Jon Jones is being accused of using banned PEDs as his feud with Colby Covington heats up.
UFC welterweight Colby Covington recently said that former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champ Jon Jones used steroids when they were in college together. Covington and Jones were roommates at Iowa Central Community College before both went on to join the UFC years later.
They used to be good friends, but now, almost 20 years later, they’re more like rivals, often trading insults while competing in the UFC. Jones has even accused Covington of being jealous of his success, after Covington suggested that Jones was avoiding a fight with current UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall before he retired last summer.
Now, Covington claims that their issues started back in college when Jones began using steroids to bulk up. Talking to Daniel Cormier, Covington said, “It wasn’t until my last year in college that he started using testosterone. He wanted to bulk up from 197 to heavyweight, so he just started using a lot of testosterone to get stronger and bigger. That’s when his mood swings really kicked in.”
Covington also said Jones became more aggressive over small things, like leaving shoes in the wrong spot. “He would freak out over little stuff because of all the mood swings from the steroids,” he explained. “That’s a fact. He failed two or three drug tests. He’s a cheater. He started doing it in college to bulk up. He didn’t want to stay at 197 any more.”
Whether Covington’s story is true or not is still unclear, but Jones has faced several drug-related issues during his career. For example, he was banned for 15 months after testing positive for Turinabol before his fight with Cormier at UFC 214. Turinabol is a steroid known for boosting strength, speed, and muscle mass without major side effects.
Jones won that fight, but it was later changed to a no-contest, and Cormier was made UFC Light Heavyweight champion again. The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) later said Jones “was not intentionally cheating.”