Issue 126

March 2015

I can’t help but feel Jon ‘Bones’ Jones needs a guardian angel. Someone to wrap their arms around his broad shoulders during times of trouble or misadventure, to reassure him he’s too special a talent to throw his career away like an old boot.

NICK PEET

The Fighters Only editor believes Jon Jones needs to be sufficiently reprimanded for his cocaine bust

The DUI offense, his repeated social media transgressions and now a positive cocaine test. Why are outstanding individuals like him often so dramatically flawed? 

If Jon was a mailman or a stockbroker, what he did in his own time away from work wouldn’t be anybody’s business but his own. But he’s not. Far from it. He’s the UFC world light heavyweight champion and as such should behave with far more responsibility. 

Whether he likes it or not, Jon Jones is a role model for both kids and young athletes worldwide. And it’s about time he grew up. The most worrying thing about his latest transgression, however, is that he’s seemingly walked away unpunished. How will he ever learn that his actions bare for more consequences than what actually lands at his feet.

When the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) revealed to the world Jones had failed an early December test, when cocaine metabolites were found in an accidental random drugs test (Jones should never have been tested for recreational drugs because they’re not banned in out-of-competition tests), Team Jones and the UFC were already one step ahead. 

At the same time the world learned of the champion’s misdemeanor, we were also informed he had checked himself into a rehab facility with the full backing of the Zuffa top brass. UFC president Dana White went so far as to say Jones’ decision to seek help was “great” and promised the organization would back him to overcome his demons and that his health came first.

Jones went to a rehabilitation center, but left less than 24 hours later, assuring everyone that he is not a cocaine addict. Disappointingly, the whole thing stank as deflective lip service – a PR move to portray Jones’ stupid decision as no real cause for concern for his friends, family and fans.

Should the UFC have stripped Jones of his title? No. I don’t believe they should. Cocaine is hardly a performance enhancer – despite the fact regular use could, I’m sure, aid weight cutting. I accept, if anything, Jones actually more likely damaged his performance against Daniel Cormier by using.

But surely the UFC should have disciplined the champion with a competition suspension, to at least present to the world that taking illegal drugs is not the correct way to behave if you’re one of the flagship fighters in the world’s biggest and most supported mixed martial arts organization.

In the NFL, a cocaine bust has previously resulted in a four-game suspension. For most players, that’s equal to more than $1 million in wages. In terms of Jon Jones’ UFC career, that would effectively represent at least two title defenses seeing as the champ picks up $500,000 in wages per defense these days. And at the rate he usually competes, that would also equate to a 12-month suspension. 

Would a year out, getting his head right and away from the media spotlight, surely not be beneficial for Jones? I think it would. He’s only 27 after all, and hopefully he has plenty of years left in the sport yet.

There has to be serious psychological or personal issues in play for a professional athlete, never mind one as high profile as MMA’s pound-for-pound number one, to ingest cocaine a month out from a fight. The champion clearly needs real help.

And while behind the scenes Jones may well have been seriously reprimanded, just brushing over the issue doesn’t send the right message out to the legions of young fans coming into the sport. 

At time of going to print, the response has been simply that Jones is a bad boy, he needs to get his life sorted out, but the situation isn’t serious enough to take action. Surely that can’t be right?