Former light heavyweight
UFC champion Jon Jones could return to the sport this
year.
Steve Marcus / Getty
Images
Former UFC champion Jon 'Bones' Jones is regarded as
one of the greatest fighters of all time — but he has plenty of
baggage.
The American has
failed a drugs tests,
issued a death threat, and once injured a pregnant woman in a
hit and run incident.
But UFC president Dana White is ready to welcome him
back this year.
Some of the biggest names in combat sports could return to fight
in UFC this year.
During an interview with YouTube channel
TSN Tube, UFC president Dana White said "yes" when asked if
box office draws like Irish striker Conor McGregor, professional
wrestler Brock Lesnar, and former light heavyweight ruler Jon
Jones would compete in 2018.
McGregor and Lesnar are the two best-selling pay per view
fighters in UFC history, but it is the return of Jones, UFC's
most controversial champion, that is the most interesting.
Jones is one of the best fighters ever
Jon Jones has won nine UFC lightweight world
championship fights to date.
Reuters
Two-time UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has the most
successful title defences in the history of the division. He
remains the youngest fighter to win a UFC championship and has
defeated a string of elite opponents, including Dan Cormier,
Rashad Evans, and Quinton Jackson.
He has a large reach (84.5 inches), an appreciation of distance
management, and is an incredible striker. As Jones has gotten
older, he has become a well-rounded and scarily good mixed
martial artist.
Here's what makes Jones so lethal:
But Jones has not fought since July last year, when he beat Dan
Cormier. The victory was scrapped from the records after a urine
sample he provided during the weigh-in tested positive for
anabolic steroids.
The 30-year-old was provisionally suspended and could be hit with
a four-year ban by the State Athletic Commission if he is found
guilty.
But Jones maintains he did not knowingly consume the banned
substance and even passed a polygraph test in an attempt to clear
his name, according to SBNation blog MMAFighting.
This has opened the door to a potential return. And he is ready
to reestablish his authority in the UFC Octagon. Earlier this
week, he said his "best is yet to come" on Twitter.
This comes just weeks after his coach Greg Jackson, speaking on the Talking Brawls podcast, said:
"I'm hoping new information will come out [in 2018] and Jon will
be back in the game."
But Jones has a long history of misdemeanours
Jones would feature prominently in conversations regarding the
best fighters of all time but Dana White believes he is the
biggest waste of talent "ever, in all of sports." UFC
commentator Joe Rogan agrees. "[Jones] is the biggest f*** up," he said.
His record is blighted by misdemeanours. In the cage, Jones was
once disqualified from a fight for using illegal elbows, he has
frequently attempted to rake opponents in the eyes,
and he threw punches at his rival during a weigh-in ceremony (see
below).
He even issued a death threat to Cormier. "I will literally kill
you," he said, in front of rolling
cameras, when he thought he was off air.
His record outside the UFC scene is not much better. In recent
years, he binged cocaine, has been
accused of homophobia, and injured a pregnant woman during a
hit and run in New Mexico. Jones fled the scene but left
a stack of cash, drug
paraphernalia, and marijuana in the car.
Jones is truly one of UFC's most controversial champions. But
that's probably why White is so keen to get him back in the cage.
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