The majority of the fans believe Jon Jones is the greatest fighter to ever grace the UFC octagon. But, it’s hard to ignore the blemishes Jon Jones has throughout his career. He has multiple failed drug tests that raise questions about his legacy in MMA. And the recent claims by his former rival, Anthony Smith will make fans seriously doubt whether Jon Jones should be considered in the GOAT debate.
Jon Jones defended his title against Anthony Smith at UFC 235. Prior to that fight, Jones failed the USADA test against Alexander Gustafsson, which resulted in UFC changing the venue for the event on one week’s notice. And as per Anthony Smith’s comments in a recent interview on The Jenna Ben show, Jon Jones failed drug tests before UFC 235 as well.
Anthony Smith opened up on his rivalry with Jon Jones and how the former light heavyweight champion made fun of him for his loss against Glover Texeira and his run-in with the home intruder. Smith stated:
“After the Glover fight, he had a lot of negative things to say and kind of taking some shots at me for the break-in and kind of making fun of me which is really kind of out of the left field. Cause I have never attacked Jon personally.”
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Anthony Smith makes a shocking revelation about Jon Jones
Smith said that he has never been critical of Jon Jones’ lifestyle and controversies outside the octagon and revealed that Jones failed the USADA tests throughout the fight week for UFC 235. Smith claimed:
“I have never even told anyone that Jon failed every drug test the entire week leading up to our fight, every single drug test. I have never brought it up one time in any interview in any media thing. The commission called me every day to let me know that he was still failing the drug test. I have never said anything. Like I let it be, I focused on myself and I’ve always believed that if you just focus on yourself you’re gonna be that much more successful.”
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Now if that’s true then there is a huge problem in the sport right now. USADA recently announced that if a fighter fails a drug test then the information won’t be made public. That puts this entire sport in jeopardy. There is a huge possibility that a top UFC star will get away with failed drug test easily just as Jones did.
As far as Jones’ legacy is concerned, it is certainly dented after so many drug tests throughout his UFC career. And it also must be mentioned that his performances have been deteriorating ever since his return after the USADA suspension. Now some fans support Jon Jones despite all the controversies but it’s needless to say that with so many controversies in his career, these failed tests will seriously affect Jones’ legacy.