones’ return at UFC 197 was lacklustre. There was no question about the decision win over Ovince St-Preux, but Jones did not look the same. Was
Former undisputed light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones found himself in a spot of bother again before UFC 200. After serving a suspension that saw him stripped of the 205-pound title, Jones’ return at UFC 197 was lacklustre. There was no question about the decision win over Ovince St-Preux, but Jones did not look the same. Was it ring rust? Daniel Cormier believed the best Jon Jones had been and gone, and pointed out the impact of all the partying. The failed drug test for cocaine, his infamous New Mexico hit-and-run that lost him the title, and the self-confessed Marijuana addiction were now apparently a thing of the past.
Then came the shocking news of Jones’ failed drug test. USADA had found a banned substance in a June 16 random dope screen, once again putting the troubled ‘Bones’ in the sin bin. The interim champion held a press conference after being pulled from UFC 200 on just three days notice. Protesting his innocence in an emotion-fuelled interview, Jones claimed he had no knowledge of the banned substance. At this point nobody knew what USADA had found.
The Big Reveal
It wasn’t too long before we learned that Clomiphene was the banned substance in Jon Jones’ system. The anti-estrogen typically used after a steroid cycle is not allowed in or out of competition. Ironically this same substance was found in both of Brock Lesnar’s failed UFC 200 drug tests. ‘Bones’ remained quiet as he was removed from the official light-heavyweight and P4P rankings. Until yesterday.
Claiming he had some ‘good news’ for his legion of followers, Jones has led many to believe he’s making some progress with the USADA testers. Perhaps it was a tainted supplement after all, there are numerous recent cases that can attest to the real possibility of this happening. Both Tim Means and Yoel Romero had recent suspensions overturned following similar circumstance.
Joe Rogan on Jon Jones
During a recent episode of his popular podcast, UFC commentator Joe Rogan gave his opinion on Jon Jones. Bearing in mind this was filmed before the Jones message to his fans about ‘good news,’ it still raises some interesting questions and points for debate.
“I don’t know if there’s anything wrong with doing blow, I don’t think it’s a positive drug, but some people enjoy it. Some people enjoy drinking, I enjoy drinking, ad I don’t think that’s a positive drug. But (cocaine) is not something you are supposed to be doing three weeks outside of a world title fight. You’re out doing blow just 21 days before, that’s crazy.”
“If you ask his coaches they’ll tell you he surrounds himself with the wrong people. Jon is an extremely talented guy. Maybe one of the most talented guys to ever compete in the sport. When the chips are down he gets through things, he overcomes adversity.”
“Isn’t there also the issues that fighters have impulse control problems? There are direct correlations between head impacts and impulse control. It can’t be good to get kicked in the head, or punched in the face, any kind of impact causes your brain to get jostled.”
“The stuff he tested positive for, anti-estrogen, that’s not even beneficial. The only time its beneficial is when you’re coming off steroids, but he didn’t test positive for steroids before. It could have been a tainted supplement, who knows what wacky shit he was taking. I don’t know.”
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