"Jon Jones was never really who people thought he was in the first place. He faked the funk on being so religious in the first place. His whole thing was based on image, but it was all phony and fake. Eventually that's what happens. It's the same thing that happened with Oscar [De La Hoya]. When you perpetuate the image of being perfect, eventually at some point in time, the real you is going to show up. And that's what happened to Jon Jones just like it happened to Oscar De La Hoya," stated world-class trainer Jeff Mayweather, who shared his thoughts on former UFC champion Jon Jones testing positive. Check it out!
PC: With Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar's recent positive drug test, as well as well known fighters like Chad Mendes, do you see more UFC fighters getting popped because of the new USADA testing or do you feel these were isolated incidents?
JM: I think that a whole lot of guys are going to get exposed. I look at my little involvement in MMA and there is certain guys that I already know about. Of course it's not for me to say anything, but there are a lot of guys that are involved in MMA that know a lot of guys that are doing wrong. I hope that they do clean up the sport. It's one of those things that, anytime you are doing a combat sport and you're taking something that gives you some type of advantage, it's just blatantly unfair. You have a guy out there busting his ass and working hard and doing everything he can and doing it in the right way, and then he gets defeated because he's fighting some guy that took something that made him Superman. That's so unfair, so hopefully more of the guys do get caught and have to own up to what they've been doing.
PC: Absolutely! I mean, they are giving out 2-year suspensions and depending on your age and what stage you're at in your career, that could be a career ender.
JM: That could be a career ender.
PC: It's crazy because when your nephew, Floyd Mayweather, first presented the USADA style testing as an option, most people viewed that as a cop out for the Pacquiao fight. Now it's commonplace for everyone to want that even playing field.
JM: It's like that. He was a guy that was making his stance and all he did was ask for a guy to take a blood test and everybody went berserk like he's scared. Scared of what? No, he just wants it to be an even playing field. If you don't have anything to hide, you would take that blood test with no problem at all. If you don't take that blood test, that means you got something to hide. It's that simple.
PC: We have seen in all sports where a guy that's so talented, like a Jon Jones, just simply can't keep things together in his personal life. What do you think would be the turning point for Jones or what would you suggest?
JM: To be honest, he can go find whoever and whatever, it ain't going to help him. The only thing that's going to help Jon Jones is Jon Jones. Once Jon Jones hits rock bottom, then he's going to be able to get help. Until he hits rock bottom, nobody is going to be able to help him. He can get TD Jakes or whoever, it's not going to matter and it's not going to matter because of the fact is this, all that is a system. That's a system in which somebody is basically talking to you. And talking ain't going to solve it. What's going to happen is Jon Jones has to hit rock bottom. Talking now means nothing because Jon Jones is still in a great position. He hasn't hit rock bottom. He still got money and fame. He might have some bad stuff attached to his name, but at the end of the day, here is a guy that you allowed to get away with doing cocaine because cocaine is not on the list of banned drugs while out of competition. Now you know he's doing it, that should make you accountable as well as a company. How could you allow a man to step in the cage? I don't care how good he is. That don't mean nothing, knowing he's done or doing cocaine. As a business and a company, you're supposed to help that man. You're supposed to take a stand and say, "We're not going to allow this. We don't care who you are." They shouldn't have allowed him to fight under those circumstances. That's the first thing that should have been done. The first thing that needs to happen to solve a problem like that is rejection; that's with anybody in any situation. In any situation, the first thing you have to deal with is rejection. You have to be put in a situation where somebody is going to say, "No!" Somebody's gotta be brave enough to say no to you. And then there is going to be another person to say no. And then you're going to start getting so many no's to where you're going to start trying to straighten your life out. Because then it's like, wait a second, everybody who was opening doors for me and just saying yes, all of a sudden they don't want nothing to do with me.
PC: Jon said he hit his rock bottom before this last positive test, but either he didn't learn from it, or it wasn't his rock bottom.
JM: He didn't hit his rock bottom. They were still scheduling him to fight. He was scheduled to headline the biggest event they ever had, so no, he didn't hit his rock bottom. Your rock bottom is when people say, "Nah, we don't want you over here. We don't want your kind. We don't want nothing that you're bringing with you. That baggage and that luggage that you bring with you, keep that shit. Take that somewhere else. We don't give a damn about you being Jon Jones or nobody else." And once that happens, that's when Jon Jones is going to wake the fuck up. It's a shame for a guy to be so talented. But the other thing is this, Jon Jones was never really who people thought he was in the first place. He faked the funk on being so religious in the first place. His whole thing was based on image, but it was all phony and fake. Eventually that's what happens. It's the same thing that happened with Oscar [De La Hoya]. When you perpetuate the image of being perfect, eventually at some point in time, the real you is going to show up. And that's what happened to Jon Jones just like it happened to Oscar De La Hoya. He played the game of this devoted Christian that didn't do nothing wrong and this and that. And next thing you know, once the wool got pulled off of him, he couldn't stop doing wrong.
PC: And I always say this, if we heard about all of this, imagine what we didn't hear about.
JM: Right! You're 100% right. And the thing is this Percy, the bad part is this, once the wool was pulled off of him, nobody shakes his ass. Nobody put him to shame by saying, "Fuck you! We're done with you." Nobody put him to shame in that way. He was still able to make a living and earn money. He had a lot swept under the rug. Nothing changed and that's the reason nothing changed with him. He didn't have to make no changes. Why do I have to change when everybody kissing my ass.
BE SURE TO CHECK BACK SOON FOR MUCH MORE WITH JEFF MAYWEATHER
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]