Appearing on ESPN's First Take, embattled former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who is scheduled to return to the Octagon for a highly anticipated rematch against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 in December, weighed in on several topics including his controversial suspension and his ongoing feud with rival Daniel Cormier.
Jones is coming off his second PED-related suspension, which was reduced to 18 months after working diligently with the USADA. While Jones admitted that he had steroids in his body, he maintains that he still doesn't know how it got there and continually referenced
"the science" behind the testing which proved the amount found
"was like taking a pinch of table salt and throwing it into an Olympic-sized swimming pool."
Still, there are plenty of detractors who have voiced doubt regarding the legitimacy of his past accomplishments. Most notably, Jones was asked about Daniel Cormier's comments.
“What is my reaction to that? Can we swear on this show? Screw Daniel Cormier,” Jones said.
“Screw Daniel Cormier. My last situation was a terrible situation, steroid allegation type of thing. It wasn’t an allegation — I did have a trace amount of steroids in my body. Thank goodness went through their whole process to prove my innocence. Through science, we were able to prove that there was a very trace amount of steroids in my body."
Jones has fought and beaten Cormier twice in his career, although their most recent fight was overturned to a no contest following Jones' failed drug test. Despite his setbacks, Jones remains confident in his abilities - both physically and mentally.
“I think it’s great. I’ve been able to do great things in this sport, and unfortunately I had a hiccup with this steroid situation, and I’m grateful that USADA came out and proved my innocence by saying, ‘Hey, this was a little bit of a misunderstanding,’ and it just goes to show how dominant I’ve been in the sport.
“I feel like people have always wanted to kind of say, ‘Well, the reason why he’s so good is because his brother is around the NFL,’ or, ‘He’s so good because he has really long arms. People have always made excuses for my success instead of just saying, ‘You know what? This guy is actually really intelligent. He has a really good fight IQ, and this is what makes him a champion.’ I feel like I have a lot to prove. I’ve always had a lot to prove.”
Closing out the segment, which you can watch in full below, Jones was asked if he can be as good as he ever were.
“I am the best fighter in the sport,” Jones said.
“I always have been the best fighter in the sport. Nothing’s changed, so I should perform in exactly the way that I’ve always.”
Jon Jones
will fight Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 on December 29 for the light heavyweight championship belt, which Daniel Cormier was stripped off due to his focus on the heavyweight division. It's unclear, but seems very unlikely, that we'll ever see Jones fight Cormier again.