UFC coach references Lance Armstrong to discredit Jon Jones as GOAT

American Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez believes Jon Jones’ previous failed drug assessments eradicate him from the best of all time debate.

UFC CEO Dana White has been stumping laborious for heavyweight champion Jones, chastising media for rating him No. 3 within the pound-for-pound standings behind mild heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and Mendez-trained light-weight champ Islam Makhachev, who’s No. 1.

However Mendez argues that primarily based on Jones’ historical past with failed assessments linked to performance-enhancing medicine, he shouldn’t be thought-about the best fighter of all time.

“Dana continues to be insisting that Jon Jones is pound-for-pound No. 1,” Mendez stated on his “Javier Mendez Podcast.” “He has his legitimate factors, however my legitimate level is I simply say one factor: Lance Armstrong.

Lance Armstrong gained the Tour de France what number of instances? And principally he obtained all these titles taken away from him due to one factor: doping. And regardless that it was a few years later that they caught him, he misplaced all his Tour de France (titles). Effectively, it’s been a truth, it’s been confirmed Jon Jones has been caught doping. So, I’m sorry, I feel that disqualifies him simply primarily based on that alone.”

Jones’ second win over Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 was overturned to a no contest when he examined constructive for the anabolic steroid turinabol. His sentence was considerably diminished from 4 years to a 15-month sentence after he supplied “substantial help” to the U.S. Anti-Doping Company, which ran the UFC’s program on the time. Jones acknowledged he didn’t knowingly take any prohibited substances and that the substances he consumed have been tainted.

Jones failed a 3rd drug take a look at previous to his UFC 232 rematch with Alexander Gustafsson when he examined constructive for a similar turinabol metabolites. Nonetheless, USADA decided they have been hint quantities within the type of picograms incapable of giving Jones a aggressive benefit. He defeated Gustafsson within the UFC 232 headliner to reclaim the vacant mild heavyweight title.

Mendez additionally disagrees with White calling Jones the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.

“He can be in a giant consideration, however he hasn’t fought since (2023),” Mendez stated. “So, I don’t know how one can put him in that class due to what he did earlier than. He’s not energetic. If he was energetic, then there’s an even bigger problem for that, however he’s not energetic.

“His skills? Yeah, I can see that, one hundred pc. I imply, the man is without doubt one of the biggest of all time, for certain. However for me, I worth the best of all time primarily based on what they do exterior, not simply what they do inside.”