Jon Jones maintains innocence while blasting USADA after UFC split

Former light heavyweight champion and current UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has arguably one of the most newsworthy battles with USADA, outside of the current Conor McGregor situation. So when the anti-doping agency announced it would be out of the UFC business starting Jan. 1, Jones spoke up.

“Man I survived USADA," he tweeted. "First they said I was guilty of having picograms, then they considered me innocent, next picograms became legal. Guess what I’m still here, still unbeaten. That BS no contest over DC needs to be taken off my record. I’ve never cheated this sport and I will stand by that until the Day I die..”

Jones wa flagged by USADA after his UFC 214 win over Daniel Cormier. That win was overturned to a no-contest after they detected an anabolic steroid, turinabol. He was initially suspended for four years but it was reduced to 15 after Jones cooperated with the investigation and provided “substantial assistance” to the organization. At the time he always said he did not knowingly take anything.

Jones failed again for for the remnants of the same drug ahead of UFC 232 which was moved from Las Vegas, NV to California due to the NSAC not allowing Jones to fight because of the failure. It was later determined by USADA that the "picograms" found in his system could not have given him an edge.

Jon Jones tweeted and deleted about being a 'party boy' after USADA news broke

Jones also tweeted, then deleted a statement about being a "party boy" in terms of recreational (illegal) drugs but never used steroids.

“Yeah, I became the youngest champion in the sport’s history," he tweeted (h/t MMA Junkie). "Probably the youngest millionaire in the sport’s history. Unfortunately, I didn’t handle it correctly and became a bit of a party boy. Definitely doesn’t qualify me to be a steroid cheat. You know nothing about being a star athlete.”

Jones is set to defend his heavyweight title at UFC 295 later this year.