Sonnen: Jones allegedly once hid under cage to avoid drug test
Chael Sonnen has told some tall tales in his day, but this one might take the cake.
Appearing on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast Monday, Sonnen was asked to give his account of an incident in which Jon Jones allegedly avoided a past drug test by hiding under a cage at his gym.
The apocryphal story has newfound relevance in the wake of Jones being busted for an out-of-competition drug test on July 6, just three days before he was set to be in the main event of UFC 200.
Sonnen made sure to clarify that this is a second-hand story, relayed to him by fighters who may or may not have been with Jones when some USADA drug testers came calling.
"USADA rolls in to (Greg) Jackson's gym to do a test on Jon Jones and there were only some coaches in there and Jon, there were like five people in there at the time," said Sonnen. "Where (the testers) parked, he can see them coming, so (his team doesn't) know what to do with him. They hide him underneath the cage.
"Jon Jones hides under the cage. They say, 'Jon, we don't know where he is,' and this is before we were enrolled in the program and he did not need to disclose his whereabouts. At the same time, if they show up and find you, you must test. If they can't find you, you didn't have to test back then."
The officials supposedly waited the entire day for Jones to emerge, but he managed to outlast them. This is where the story takes a bizarre turn.
When USADA found out what Jones had been up to, Sonnen heard they were willing to go to great lengths to get their man.
"They wanted to get a warrant to and go under that ring, under the theory that at some point in that 6-8 hour span, he would have had to pee," said Sonnen. "They wanted to go under forensically and collect that urine. That's how upset they were that they had been had."
If there is any truth to what Sonnen is saying, it lends credence to the theory that the announcement of Jones' drug test violation was timed for maximum damage to the fighter's reputation and finances.
But since it is Sonnen involved, that is a very big "if."
- With h/t to FIGHTSTATE