When former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones got reduced sentence of fifteen months by USADA, it was alleged that he had ratted out other fighters to have his suspension reduced. However, his manager almost immediately claimed the former UFC champion didn’t give up information. Instead according to Malki Kawa, Jones gave information on himself to get a reduced suspension.
However, Jon Jones recently gave an interview to ESPN, where he denied all such claims about him snitching on other fighters.
“USADA asked me to do a lot of things throughout this case, but one thing I didn’t do is snitch on anybody in MMA,” Jones said. “I definitely didn’t give up any information on anyone in the sport, nor do I know of anybody who’s doing these things in the sport.
“I think the whole snitching thing is pretty silly. It’s interesting to watch people jump to conclusions about things they don’t know what they are talking about.”
However, Jones isn’t bothered if fans think he’s a snitch as he’s used to being spoken about in negative terms due to his past transgressions.
“I understand who I am in this sport,” he said. “I understand that I’m always going to be somewhat of a controversial athlete in our sport. I understand that I’m going to be a guy that’s very fun to talk about whether it’s for the good or bad. I’m just grateful to be relevant at the end of the day. When you are one of the better athletes in the sport, people are going to talk about you.”
USADA took well over a year to come to the conclusion that Jones didn’t knowingly take the Turanibol found in his system and issue him his punishment.
“Proving your innocence can take a lot of time. Me and my team, we didn’t really care how long this would take,” Jones said. “We just wanted to get all of our facts out and prove our innocence, no matter how long it took. So, if 15 months is how long it took, I feel happy with it.
“I think they were very fair. Once they were able to establish that this wasn’t my intention, they let me go. So I think they treated me fairly.”
Jon Jones is scheduled to face Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 in Las Vegas at the end of the year.
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