UFC
Jon Jones says he has no reason to accuse Glover Teixeira of steroid use, but he requested UFC 172 drug testing to make sure
Apr 15, 2014 - 3:10:47 PM Jon Jones says he has no reason to accuse Glover Teixeira of steroid use, but he requested UFC 172 drug testing to make sure

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones requested and received random drug testing for he and his UFC 172 opponent Glover Teixeira this past month, and the Maryland commission has been monitoring them intermittently leading up to their April 26 bout.

Jones spoke about the impetus for his request this week in an interview with ESPN.com, and though he continuously says he's not accusing Teixeira of using anything, his line of thinking behind the request was to make sure his opponent was clean.

"I just thought I would have Glover tested because he's not the youngest fighter and everyone raves about how strong he is," Jones said. "Some fighters, you just know they're not on anything just by looking at them. Part of [Teixeira's] mystique is his amazing physical strength and I just questioned it. I have no reason to think he's on steroids but I do wonder how someone can be so strong."

"As far as saying that I'm sure I've fought other guys in the past on steroids, I think it's pretty well-documented. A lot of people haven't really argued with it because they know it's a true statement. I know it's a true statement."

Jones said it's "not necessarily" something he'll request for every fight - though the UFC will hopefully wind up implementing it on their own going forward - but it's something he wanted to do right for this bout. On that end, he said the UFC steered him towards directly contacting the commission, rather than attempting to secure testing through a third party like VADA.

"I called Dana White and said, 'Hey, I want Glover to take steroid tests for this fight,'" Jones recalled. "He asked me, "What, you think he's on steroids?' I told him 'I don't know and I have no reason to accuse him of anything but I would like to be sure.'"

"Dana told me how the Georges and Johny Hendricks thing became one big cluster because Georges wanted Johny to be tested by a certain company. He recommended I not go that way and talk to the commission directly so I said, 'OK.'"

Penick's Analysis: Jones isn't going to endear himself to people with comments like these, as it's still somewhat of an accusation. That said, saying he just wants to make sure also means that Teixeira passing the tests gives Jones the information he wanted to know as well. So long as both fighters pass those tests, the fight will be on for April 26 and all will be well. Still, Jones essentially called for this testing to target Teixeira, so there's sure to be some reactionary response from some fans.

[Jon Jones art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]