I think it’s telling when Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight Yoel Romero — who also drew a reduced sentence from United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) — is one of the only mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters to celebrate the return of Jon Jones.
As for the rest of the combat sports community, well ... you get the idea.
“Bones” failed his UFC 214 drug test back in July 2017 and was forced to surrender his 205-pound strap, as well as his knockout win over longtime rival Daniel Cormier. After a protracted arbitration process, followed by some mumbo-jumbo about science, the longtime king of the light heavyweights agreed to a 15-month suspension.
Not too shabby when you consider he could have been slapped with up to four years on the bench, seeing as how Jones also failed his UFC 200 drug test back in summer 2016. Safe to say his peers were not impressed.
Now I understand #usada is n.1 bullshit people.
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) September 20, 2018
To much politics.
No shade to JJ but no one is surprised by this arbitrary decision , USADA is steadily losing respect in the fight community to the point of questioning why they even exist https://t.co/AhVmwBvBEr
— Curtis Blaydes (@RazorBlaydes265) September 20, 2018
FUCK USAD This shit is fake
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) September 20, 2018
@usantidoping you can go home now.
— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) September 20, 2018
Congrats @JonnyBones #comebackseason #realisback https://t.co/PmTmQwCRla
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) September 20, 2018
Felicidades @JonnyBones !! Happy for you bro! #iluhju https://t.co/xxncwTyKDP
— Peoples Champ (@YoelRomeroMMA) September 20, 2018
Congratulations @jonnybones I’m really glad u are back! @dc_mma is aiming for Brock.. so let’s give the fans another legendary fight for the belt @ufc @danawhite @ Allstars Training… https://t.co/bVhqjxZmLG
— Alexander Gustafsson (@AlexTheMauler) September 20, 2018
95% chance... when God is for you, who can be against you? pic.twitter.com/7qmBN3WNIw
— malki kawa (@malkikawa) September 20, 2018
Jones is eligible to return on Oct. 28.
As of this writing, there are no plans to have Jones headline the upcoming UFC 230 pay-per-view (PPV) event in New York, but that is subject to change in the next week or two, depending on whether or not this booking is a reality.
Stay tuned.
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