Mike Bohn

mmajunkie

UFC President Dana White appears to have lost faith in former UFC champion Jon Jones following his one-year suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Association for a failed drug test prior to UFC 200 earlier this year.

It’s been a rough week for Jones (22-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC). He was stripped of the interim UFC light heavyweight title following the announcement of his suspension for taking a banned substance.

It was just the latest in what has been a long line of outside-the-cage issues for “Bones,” the most notable of which is a hit-and-run accident which caused him to be stripped of the 205-pound belt after eight successful defense of the gold.

Jones, a Union-Endicott graduate, will be clear to compete again in July 2017. But when he makes his eventual return to the octagon, White said on a SiriusXM interview Thursday with Jim Rome that he would prefer for sport’s former pound-for-pound king not headline whichever event he lands on. However, he admits the new UFC owners at WME-IMG may have other plans.

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“I don’t (trust him), no. I don’t,” White said. “In my opinion, I would never take the risk of headlining a show with Jon Jones again. I’d put him on the card, but I wouldn’t headline with him until he consistently gets back on track. Millions of dollars are spent on this. For a card to fall apart, and how many cards have fallen apart because Jon Jones gets in trouble for something? So no, I’m not at that place with him.”

Jones was supposed to rematch Daniel Cormier in the UFC 200 main event. Just days before the event, though, he was flagged with a potential anti-doping violation and pulled him from the card.

On top of losing a solid portion of the prime years of his career, White said Jones’ poor decision-making and repeated incidents have been a stiff financial blow for the athlete. So much so that White's prediction Jones bank account could be up to eight-figures richer if not for the indiscretions.

“He’s lost probably $20 million,” White said. “He’s probably the greatest talent we’ve ever seen in the sport. It’s sad to see it go like this. And the unfortunate part is, time off is nobody’s friend in this sport. You have to stay active, you have to stay busy. I don’t know what the reason is. Time off is never anybody’s friend in the fight game.”