This could be the end of Jon Jones.
UFC 214 was a pretty massive event for the promotion this year. Missing their biggest star in Conor McGregor who ventured out into foreign territory by challenging Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match, the UFC found themselves lacking big stars to hitch their pay-per-view events to. But UFC 214 would mark the return of disgraced light heavyweight champion Jon Jones as he was finally able to face off against Daniel Cormier in a rematch of their January 2015 bout at UFC 182. With a massive knock out victory and some impressive pay-per-view numbers, it was looking like UFC 214 was a big win for the biggest MMA promotion in the world.
Then Jon Jones tested positive for steroids.
Many didn’t want to believe it, that this man who had broken the rules so many times before would do so again. But it appears that hoping for change is very different than seeing that change come to fruition. It has been confirmed that sample B of Jon Jones banned substance test has come back positive for steroids.
Jon Jones’ urine sample, broken into sample A and sample B, came back positive for the steroid turinabol. While sample A may have been positive, it simply could have been a mistake, some kind of mishandling in the lab. Now that sample B has also come back positive, it’s safe to say that this could mean the total destruction of Jon Jones’ career and legacy.
So what does this mean for his future? Well, it’s safe to say his victory over Daniel Cormier will be overturned to a no contest, striking the win from the record. It also means that all his past performances will be called into question. No fighter will feel comfortable fighting Jones in the futures and it essentially makes him impossible to market.
It truly is sad to see such amazing potential wasted, but that’s how life plays out some times. Jon Jones had the opportunity to cement himself as the greatest fighter of all time. Now, he’ll simply be viewed as a cheat who couldn’t get his act together even when so much was on the line. No doubt damage control comes next for Jon Jones and the UFC. This is a big blow to the sport, one that it’ll have to work hard to recover from.
What do you think of Jon Jones’ sample B failure?
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Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.
