Thursday 7 July 2016 13:26, UK
Jon Jones has become the UFC’s greatest ever competitor in spite of a volatile, chaotic personal life that is chalk-and-cheese from the resolute approach of his closest challenger, Daniel Cormier. After years as king of the cage, Jones’ peerless talent cannot help him now.
Self-destruction has always been the intangible force that has sky-rocketed Jones to the pinnacle of his craft but his latest indiscretion might be the most damaging - USADA have earmarked him for a potential anti-doping violation.
The wheels are slowly coming off the speeding Ferrari of a fighter that Jones has become, but sadly he has a tendency to puncture his own expensive tyres. This is not the first misdemeanour, and certainly not the worst, but as they stack up it will unfortunately become likelier that the 28-year-old misses peak years in a sport that he has dominated.
He has never been beaten inside the Octagon yet it is perhaps apt that his 22-1 record owes to a disqualification loss against Matt Hamill seven years ago, when a dominant Jones controversially fell foul of an illegal technique. Even inside the cage, when he's at his best, chaos follows Jones.
Having become the UFC's youngest ever champion aged 23 Jones had a brush with the law four years ago when crashing his Bentley, warranting an arrest for driving under the influence. At the time, he was stereotyped as a rich, naive youngster who would learn from his close-call.
But the wins kept coming; elite opponents such as Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans were dispatched. Rumours swirled that his presence in pre-fight training camps was half-hearted but, in the relative wilderness of New Mexico, who could be sure?
Alexander Gustafsson was supposed to represent the turning point. The Swede forced Jones into his sole back-and-forth brawl, an exhausting encounter that the American eventually won. It was an open secret that Jones' preparation time in the gym was akin to a jog in the park rather than a world title fight.
Jones struggled more with the temptations of life than he did with anyone who stood opposite him inside the cage. Appropriately, his greatest win - against bitter rival Cormier - was followed by news that traces of cocaine had been found in an out-of-competition test. He had won the fight of his life just weeks after testing positive.
Compared to the rock-solid self-belief of Cormier, who he was due to rematch this weekend, perhaps it's no surprise the light-heavyweight duo cannot relate. Before their first fight, Cormier told Sky Sports about the tragedies that motivate him: "I lose a fight? I've lost so much more - losing my daughter, losing my dad and the disappointment of [losing at ] the Olympic Games. I'm not scared of losing. That mentality gives me an advantage over everybody."
I'm not scared of losing. That mentality gives me an advantage over everybody.
Conversely, Jones' wildness paved his pathway to glory time and time again. That was supposed to finally culminate earlier this year when he pleaded guilty to a hit-and-run that injured a pregnant woman. He avoided jail but was stripped of his UFC belt and suspended - a one-day visit to rehab attracted criticism for an apparent token gesture.
Many will have sympathetically believed the reinstated Jones when he spoke of his sobriety and provided evidence of his training with a newly-muscled physique. The greatest talent in the sport's history had reached the pinnacle without trying, how good would he be while behaving like an athlete?
Jones hasn't yet been found guilty of this week's USADA test - although out-of-competition tests do not search for recreational drugs, ruling that out as a possibility. A two-year ban, in the prime of his life, could await. Regrettably, Jones may have done what 23 opponents have failed to do and end his own brilliant reign.
