On Thursday, the Nevada Athletic Commission and Jon Jones have reached an agreement. For his drug test failure at UFC 200, “Bones” will be slapped with a one-year suspension, which is retroactive to July 6th, 2016.
This means that the former light heavyweight champion will only be eligible to return on July 7th, 2017. In the mean time, he has kept himself busy by continuously working out, and joining grappling competitions such as this weekend’s Submission Underground 2 event against Dan Henderson.
Jones has seven months more in the sidelines before he could get a chance to get himself back in contention, and possibly reclaim the title he held for four consecutive years. And if fate permits it, he would also get a chance to settle his long-time grudge with current 205-pound champion Daniel Cormier.
For now, Jones has no other choice but to wait until his suspension lapses. But when asked if he is open to the idea of facing “DC” in a grappling match like how he would Henderson, Jones declined, but with a reason.
“That would be a hell of a match, but no, I wouldn’t want to play with Cormier at all. Me and Cormier’s storyline is so big and important to me,” Jones told FOX Sports. “I wouldn’t want to give him any false sense of security or anything.”
“I just want to kick his ass with my hands and feet and elbows and knees.”
Jones had practically wiped out the top competition at the light heavyweight division during his reign as champion, which ultimately opened up possibilities of him moving up to heavyweight. It is a thought which he still considers at this point of his career, even if it would just be for another grappling match in the future.
“I’d like to maybe challenge a heavyweight after this to see how I step up against a guy that’s much bigger than I am. But no one in particular though. I think it would be a big seller for sure.”