Jon Jones Hints At UFC Comeback Again As Daniel Cormier Throws Shade

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones (22-1-1) continued to hint at a return to the octagon despite seemingly being in limbo.

Jones, arguably the most talented fighter in UFC history, has been posting positive messages and training footage of himself on social media in recent months and on Thursday, hinted he was ready to make his comeback.

"Every part of the journey matters," Jones wrote on Twitter. "Triumphs and setbacks all combine to make the climb what it is supposed to be. My feet are dug in and I have clear motivation as to what I’m going after and why. I promise you’ve never seen anything like what’s coming."

In addition, the Endicott native looks to be working on his knockout power as his striking coach Brandon Gibson is expecting more finishes when he eventually returns to the UFC.

"I think there’s still a lot of growth possible," Gibson said late last month. "Jon’s in his 30s now, I think he’s really starting to develop the one-strike knockout power, we saw that in the last (Daniel Cormier) fight."

"Before that, Jon was like a break ‘em down, break ‘em down, break ‘em down, finish, where guys were never just out cold, unconscious. I think now Jon’s really developing a lot of power for 205 and he’s gonna really start putting guys to sleep," he said.

Jones of course, last fought at UFC 214 in July last year when he returned from a one-year drug suspension to defeat Daniel Cormier (21-1-1) via knockout and win the light heavyweight title he never lost.

However, his glory was shortlived as it emerged the following month that he failed another test after testing positive for turinabol, despite him and his team's claims of being innocent. This lead to a chain reaction of events that resulted in Jones getting stripped of the title, his UFC 214 win getting overturned and Cormier being reinstated as champion.

Earlier this year, the California State Athletic Commission fined "Bones" $205,000 and suspended his license for a year. However, the real verdict will arrive when he attends his hearing with the United States Anti-Doping Association (USADA), which could potentially hand him a four-year suspension for being a multiple offender.

The limbo part comes from how long it's taking for the hearing to happen, as Ben Fowles speculates below:

"Judging by comments from Jones and his representatives, it seems like the holdup is due to an ongoing negotiation about a settlement. When possible, USADA likes to get the athlete to “agree” to a certain punishment, since otherwise things could end up in arbitration, like they did with Josh Barnett."

Ideally, the best case scenario would be a one-year ban retrospective to the date of his failed drug test which would mean he would already be cleared to return. There is also some positive news on that front as USADA recently confirmed on its website this week that Jones had been tested for the first time in 2018.

Cormier meanwhile, seemingly threw shade at the news of Jones being tested for the first time this year as he posted his USADA drug test history on Thursday night, taking aim at the 31-year-old who he believes has cheated his whole career.

While Cormier, 39, suffered his first-ever knockout loss against Jones, although it was overturned to a draw, the Olympian has had quite the past few 12 months in comparison to Jones.

"DC" would be reinstated as champion before defending his light heavyweight title successfully against Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220, winning via TKO. He would then become just the second simultaneous two-weight champion in history after Conor McGregor when he knocked out Stipe Miocic at UFC 226 in July.

He is now in line for a money fight with Brock Lesnar next year — a fight Jones himself, was expecting to have before he was stripped of the title last year.