Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was once on top of the world. He was the youngest fighter to win a UFC belt when he captured the 205-pound title at UFC 128 in March 2011. He holds the record for the most UFC light heavyweight title defense with eight. He holds the longest winning streak in light heavyweight history with 14.
Jones also holds the record for being stripped of a title the most times in the promotion’s history. He’s been stripped of a belt on three occasions.
At UFC 214 in July, Jones became a two-time UFC light heavyweight champion when he knocked out Daniel Cormier with a head kick in the third round. The result was later ruled a No Contest after Jones tested positive for the anabolic steroid Turinabol.
Top ranked light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustfsson wasn’t surprised when the news broke that Jones had been flagged for a potential anti-doping violation following the July fight against Cormier. After all, Jones has a history of sabotaging himself.
“I wasn’t shocked. I wasn’t surprised, and I feel sorry for him. What can I say? I just feel sorry for him. It’s new things coming up all the time, so I’m not surprised at all. I just feel sorry for him. It’s bad for everything. It’s bad for the sport,” said Gustafsson while appearing on The MMA Hour.
“There must be something wrong here. Right? You just don’t do that,” he added. “He’s just taking the wrong decisions all the time and for that I’m feeling sorry for him.”
Jones was stripped of a belt for the first time in April 2015, weeks prior to his scheduled title defense at UFC 187, after he was involved in a hit-and-run incident in Albuquerque, N.M. He returned to the Octagon a year later at UFC 197, defeating Ovince Saint Preux to win the interim light heavyweight title. He was stripped of it when it was revealed three days before UFC 200 that he tested positive to banned substances during an out-of-competition screening. He was scheduled to face Cormier in a title unification bout in the fight card’s main event.
Despite Jones’ history of failed drug tests and poor decision making outside of the cage, Gustafsson hopes the former champion will eventually return to competition. Jones potentially faces a four-year suspension for the UFC 214 violation.
“I want him back. I want to fight him at some point in my future career. I just want to fight him one more time basically. For that reason, I think I’d like for him to come back. But at the same time, he’s been getting caught for a lot of times. If he doesn’t come back, he doesn’t come back. I just feel like it’s sad for the sport and for the whole thing.”
