Tag: Jon Jones

[autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] has not been happy with some of the officiating throughout his career, but he said his issues with referees haven’t stopped him from doing what he does best: winning.

Jones (25-1 MMA, 19-1 UFC) said on a Monday media call that he hasn’t made a request for a specific referee for his fight against Dominick Reyes on Saturday at UFC 247, but recalled bad experiences with officials in some of his previous fights.

“I have not (made any requests), but I’ve had some (expletive) situations happen in there,” Jones said. “I felt like I’ve had guys that were very obviously not on my side in that ring, and I’m not going to say their names because I don’t want to give them attention. But even with that happening, I still found a way to not only win those two fights, but finish those fights.”

Jones said the two fights were his submission win over Vitor Belfort at UFC 152, refereed by John McCarthy, and his TKO win over Alexander Gustafsson in a rematch at UFC 232, refereed by Mike Beltran.

“John McCarthy, I felt like his energy was way off when I fought Vitor Belfort, and I found a way to finish the fight,” Jones said. “I also felt the energy coming from – I won’t say his name – I feel like the energy in the second Alexander Gustafsson fight, I felt like that referee was sending me some funny-ass energy backstage and in the cage, and I finished the Gustafsson fight, too.

“At the end of the day, I feel like if it’s in God’s plans for me to do what I’ve been doing, it won’t matter which coaches I have, which coaches Dominick has, who’s the referee – none of that stuff matters. God’s will is God’s will, and so it won’t matter who’s the referee.”

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Reyes has expressed his concerns over Jones’ tendency to land eye pokes, and has said he plans to warn the referee prior to the fight. But Jones thinks he’s being unfairly criticized for a habit he says naturally happens with open gloves.

“I fight how I fight,” Jones said. “I grab hands a lot, and over the years I’ve coincidentally landed a few eye pokes. But if you guys think I trained poking people in the eyes, I mean – think about how ridiculous that is.

“In my last Gustafsson fight, when that referee kept saying, ‘Watch your fingers, Jon. Watch your fingers, Jon,’ like, my fingers weren’t even out at the time, and he kept yelling that to me, which was a major distraction, you know? I know Dominick has a problem with the finger stuff, too, and I know he’s talking about talking to the referee before the fight. None of that stuff is going to matter. None of that stuff is going to matter.”

UFC 247 takes place Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

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[autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] says he has nothing to hide when it comes to drug testing.

According to UFC senior vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitsky,  Jones (25-1 MMA, 19-1 UFC) was “subject to 42 no-notice drug tests” in 2019.

In a tweet posted Monday, Novitsky called Jones’ 2019 “the highest volume of yearly tests that I have ever seen on one athlete, in any sport” in his 20-plus years of experience as a performance-enhancing drug regulator.

In 2019, @JonnyBones was subject to 42 no-notice drug tests by 3 separate entities (USADA, CSAC and NSAC). In my 20 years experience in the anti-doping world, this is the highest volume of yearly tests that I have ever seen on one athlete, in any sport.

— Jeff Novitzky (@JeffNovitzkyUFC) February 3, 2020

Jones, who defends his UFC light heavyweight title against Dominick Reyes in the main event of UFC 247 on Saturday night, said that such transparency is important to clearing his name after his past issues.

He told MMA Junkie such during a UFC 247 conference call held Monday. Jones deemed himself “one of the most heavily drug-tested athletes in all of sports” and believes his reputation will heal over time.

“At one point in 2019, I did almost 30 drug tests with USADA alone,” Jones told MMA Junkie. “I also had two other drug testing agencies that were drug testing me. With USADA alone, I was one of the most heavily drug-tested athletes in all of sports. Include in the other agencies, the Nevada Athletic Commission and the California State Athletic Commission, I know for a fact no one has been drug tested more than me. What that shows is that I’m willing to prove this whole situation I was in was never intentional. I think it’s proof I had nothing to hide. It also proves my willingness to try to make things easier for fighters in the future.

“At the end of the day, fighters know there’s an allowance of how much you have in your body, Jones continued. “That’s something I was able to help fight for through all of my hours in the courtroom. Because of me, USADA doesn’t go out and disclose people’s test unless they go out and know exactly what’s going on, which (can) stain people’s reputation. This whole situation damaged my situation tremendously. I feel like the only way I can make it right is being totally transparent with the fans (and) with the drug testers. I’ll tell you what. People with things to hide, they don’t submit themselves to that level of drug testing. I think that’ll help with my reputation over time.”

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As far his reputation goes, Jones observed that there’s a distinction between bad-faith internet critics and people with educated views.

The 32-year-old fighter said there is a big difference between criticism from educated “critics” and internet “trolls.” The latter is the only opinion Jones said he cared about.

“I think there’s a difference between critics and just trolls,” Jones said. “A lot of the guys saying dumb stuff online, they’re usually the guys that have no profile picture. They’re just saying something to get a reaction. True critics – the guys that are actually reading the articles and reading exactly what happened and what went down – those are really the only people I care to see what’s really going on. Like you guys, you reporters – the people who really matter. That’s all I need.

“At the end of the day, the trolls will always be chirping, ‘You did steroids’ or ‘He’s a crackhead’ – all that stuff. They’re always going to say what they’ve got to say. For the people who actually sat down, read the articles, and did their homework, they know exactly what went down. That’s all that’s going to matter in the grand scheme of things. These are going to be the people writing the books and writing the stories – my story. As long as they see the truth, that’s all that matters.”

UFC 247 takes place Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

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