UFC is ready to welcome back its most controversial champion
- Former UFC champion Jon 'Bones' Jones is regarded as one of the greatest fighters of all time - but he has plenty of baggage.
- The American has failed a drugs tests, issued a death threat, and once injured a pregnant woman in a hit and run incident.
- But UFC president Dana White is ready to welcome him back this year.
Some of the biggest names in combat sports could return to fight in UFC this year.
During an interview with YouTube channel TSN Tube, UFC president Dana White said "yes" when asked if box office draws like Irish striker Conor McGregor, professional wrestler Brock Lesnar, and former light heavyweight ruler Jon Jones would compete in 2018.
McGregor and Lesnar are the two best-selling pay per view fighters in UFC history, but it is the return of Jones, UFC's most controversial champion, that is the most interesting.
Jones is one of the best fighters ever
Two-time UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has the most successful title defences in the history of the division. He remains the youngest fighter to win a UFC championship and has defeated a string of elite opponents, including Dan Cormier, Rashad Evans, and Quinton Jackson.
He has a large reach (84.5 inches), an appreciation of distance management, and is an incredible striker. As Jones has gotten older, he has become a well-rounded and scarily good mixed martial artist.
Here's what makes Jones so lethal:
But Jones has not fought since July last year, when he beat Dan Cormier. The victory was scrapped from the records after a urine sample he provided during the weigh-in tested positive for anabolic steroids.
The 30-year-old was provisionally suspended and could be hit with a four-year ban by the State Athletic Commission if he is found guilty.
But Jones maintains he did not knowingly consume the banned substance and even passed a polygraph test in an attempt to clear his name, according to SBNation blog MMAFighting.
This has opened the door to a potential return. And he is ready to reestablish his authority in the UFC Octagon. Earlier this week, he said his "best is yet to come" on Twitter.
This comes just weeks after his coach Greg Jackson, speaking on the Talking Brawls podcast, said: "I'm hoping new information will come out [in 2018] and Jon will be back in the game."
But Jones has a long history of misdemeanours
Jones would feature prominently in conversations regarding the best fighters of all time but Dana White believes he is the biggest waste of talent "ever, in all of sports." UFC commentator Joe Rogan agrees. "[Jones] is the biggest f*** up," he said.
His record is blighted by misdemeanours. In the cage, Jones was once disqualified from a fight for using illegal elbows, he has frequently attempted to rake opponents in the eyes, and he threw punches at his rival during a weigh-in ceremony (see below).
He even issued a death threat to Cormier. "I will literally kill you," he said, in front of rolling cameras, when he thought he was off air.
His record outside the UFC scene is not much better. In recent years, he binged cocaine, has been accused of homophobia, and injured a pregnant woman during a hit and run in New Mexico. Jones fled the scene but left a stack of cash, drug paraphernalia, and marijuana in the car.
Jones is truly one of UFC's most controversial champions. But that's probably why White is so keen to get him back in the cage.