Ex-Rival Concerned About ‘Unfair’ Return of Jon Jones to UFC

Getty Jon Jones.

Former UFC two-division champion Daniel Cormier voiced his concerns regarding the return of Jon Jones.

Jones, a former light heavyweight champion, has been on the sidelines for nearly three years in preparation for his move up to the heavyweight division. He was last seen in action against Dominick Reyes in Feb. 2020 at UFC 247, when he managed to edge out a razor-thin decision win.

Meanwhile, Jiri Prochazka became the new 205-pound king at UFC 275 earlier this year and got forced to vacate the title after suffering a horrific shoulder injury. Prochazka is also the most tested fighter under the banner, with 64 samples submitted to the United States UFC, Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in 2022. 

On the other hand, Jones only got tested four times ahead of his highly-anticipated comeback next year.

Cormier took to YouTube to highlight the lack of testing for Jones despite his past violations.

“One of the reasons with Jon Jones was that he was gonna get to come back, but he was gonna be the most tested guy in USADA,” Cormier said. “They were gonna be on him. They were gonna make sure that he didn’t have picograms or any of that stuff. Where are his damn tests? I mean, why is he not the most tested? Why are you testing Jiri Prochazka more than you’re testing this guy who has a history of having these types of issues? That makes no sense.”

He continued, “We have a guy who has a history of drug abuse that got tested a third of the months of the year. That’s not fair. That’s not random.”

Cormier Suggests Fighters May Be More Willing To Cheat While Away From the Cage

‘DC’ suggested that Jones should get tested regularly even if he is not staying active inside the octagon as he may be more willing to cheat when the attention isn’t as high.

“I’m saying test him more – not more than 65 times, that’s excessive. But test him more when he’s not the champ and when he’s not competing,” Cormier said (transcribed by MMA Junkie).

“Because guys are more inclined to cheat when they’re away from the spotlight. So I don’t get how USADA can test a guy so much as the champion, but the moment he walks away, they don’t test him at all.”

Cormier Credits Jones for His Fight IQ

Having fallen short of Jones twice in his career, Cormier praised Jones for his insane fight IQ and argued against the idea ‘Bones’ is beatable.

“If he’s beatable, why hasn’t anybody beaten him? He’s long, he’s strong, he’s got good cardio, and he’s got a lot of great qualities in there,” Cormier told former UFC middleweight champion, Chris Weidman, on his Sirius XM podcast show (via MMA Fighting). “He’s very smart in the octagon.

“That’s one of the areas I think people don’t give Jones the credit, his mentality and his fight IQ, his ability to process through a fight is better than most, and I think that’s why he’s had the longevity that he had.”