Jon Jones 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.
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.”
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+.
Jon Jones: I'm one of the most heavily tested athletes in sports
