For those of you that haven’t heard yet, it appears that UFC Lightheavyweight Champion Jon Jones tested positive for Cocaine in his pre-fight drug test before UFC 182. Since Cocaine is not a substance that is banned in out of competition testing, Jones will not be facing any fines or suspensions from the commission and his win against #3 Daniel Cormier will stand.

Jones released a statement to Yahoo talking about his decision to go to rehab:

With the support of my family, I have entered into a drug treatment facility. I want to apologize to my fiancée, my children, as well as my mother, father, and brothers for the mistake that I made. I also want to apologize to the UFC, my coaches, my sponsors and equally important to my fans. I am taking this treatment program very seriously. Therefore, at this time my family and I would appreciate privacy.

The UFC and Dana White also released statements on UFC.com:

We support UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ decision to enter a drug treatment facility to address his recent issue. While we are disappointed in the failed test, we applaud him for making this decision to enter a drug treatment facility. Jon is a strong, courageous fighter inside the Octagon, and we expect him to fight this issue with the same poise and diligence. We commend him on his decision, and look forward to him emerging from this program a better man as a result.

Dana White:

I am proud of Jon Jones for making the decision to enter a drug treatment facility. I’m confident that he’ll emerge from this program like the champion he truly is.

Jones rival Daniel Cormier offered his thoughts as well to MMAFighting.com

I am aware of Jon’s test, and if there is anything to say it is this: there are a lot of people you impact, so please let’s get it together. Good luck on your rehab!

Ok so with all of that being said here is my take on the whole thing. First off, I hope Jon is able to get clean in rehab and is able to turn his life around at least in that aspect. Drug use is harmful not only to the drug user but also to the people around him, so I hope that he is able to return to his family a clean and sober man.

I find the news of his drug use to be extremely disappointing. I understand that he’s young and he’s at the top of the world, but you would expect more self control from someone with the drive and dedication to be the best that Jones has.

He’ll suffer no repercussions from the Nevada State Athletic Commision and it appears that the both the UFC and his major sponsors will continue to back him. This does however further tarnish his personal image. Like it or not Jon Jones is a huge role model for both kids and men of all ages and its always unfortunate to find out about something like this, especially after it seemed like he was doing such a good job helping kids with his community service.

In the end I don’t think this will severely impact Jones legacy, his accomplishments in the cage speak for themselves and this does nothing to take away from them. However, it will always be an asterisk in Jon Jones career that he was a Cocaine user and it will further provide his haters ammunition and another reasons to dislike him.

With that being said, I hope he’s able to get himself clean, come back stronger and fight the winner of #2 Gustafsson vs #5 Johnson in the summer.

-Fernando