RIO DE JANEIRO – Thiago Santos doesn’t have many bad things to say about Jon Jones when it comes to what the UFC champion is able to do inside the octagon.

In fact, if you ask Santos (21-6 MMA, 13-5 UFC) to list his top fighters of all time, Jones (24-1 MMA, 18-1 UFC) appears in fourth place – behind only Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva and Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, in that order.

When it comes to what happens outside of the cage, though, “Marreta” is not as impressed by the 205-pound champion.

Speaking to reporters in Rio de Janeiro about their upcoming UFC 239 headliner in Las Vegas, the challenger said that, as phenomenal as Jones is as a fighter, he doesn’t see the champ as a good role model. And though that doesn’t affect him, particularly, Santos doesn’t look too kindly on the impression that “Bones” will leave behind.

“That’s his karma to carry,” Santos said in his native Portuguese while attending UFC 237. “He will be remembered as a doper, he will be remembered as someone who drives intoxicated. These are his things. I have to worry about not being remembered for that.

“It’s his life, if that’s how he wants to live it… It doesn’t bother me. Like I said, inside the octagon, his talent is undeniable. Outside of it, unfortunately, he’s not a good example. It’s what I think.”

Santos isn’t the first one to make this sort of assessment of Jones. Despite being overwhelmingly regarded as one of the best fighters to ever compete in the octagon, the impact of Jones’ issues with failed drug tests, as well as the infamous hit-and-run accident to which Santos alluded, is often brought into legacy conversations.

The latest Jones-related controversy began last December, with an atypical test finding prior to his UFC 232 rematch with Alexander Gustafsson. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) concluded that the failure was the result of residual metabolites from a previous failed test and Jones was cleared to compete, but the card had to be moved from Las Vegas to Inglewood, Calif., and the decision was met with mixed reactions from fans and fighters.

Jones defeated Gustafsson to re-claim the UFC’s 205-pound title and quickly agreed to defend it against Anthony Smith at UFC 235. Again, the metabolite showed up in tests, in what was attributed to a “pulsing” effect (UFC vice president of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky addresses the situation here).

Jones has maintained he’s never knowingly taken any performance-enhancing drugs. Although he was found to be negligent and had to serve suspensions for his two previous anti-doping positives, they were ultimately traced back to contamination.

Since then, though, the word “picogram” has become regular in the MMA lexicon. Gustafsson, on his end, remained unconvinced by Jones’ innocence and called him a cheater prior to their UFC 232 encounter. Smith, in turn, said he simply did not care.

For his part, Santos admits he doesn’t have a lot of knowledge about what the whole “picogram” situation entails. But he isn’t indifferent to the idea of doping, as he believes in an even playing field.

“If it works a certain way for me – I’ve been tested 26 times – it has to be the same for him,” Santos said. “No picograms have ever shown up in me. Why are there (picograms) in him? Is he an extraterrestrial? I don’t know, it’s weird. They should look more into that.”

Either way, Santos has a bigger concern in mind when it comes to their July 6 headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“I think what I’m afraid of the most is that he (expletive)s up before the 6th and the fight doesn’t happen,” Santos said. “That’s my biggest fear. That he messes up and the fight doesn’t happen. Because what we want is this fight.”

In the same chat with reporters, including MMA Junkie, Santos talked about his strategy for his first title match. And he had no problem admitting he saw no weaknesses in Jones, whom he assessed as an intelligent, adaptable and well-rounded fighter. His solution to a foe who seemed to do well everywhere, though, was simple: Make him suffer everywhere.

From what he’s heard, though, Santos will have to be prepared for more than an incredibly skilled opponent. As it turns out, Santos had some conversations with a prior opponent of Jones’ and received a tip about the champ’s strategies.

“I don’t know if that’s going to look bad for (Anthony) Smith, but he said that Jones is dirty,” Santos said. “A cheater. He uses things that sometimes the ref can’t see. Puts his hand on your eye. Uses non-valid things that sometimes the ref is not in a position to see. Then he hurts you, the ref doesn’t see it, doesn’t stop it and if you stop he’ll hit you and you’ll lose the fight. So, to watch out because he’s a little dirty, Smith told me.”

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