The best and worst from UFC 232: Jones vs. Gustafsson 2

2018 ended with a bang for the UFC as Jon Jones stopped Alexander Gustafsson
2018 ended with a bang for the UFC as Jon Jones stopped Alexander Gustafsson

#1 Worst: The Jon Jones fiasco

Jon Jones' win left a sour taste due to his PED controversies
Jon Jones' win left a sour taste due to his PED controversies

Okay, so enough has been written over the past week about Jon Jones’ pre-fight drug test and the positive test for turanibol supposedly caused by his use of the banned substance in July 2017 that I won’t go into depth about that here. But what I will talk about is the bitter taste that the end of the show left in my mouth, as Jones destroyed Alexander Gustafsson in the third round to reclaim his UFC Light-Heavyweight title.

The whole thing didn’t feel right from the start – from Jones’ entrance that used the defiant Queen song We Are The Champions, all the way through to the post-fight interview that saw a grinning Jones call out his old rival Daniel Cormier for a third fight.

I can’t profess to be an expert in the field of PEDs and some might call me hypocritical given Alistair Overeem – who was banned for PED use in 2012 – is one of my favourite fighters, but this whole situation felt worse than any simple failed test, as the moving of UFC 232 to Los Angeles from Las Vegas and all of the weird explanations feel like the UFC is covering up for Jones’ indiscretions.

Why they would want to do that also doesn’t make sense given this is a fighter who clearly only has his best interests at heart – Dana White himself labelled him a “sport killer” back in 2012 – but it’s only more frustrating when you see what a talented fighter he is in action, as we did last night. Gustafsson tried, but he was simply outmatched.

Joe Rogan called Jones possibly the best fighter of all time during his entrance, and on talent alone he’d definitely be up there. But his trio of failed or questionable drug tests knock him out of the running in my opinion, and that’s why it was simply disappointing to see him come out on top again last night.

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Edited by Sripad