Former referee turned analyst “Big” John McCarthy has officiated bouts featuring some of the greatest athletes the sport of MMA has to offer.
Jon Jones is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion who has been busted twice now for using illegal products and McCarthy believes the fighter needs to be smarter with what substances are being taken.
“When you’re an athlete making the amount of money that Jon is making, you can’t go to the AM/PM and buy something that’s in pill form and put that in your mouth without going, ‘What the f--k are you doing?’ C’mon, dude,” McCarthy said on MMA Junkie Radio. “You are a frickin’ Ferrari. You can’t do those things. You have got to be smart. And I just don’t see them letting him off with, ‘Oh, it was just a mistake,’ because he’s had that mistake before.”
Jones has received his punishment from the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) and now awaits the punishment from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
Despite the problems with failed drug tests, a confident McCarthy still says Jones is the greatest MMA fighter ever.
“I love Jon Jones. I say he’s the greatest MMA fighter I’ve ever seen,” McCarthy said. “But this is where the problem comes forward. I don’t personally believe Jon took some type of steroid before fighting Daniel Cormier. … But Jon is personally responsible as a professional athlete under contract with the UFC … with everything he puts in his body.”
McCarthy is going to be back at the analyst desk for Bellator 196, which takes place on Friday, April 6.
