Top Light Heavyweight Questions Jon Jones’ Quick UFC Return
Volkan Oezdemir questions the quick return of former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones after his latest failed drug test.
The former title contender talked about this situation as well as Daniel Cormier during a recent interview to promote his next fight. Oezdemir is slated to fight Anthony Smith in the headliner of this weekend’s UFC Moncton.
He made it known that he does have some sympathy for “DC” due to the UFC stripping him of the UFC light heavyweight title. The reason for this is in order to have the main event for UFC 232. This is where Jones will fight Alexander Gustafsson for a second time with the vacant title being on the line.
“In a certain way I feel bad for ‘DC’ getting stripped because I think he was about to defend the belt before he retired. He has the belt at heavyweight too. So I feel bad for him,” Oezdemir told Peter Carroll of Eurobash.
Not Buying It
However, the former title contender insisted that he doesn’t buy the story behind Jones’ return. He also questions his short suspension due to his latest failed drug test.
“About the situation with [Jones’] cleared test. They cleared him from the sanction and they said whatever happened with the test. I guess if he’s cleared he gets a chance to get his own belt back. I can understand the decision [to let Jones fight for the title], but I don’t buy the story.”
Make no mistake about it though, he is glad to see Jones return to competition:
“We’ll see. I’m also happy he’s back because he can continue to fight. Make a living out of it. It’s cool that he’s back and he’s able to fight. I’ll be waiting for him to get my fight [against him].”
Despite that, however, he believes the career of Jones will constantly be questioned as a result of his drug tests.
“Yes, just because it keeps repeating itself, I think that’s the problem,” Oezdemir elaborated when asked what he didn’t buy about Jones’ return. “Otherwise, I guess these things happen. We see a lot of people passing drug tests without any issue and then other people keep having issues. Of course if it keeps happening, people are going to bring it up, and it’s going to stay on your resume.”
UFC Moncton (also known as UFC Fight Night 138) is set to take place on Saturday, October 27, 2018, at Moncton Coliseum in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
