In the wake of Jon Jones’ Fox Sports interview Monday, in which he denied having a cocaine problem, many questioned the UFC light heavyweight champion's sincerity.

During the 13-minute one-on-one with Fox Sports Live host Charissa Thompson, Jones admitted to using cocaine at a party prior to the Dec. 4 drug test he failed. He also admitted to using cocaine and other recreational drugs in college, but unequivocally denied having a cocaine problem.

"I know I don't [have a problem]," Jones said. "There's no room in my life to be a cocaine addict."

It seems as though every fighter, blogger, pundit, and social media soapboxer who has seen the interview, whether they believe or doubt the honesty of Jones, is a self-proclaimed expert on behavior, body language, and deception.

Rather than pile on with our own hypothesis of what we feel Jones’ demeanor indicated, we instead brought in two actual leading experts in the field to watch and analyze the 13-minute interview below and share their unbiased expert opinion of how genuine Jones really was.

(Disclaimer: Both experts were also provided with the “off air” argument between Jones and Daniel Cormier, as well as other less crisis-fuelled interviews with Jones for comparison as neither was familiar with him prior to our consultation. They were consulted independently and did not discuss their findings with one another.)



Janine Driver is a former ATF agent and deception and body language training officer, and is the New York Times and international best selling author of "You Can’t Lie to Me". She is the current president of the Body Language Institute, which offers civilian training courses and consults for various law enforcement agencies, legal teams, and news agencies.





The following is Driver’s analysis of the video:

Red flag 1

“When [Jones] answers that, no, he did not use cocaine from the time he took the [positive] test to the fight, he responds with a strong denial. He says, ‘No. No, I did not.’ This is the best denial and is often heard from honest people,” Driver explains.” “However, we then see a smile. This is called ‘duping delight’ and this is indicative of someone who is being deceptive. This indicates to me there's something he's not saying here.”

Red flag 2

“When asked how often he's done cocaine, he responds that he experimented in college, "but that's really it, you know?" This is what we call ‘squishy language,’ and it's indicative that there's again something he's not saying,” Driver points out. “Instead [if he were being absolutely forthright] he should've simply said, ‘I experimented with cocaine in college,’ then stopped talking.”

Red flags 3 and 4

“When he said that the cocaine he has done was done, ‘Mainly just in college...’ Another deceptive red flag popped up. Both the words ‘mainly’ and ‘just’ indicate that there is more than what he's telling us. Plus, then he does a shoulder shrug, which means he’s uncertain. If he's telling us the truth, what's he uncertain about?”

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Red flags 5 and 6

“When again asked by the reporter, other than in college, this one time before the fight is the only time he had used cocaine, [Jones] responded, ‘Yeah, pretty much…’ This is more "squishy language" and it indicates he's not giving us the whole truth,” Driver says. “He also does an eyebrow flash here, which indicates surprise. What is he surprised about?”

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