Frank Trigg says Jon Jones needs to be accountable and predicts a full four year suspension.
Since being in the UFC, Jon Jones has been in two high-profile car crashes and failed drug screenings for multiple substances. At UFC 214, he failed another drug test for the banned substance Turinabol. The California State Athletic Commission has created a guideline which puts Jones at risk of being suspended up to four years. Jones was already suspended once in his career for a USADA violation. In 2016, he was suspended for one year by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
On Fightful MMA's podcast Holy Smokes, Frank Trigg accused Jon Jones of passing the buck when it comes to his professional failures. Host Joe Ferraro asked Trigg about the entire situation surrounding Jones. Trigg theorized Jones would blame a tainted supplement in the same way Jones did with a previous drug test failure. Jones has shown immaturity according to Trigg.
"It's always someone else's fault. Every time he gets caught on something, it's someone else's fault. That drives me nuts about a champ that's as good as Jon Jones is, that can run the gambit as good as he does, he's always blaming someone else for his problem," said Trigg. "How is this someone else's fault? You're a damn adult. You're a man now. This is not some twenty four year old guy who just won the title and the youngest champ ever. This is a guy who's thirty years old now," he continued.
Trigg compared Jones to Former UFC Welterweight Champion George St-Pierre, who last fought and voluntarily stepped away from UFC in 2013. St-Pierre has been scheduled to face Michael Bisping at UFC 217 for the UFC Middleweight Championship. Trigg said Jones will be facing similar issues if he wanted to come back from a four year suspension.
"Four years for him? It's like GSP being gone for four years. It's not really that big of a deal. GSP only fought one time a year any ways. He only missed four fights...With Jon Jones, he could come back in four years, the same thing that will happen to GSP when he fights Bisping, will happen to Jon Jones. The game has changed. The people have changed. The game has grown," said Trigg.
According to Trigg, even if Jones trained during his entire suspension he would be behind coming back after four years. Trigg said he believes Jones will be handed a full four year suspension by the California State Athletic Commission. Jones has already been stripped of his UFC Light-Heavyweight Championship and his victory over Daniel Cormier was overturned.
Also on the podcast, Trigg discussed the upcoming bout between Bisping and St-Pierre and Luke Rockhold's reaction to St-Pierre fighting at middleweight. Trigg and other mixed-martial-arts personalities appear each week on Holy Smokes.
Fightful MMA will be providing live coverage of Bisping versus St-Pierre, including a recapping podcast. Updates on Jon Jones suspension process and any appeals will also be reported on the website and Fightful MMA's twitter.
Holy Smokes airs Tuesdays on FightfulPods.com.
