Jon Jones Doubles Down: “I Never Took Steroids”
Jon Jones, who has tested positive for banned substances multiple times during his UFC career, recently claimed that he never took steroids or performance-enhancing drugs.
The former two-division champion tested positive for Benzoylecgonine in 2015, before UFC 182. However, since Benzoylecgonine is not banned out-of-competition by the World Anti-Doping Agency, Jones was allowed to compete, and the American fighter went on to secure a unanimous decision win over Daniel Cormier.
In 2016, before UFC 200, Jones tested positive for two banned substances: clomiphene and letrozole. Therefore, he had to withdraw from the event and was also suspended for a year by USADA.
In 2017, “Bones” tested positive for Turinabol (an anabolic steroid), due to which his UFC 214 victory over “DC” was overturned and ruled a no-contest. The promotion also reinstated Cormier as the light heavyweight champion.
In 2018, Jones became eligible to compete again, but ahead of his UFC 232 rematch against Alexander Gustafsson, very rare amounts of Turinabol were detected in his system. Ultimately, no action was taken against “Bones” this time because the California State Athletic Commission decided it was just the lingering effect of the same substance from his 2017 positive test.
Jon Jones: ‘I never took steroids, and the supplement found in my body has zero performance-enhancing effects’
During a recent sit-down with AFL Global, Jon Jones claimed that he never took steroids or performance-enhancing drugs, and he tested positive due to a “tainted supplement.” The 39-year-old said:
“I never took steroids. There was a supplement found in my body. It was proven to have come from a supplement company that I was using. It was a tainted supplement that I was using. The amount of the substance found in my body was so small that it took very expensive scientists to be able to even find it. The supplement that was found in my body has zero performance-enhancing effects.”
He added:
“Fighters are like, ‘Jon Jones is a knucklehead, but he’s brilliant enough to take steroids and trick the UFC scientists.’ So am I the knucklehead, or am I a genius who somehow got away with using steroids?”
Check out Jon Jones’ comments below:
During the same sit-down, Jones also admitted that there was a time in his career when his “self-belief was just at an all-time high,” due to which he would party and even drink even before title fights instead of training, as he felt like the chosen one by the Almighty who cannot be defeated.
