There’s nothing to get Jon Jones in front of a computer and logged into social media like a past rival discrediting his accomplishments.
It should come as no surprise that this past rival was none other than the loquacious Daniel Cormier, who is never one to hold back his true thoughts about Jon Jones on a personal or professional level. Professionally, Cormier has always been forthcoming about his respect and admiration for Jones’s talents as a mixed martial artist. This, however, has always been overshadowed by Cormier’s thoughts on Jones as a man and regarding his legacy, both of which Cormier believes are tainted by Jones’s test failures.
Monday, Daniel Cormier again asserted that Jon Jones could never be the GOAT because any test failure disqualifies you from those considerations, no different from any other sport. Jon Jones was quick to offer his retort by again proclaiming his innocence and alluding to past support he has received from respected bodies, including and especially USADA.
“With USADA you are guilty until proven innocent unless you are the goat. When you’ve been winning this damn long, you remain guilty, it helps people sleep at night.”
Jones’s comments are most applicable to tests prior to and following UFC 232 in which USADA insisted that Jones did not ingest any performance-enhancing drugs during this period and any test failures around this time frame was a result of a pulsing effect of the M3 metabolite. They also stated that the amount of turinabol found in Jon Jones’s system was of such a trace amount that it could not result in any performance enhancement, which was also said to be the case following Jones’s UFC 214 victory turned no contest against Daniel Cormier.
Jon Jones would go on to discuss how his legacy is not as tainted by his drug test history as Cormier and his detractors would have you believe.
“People will remember I was accused of steroids, they will also remember that I was proven innocent and able to continue with my career.”
Jones is likely referring to a combination of the aforementioned USADA clearance as well as independent arbitrations which cleared Jones’s name of any intentional wrongdoing following his UFC 200 and UFC 214 test failures. Finally, Jones could not help but throw one last parting shot at Daniel Cormier’s legacy after defending his own.
“DC you lost your last fight and then quit the sport. Talk about being eliminated from the conversation.”
Jones is referring to Daniel Cormier’s loss to Stipe Miocic earlier this year at UFC 252, which would turn out to be Daniel Cormier’s retirement bout. It should be noted that Cormier had already announced that this fight would be his last prior to losing the fight.
What do you think about Jon Jones’s response to Daniel Cormier’s argument that Jones can never be the GOAT?
