UFC News: Michael Bisping explains his post-UFC 232 fallout with Jon Jones

What's the story?

Jon Jones may have silenced some of his critics with a clinical performance against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 but the asterisk on his resume remains. For as long as Jones continues to fight, he would have to answer a host of tough questions and he better be prepared to answer them without losing his cool.

It seems he is finding it tough to do so as he went off on Michael Bisping during an interview after the UFC 232 ceremonial weigh-ins. Bisping opened up on the abusive exchange on his 'Believe You Me' podcast.

In case you didn't know...

Jones romped to a third-fight TKO victory against Gustafsson at UFC 232 and reclaimed the UFC Light Heavyweight title in the process. However, the media scrutiny on the polarising star has refused to die down when it comes to his repeated doping violations.

Bones tested positive for small amounts of oral Turanibol days before the scheduled title fight and the card had to be shifted to California as a result. The traces were said to be residues of his previous tryst with the anabolic steroid from 2017 and so-called 'experts' concluded that he had not re-ingested any kind of PED ever since.

However, subsequent revelations from the USADA showed many irregularities in the amount of the Turanibol in his system. Jones apparently tested positive in August, September, and December for the same substance, with the traces gradually increasing with each failed test. It may have been in picograms but there was still a considerable spike in the readings. Jones defended himself by saying that the aforementioned experts claimed the traces could remain in his system for seven more years.

Does that mean Jones will continue to test positive and UFC will keep turning a blind eye? Bisping was in a similar conundrum and directed a few hard-hitting questions towards Jones in order to get some clarity on the whole situation. Jones, though, wasn't too happy with the line of questioning...

The heart of the matter

Bisping, Kenny Florian, and Karyn Bryant were joined by Jones on Fox Sports 1 for an interview after the weigh-ins. Bisping, being a no-nonsense MMA analyst that he is, didn't shy away from asking a few rugged questions. He was curious as to what would happen if Jones tested positive again after the fight as minute quantities of the substance could allegedly be in his system for a long time.

Bisping wondered how Gustafsson would feel after he lost the fight only to realise that Jones tested positive yet again. The Mauler would surely push for the fight to be overturned to a no-contest according to 'The Count'.

Jones ignored the question and concentrated on the fight. Bisping wasn't done though.

“So then I went back at him again, I kind of slightly reworded it and once again he ignored it. You could see he wasn’t happy,” said the former Middleweight Champion.

Jones expressed his frustration over the questions by mouthing off profanities at Bisping during the commercial break. Bisping, however, was left unfazed.

He explained, "I wasn’t trying to be a di** with Jon. I love watching Jon Jones fight; he’s incredible. I’ve been around him enough throughout my fight career and Jon’s always been cool with me. I’ve always liked the guy, but being in that position that we’re in, we’ve got to ask those f—ing questions.”

What's next?

You have got to respect Bisping for acting like a proper journalist and not a former fighter who would rather play it safe.

Meanwhile, Jones needs to come up with genuine answers if he wishes to stay calm and collected during future interviews as the incoming brickbats aren't going to stop anytime soon.