Jon Jones promises he never knowingly cheated

Jon Jones is arguably one of the greatest fighters of all-time. However, for the former UFC light heavyweight champion, many believe his legacy is tarnished. Jones has been suspended three times with two of them being due to USADA. In which Jones has been stripped of his light heavyweight title twice, and the interim title once.

Now, Jones has put all that behind him and will return to fight Alexander Gustafsson for the light heavyweight title at UFC 232 on December 29.

“I’ve been able to do great things in this sport,” Jones said on ESPN’s First Take. “Unfortunately I had a hiccup with this steroid situation. I’m grateful [the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency] came out and proved my innocence by saying this was a little bit of a misunderstanding.”

The misunderstanding was that there were barely any traces of steroids in his body. Meaning, it very well could have been from a tainted supplement. However, no one knows how the steroids got into Jones’ body. It is only known that there were traces of steroids in his body.

In the end, Jones ended up making a deal with USADA to get his suspension reduced, and promises he never knowingly took steroids.

“My last situation was a terrible situation,” Jones said. “I did have a trace amount of steroids in my body. Thank goodness USADA went through the process to prove my innocence. Through science, we were able to prove that there was a very trace amount of steroids in my body. One of the people said, ‘The amount of steroids in Jon’s body was like taking a pinch of salt and throwing it into an Olympic-sized swimming pool,’

“We have no clue how it got into my body. We did everything in our power to figure out how it got into my body and where it came from. I spent thousands and thousands of dollars for testing. We still were not able to find out where it came from.”

If everything Jones said is true, then he is this good of a fighter without steroids. Come UFC 232 Jones can try to reclaim his spot as the GOAT.

“I need to be exactly who I’ve always been,” Jones said. “I know in my spirit that I’ve never cheated the sport. USADA was able to prove that it was such a trace amount that it had no effect on my performance. I am the best fighter in this sport and have always been the best fighter in the sport. Nothing has changed.”

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/26/2018.