When he should be setting marks in the Octagon that no fighter could ever attain – number of title defenses, most victories, most finishes, etc. – Jones has instead become known for blowing more opportunities than any other fighter.
Jones is still writing the book on his career, but when it is finished, it looks like the spotlight is going to shine brightest on him becoming the first fighter in UFC history to be stripped of not one, not two, but three championships.
Jones was first stripped of the belt when he got involved in a felony hit-and-run accident in which he fled from the scene. He returned to Octagon to capture an interim version of the light heavyweight title that he lost while dealing with his legal issues. The interim belt was taken away when Jones tested positive for the banned substances clomiphene and letrozole prior to a planned unification bout with Daniel Cormier.
After returning from suspension, Jones made it all the way to the cage with Cormier at UFC 214. He knocked the champ out, making what was then defined as one of the most epic returns in sports history. That didn’t last long, however, as it was later revealed that a drug test sample collected on the day of weigh-ins returned positive for Turinabol, an anabolic steroid. Shortly thereafter, he was stripped of the title for a third time.
If things don’t take a miraculous turn in his favor, Jones is likely facing a rather lengthy suspension of somewhere between two and four years. Currently 30 years old, that could be a career killer for Jones.
This article first appeared at News – MMAWeekly.com
