Jon Jones‘ GOAT case has been a major talking point in the MMA community over the past couple of years.
While many fans believe that Jones’ resume and longevity make him the greatest of all time, Demetrious Johnson isn’t sold.
During a special edition of The Ariel Helwani Show on Friday, live from Las Vegas, Mighty Mouse weighed in. As he pointed out, in any other sport, Jones’ PED violations would disqualify him from the GOAT debate.
“I’m not saying Jon Jones didn’t do great things. He was an amazing athlete. When you start talking about the greatest of all time, you look at Muhammad Ali, I don’t think he’s ever failed a drug test. You look at Floyd Mayweather, he’s never failed a drug test. You look at Usyk, He’s never failed a drug test. When you start looking at the greatest athlete, Usain Bolt, he’s never failed a drug test.
“You look at across the board, name one athlete that’s considered the greatest of all time in a sport that’s failed a drug test.”
Ariel Helwani Argues PED Infractions DQ Jon Jones From GOAT Conversation
Ariel Helwani has been an outspoken critic of both Jon Jones and the UFC over the past few months.
Helwani repeatedly questioned why Jones was allowed to hold the belt hostage while Tom Aspinall waited in limbo to find out whether the two would throw down in a title unification bout.
Between that, and Jones’ PED infractions, Helwani feels he should be disqualified from the GOAT debate.
While speaking with Johnson on Friday’s installment of The Ariel Helwani Show, he stated:
“I said earlier this week, enough of this Jon Jones is the GOAT stuff. Enough of it, because if you have PED infractions, you’re out of the conversation.”
Looking at Jon Jones’ PED Failures Throughout UFC career
Nov. 2016 (Clomiphene & Letrozole): After being stripped of the title for violating the UFC’s Athlete Code of Conduct following his win over Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones made his return on the UFC 197 card, defeating Ovince Saint Preux, and capturing the interim title.
Jones wound up getting stripped of the title months later after failing an out-of-competition test in June.
In turn, the UFC canceled Jones’ highly anticipated rematch with Daniel Cormier on the UFC 200 card.
Jul. 2017 (Turinabol): After Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier did finally share the Octagon at UFC 214, Jones’ win wound up being overturned to a no-contest.
Following the fight, the California State Athletic Commission indicated that Jones failed a pre-fight drug test for Turinabol.
Jones initially faced a four-year suspension for the infraction. After a tainted substance was determined as the culprit, however, the suspension was eventually reduced to 15-months.
Dec. 2018 (Turinabol metabolite): Leading up to Jones’ UFC 232 fight with Alexander Gustafsson, USADA reported that one of Jones’ samples contained trace amounts of a long-term Turinabol metabolite.
The trace amounts found in Jones’ system were compared to a grain of sand in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Ultimately, the situation was attributed to Jones’ previous testing failure.
Despite that, the UFC was forced to move the card from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.
Mar. 2019 (Turinabol metabolite): Leading up to Jon Jones’ UFC 235 fight with Anthony Smith, the champ had two of his five testing samples flagged by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) with what Fightful described as “adverse findings”.
Smith spoke about the situation years back on The Jenna Ben Show, saying that Jones failed drug tests throughout fight week. Despite that, the fight proceeded as planned, with Jones picking up a unanimous decision win.
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