Frank Trigg was worried about mixed-martial-arts Jon Jones stepping into the cage at UFC 210.
At UFC 210's open workouts, UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier lashed out at the news Jones would be at his fight against Anthony Johnson. On his weekly appearance on Fightful MMA's podcast, Trigg told host "Showdown Joe" Ferraro, he absolutely does not agree with the decision by UFC to have Jones appear at UFC 210.
"In what other sport, if an athlete gets suspended, for whatever reason it is, I don't care what the reason is, he gets suspended from the sport for a period of time, have they every shown up at their sporting event? Do they show at the sporting event, not dressed just in casual clothes 'I'm going come watch this thing', this doesn't happen. This is absolutely ludicrous, UFC is flying him in, while he's under suspension," said Trigg. "He's still suspended for performance enhancing drugs. Now they bring this guy into the ring while he's still under suspension...I'm worried about MMA at this point," continued Trigg.
Trigg believes Jones should not be at the event because Jones' current situation is a result of his own behavior.
"Let's not forget, Jon Jones has come out before in the past, (saying) this is the most important thing for me, the fight in Buffalo. Not the fight in New York in Madison Square Gardens but the fight in New York in Buffalo because it's closer to where he was raised up. And he did things, it wasn't like UFC didn't call him to fight on this card, it wasn't like he got injured in the middle of training and couldn't fight on this card, it was the fact he hit and run a pregnant lady with a bunch of drug paraphernalia and cash in his car and then got caught for performance enhancing drugs...he has failed a drug test, he was suspended for these actions and put on probation for his other actions, and now we'll bring this guy into the cage," said Trigg.
Trigg clarified he thinks it is the public nature which he disagrees with about Jones' appearance. He said if UFC told Jones behind the scenes he would be next for a bout with the Light Heavyweight Champion but waited until his suspension was up to make the announcement, he would not have a problem with that. He speculated that Jones and Cormier might get physical if they are face-to-face at UFC 210.
Trigg appears on Thursdays on Fightful MMA's podcast with "Showdown Joe" Ferraro.
