Chris Weidman: Failed drug tests diminish Jones and Silva’s whole careers

Anderson Silva and Jon Jones are regarded as two of the greatest fighters of all time. Regrettably, both fighters have also failed drug tests, which has led some members of the MMA community to question their legacies. Former UFC middleweight Chris Weidman is one of those people.

Weidman, who hopes to earn a fight with Jones in the future, and has defeated Silva twice in the past, discussed these two legends ahead of his UFC Boston fight with Dominick Reyes. This fight with Reyes will mark Weidman’s light heavyweight debut.

“If you look at his record and who he’s beat and how he’s done it, yeah, he’s the G.O.A.T.,” Weidman said of Jones (transcript via MMA Mania). “But then you put the drug-testing stuff out there … at the end of the day he’s failed multiple drug tests. I think any time you do that, it puts asterisks on your whole career. You have to say that.

“It’s the same thing with Anderson Silva, he’s failed drug tests too, for performance enhancers,” Weidman continued. “I think you have to put a question on the rest of their careers, just like baseball, but this is a way more devastating sport. We’re not just hitting balls over a fence, we’re trying to take each other out. Any time a guy fails a drug test, that’s a serious thing.”

Chris Weidman will enter his light heavyweight debut with just one win in his last  five fights. That being said, he’s optimistic a victory could earn him a fight with Jones.

What do you think of Weidman’s comments about Jones and Silva?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/18/2019.