UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya held a celebration to mark his 50 clear drug testing against Jon Jones.
Speaking to the media after receiving a jacket from UFC drug testing partner U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Adesanya quipped, “I’ve never hidden anywhere, by the way … always show my whereabouts.”
After a lengthy intro from Jeff Novitzky UFC anti-doping czar Jeff Novitzky’s comments, Adesanya made a subtle reference to a moment in Jones lore where he hid beneath a Jackson Wink MMA cage to avoid a Nevada Athletic Commission drug test. The story was long considered an unsubstantiated rumor until the former light heavyweight champ confirmed it himself during a Twitter argument with Adesanya in October 2020.
Jones, who attacked a fight-night photo of Adesanya at UFC 253 as evidence of the middleweight champ’s PED use, admitted he hid from the tester because he had just smoked marijuana. Adesanya was not moved by Jones’ drug-positive past. He has been suspended twice and his title stripped of light heavyweight.
The middleweight champ gave a shoutout to his management company, Paradigm, for updating his USADA whereabouts form when he forgot and touted his drug testing record. Novitzky said Adesanya was the first fighter to reach 50 tests having joined the USADA testing pool after the implementation of its out-of-competition drug testing program.
“You’ll never find me under the cage — I’m always in there fighting,” Adesanya said.
Adesanya and Jones have repeatedly sparred in the media over a potential showdown, and Adesanya has said a fight with “Bones” is inevitable. The champ clarified recently that the grudge fight won’t occur until Jones is an active fighter. Jones hadn’t fought in February 2020, and he gave up the title to make way for a move with a heavyweight.
