Jon Jones’ striking coach Mike Winkeljohn believes his fighter may walk away from mixed martial arts (MMA) competition if he’s hit with a four-year suspension.
Jones found himself in hot water yet again after failing his UFC 214 drug test for turinabol. His “B” sample came back with the same result and his knockout win over Daniel Cormier was changed to a no-contest. The UFC then reinstated Cormier as the light heavyweight champion.
During a recent appearance on Submission Radio, Winkeljohn explained the impact that would be left depending on Jones’ suspension (via Bloody Elbow):
“If it’s a four-year thing, I think it could be just that kind of devastation (that stops Jon from coming back), and which like I said, it’s not fair, you know? He messed up in that maybe he took something that someone said was fine, but he’s not doing it thinking, ‘I’m taking steroids or something,’ you know, and that’s the part that’s terrible, he’d be devastated at four years.”
Winkeljohn says it’ll be a different story if Jones is only out for one year.
“Who knows, you know? Just, that’s just a long time to just spiral downhill, where bad things can happen. So that one scares me. If it’s a year (suspension) Jon Jones will come back and dominate the world again, I do believe.”
