In 2015, a story surfaced that Jon Jones had hid under a cage at his gym in an effort to avoid a USADA drug test. The story emerged shortly after Jones tested positive for cocaine metabolites prior to his UFC 182 fight with Daniel Cormier, a drug that was not specifically banned and did not stop the fight from taking place. Now, while continuing his Twitter war with UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, Jones has confirmed the story to be true.
First reported by Deadspin and later expanded on by Chael Sonnen, the story went that Jones was hidden under a cage in the gym by his coaches when they saw a USADA representative approaching the gym. The coaches then stated they didn't know where Jones was, allowing him to avoid the test. Coach Mike Winkeljohn denied the story, blaming Sonnen for hopping on the Deadspin report in an attempt to "make himself relevant."
Jones and Adesanya have been going back and forth on Twitter in recent weeks -- and, sporadically over the past year -- with Jones most recently questioning if Adesanya is using performance-enhancing drugs when one side of Adesanya's chest looked unusual in his dominant win over Paulo Costa at UFC 253. Many have speculated it was a result of PED-related gynecomastia.
The back and forth led Adesanya to tweet, "Fun Facts! I napped under the cage in 2010 cuz I didn't wanna waste gas going home so I stayed at the gym till evening training. Jonathan stayed under the cage to hide from USADA during a random drug test. This is facts. Y'all must have forgot."
In response, Jones clarified what actually happened all those years ago.
"Brother explain your titty," Jones replied. "I was hiding from Nevada state Athletic Commission, not USADA and that was years ago. I had just smoked a blunt and was afraid I would fail my test for weed that's the actual truth. Now everyone knows everyone."
Jones would again fail drug tests in 2016 and 2017.
