Jon Jones is far from finished.
That’s the message the former UFC light heavyweight champion passed along this weekend while reflecting on the last year of his career where he’s been on the sidelines due to a doping infraction with USADA.
Jones defeated Daniel Cormier last July with a vicious head kick knockout to reclaim the title only to have the belt stripped from him for the second time in his career after he returned a positive drug test for banned substances.
Since that time, Jones has remained on suspension awaiting word from USADA on his final punishment for the failed drug test, which is the second infraction of the UFC’s anti-doping policy.
“Time has a way of putting things into perspective,” Jones wrote on Instagram. “One year ago today I knocked out Daniel Cormier to reclaim my light heavyweight title. It was the culmination of all the sacrifice and hard work put in on the road back to where I truly know I belong. That’s at the top…the only place I’ve ever dreamed of being. Turns out it wasn’t a forever moment but a fleeting one as two weeks later I find out on TMZ of all places my title has been stripped and I’m suspended once again. To go from the spotlight to darkness, and have everything taken away from me again was a hardship the public will never truly understand. It bent me but did not break me and I had to learn to fight in a different way.
“I’ve spent the last year living right and getting healthy, but much of that work was spent correcting and repairing my mental space. Call it weakness if you will but even the toughest individuals need assistance getting back on track. I’ll be back, and when I am it will be a more complete version than the world has ever seen. You have to turn the lemons life gives you into lemonade, and you have to take time to sit back and enjoy it. The struggles don’t define you. It’s how you handle them that determines who you are.”
Jones’ return will certainly be one of the most highly anticipated fights of all time, although there’s still no exact timeline when USADA will make a final judgment on when he can get back into the Octagon.
The former champion faces up to a four year suspension as a result of the second violation of the UFC’s anti-doping policy after Jones was previously suspended for one year after taking an off market sexual enhancement pill that was tainted with a banned substance.
As far as what he wants when he finally does get back into the cage, Jones says he isn’t all that concerned about a third fight with Cormier but he definitely wants to reclaim the light heavyweight title he never actually lost.
“I could care less about Daniel Cormier, already beat him twice,” Jones wrote on a separate post on Instagram. “Honestly happy for him, he deserves to be heavyweight champ. Just want back what’s rightfully mine.”
Jones hopes to return to action sooner rather than later as it’s already been one year since he last fought in the UFC.
