The self-destruction of Jon Jones

The story of Jon Jones, a talent so outstanding that he could carve out a legacy as the greatest combat athlete – not just mixed martial artist – to ever fight for money, is fast becoming a cautionary tale of cars, cash, and drugs.

In the dying seconds of Jones’ UFC 182 title fight against Daniel Cormier, his opponent, a two-time Olympic wrestler, desperately struggled to scoop him off his feet.

Jones took a moment to glance up at the clock, before letting out a sly smirk. He knew he was seconds away from vanquishing his rival – a man many considered to be the biggest threat to his position on the 205-pound throne.

Cormier tugged on his red Muay-Thai-style shorts, trying desperately to muscle the champion to the canvas, but there was no use. The fight was over, and ‘Bones’ Jones was still the world’s best fighter.

Jones celebrated in a black-and-gold Reebok shirt that read “unbreakable”, taunting the fans who heckled him all week with ‘Break Bones’ tees that Cormier cleverly released in the lead-up to the fight.

Now, 18-plus months later, the unstoppable fighter who paraded around in that “unbreakable” shirt looks like the epitome of a broken man.

Jones and his handlers hosted a press conference in the early hours of Friday morning (AEST) to discuss the revelation that he tested positive for two banned substances.

The New Mexico native sobbed. Later he unexpectedly got up and charged out of the room during the farcical press event.

“I want to start by apologising to all the fans who came out to support me,” a tearful Jones said. “Obviously, the UFC and (UFC co-owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta) for not being able to perform. I know there’s been a lot to go into this event, the staff of the UFC.

“I want to apologise to Daniel Cormier. I know that this fight means a lot to him. The fight meant a lot to me, and the fight’s not happening. So I just really wanted to apologise to everybody sincerely. I really don’t know what to say.”

In the year-and-a-half since Jones triumphed over Cormier he has failed a drug test for cocaine, spent one day in rehab, fled the scene of a hit-and-run incident, been cited for driving unlicensed, ticketed for drag racing and now flunked another drug test.

This all gets added to Jones’ already less-than-flattering wrap sheet, which is highlighted by a ticket for drifting while pulling into a strip club and wrapping his Bentley around a street pole.

All of these offences are serious, especially the ones that endanger the lives of men and women unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time while a fully grown man-child acts a fool, but his latest run-in with the drug police is the first to potentially damage his legacy in the cage.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), UFC’s independent drug testing agent, do not test for recreational drugs out of competition, and the born-and-bred New Yorker’s test fell well within those boundaries, meaning that cocaine or marijuana – two drugs Jones has admitted to using in the past – are off the table.

By process of elimination, that means the interim UFC light heavyweight champion has been busted for using performance-enhancing-drugs. He could face a punishment as severe as two years away from the sport, which would essentially ruin the prime years of arguably the most talented face-puncher in UFC history.

It appears that Jones’ team have already begun laying the groundwork for a defence claiming that a tainted supplement was the reason for their charge’s doping failure.

The pound-for-pound champ’s manager, Malki Kawa, refused to name the exact substance but confirmed it was a banned metabolite.

“Without saying too much more, I feel like by the time this is all said and done, it will be all right,” Kawa said at Friday’s press event.

“It could be (a supplement issue). I don’t want to say much more than that because I want to go through all the reasonable steps. But it could be.”

This Sunday’s UFC 200 event was supposed to be Jones’ crowning achievement. On the biggest show of the year, the best fighter had his chance to recapture the championship he never actually lost.

Whether it was because he knowingly cheated or because he lazily failed to monitor the supplements he’s taking is not known, but the end result is Jones won’t get his chance to script a redemption story on Sunday.

Even worse, he might not get a chance to put pen to paper on another chapter until 2018.