In addition to Henry Cejudo, three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen is coming to Jon Jones’ defense after the MMA GOAT was accused of threatening to kill a DFSI drug testing agent at his home last month.
‘Bones’ allegedly threatened physical violence against Crystal Martinez and one other employee who was tasked with collecting a urine sample from the undisputed heavyweight champion. During the incident, Jones was reportedly frustrated with the timing of the visit and threatened the lives of the workers. He is also accused of stealing Martinez’s phone and refusing to give it back to her.
Jones was charged with assault and interference with communications and was issued a court summons after Martinez filed a report with the Albuquerque police department.
Since the news broke, fighters have been coming out of the woodwork to defend Jones. That includes Chael Sonnen who offered his take on the situation via a video on on his YouTube channel.
“Let’s talk some Jon Jones. Look, you can completely agree on the facts with somebody, and that generally never happens. Right? You know that old expression, there’s three sides to every story: my side, their side, and then the truth? As you go through life, there’s a lot of accuracy to that statement,” Sonnen said.
“This is one of those situations where everybody can agree on the facts, but then it comes down to interpretation. It’s one of those things. We are not living in the same world that I grew up in. The world that I grew up in, our gold standard was reality. Our gold standard to determine what happened was reality. We’re now in a world where the gold standard is emotion. It is no longer, what did that person do. It is now, how did it make you feel.”
Chael Sonnen defends Jon Jones. Interesting.
"The world that I grew up in, our gold standard, was REALITY. Our gold standard to determine what happened was reality. Now in a world, where the gold standard is emotion. It is no longer, what did that person do, it's how did it… pic.twitter.com/sqzRGZ5xB2
— Abe (@AbeMorales209) April 9, 2024
Chael Sonnen Believes There Has to Be a Better Way
During the incident, Jones is accused of saying, “Why you f*cking people come so early? Do you know what happens to people who come to my house? They end up dead.” Sonnen believes no one was ever actually in danger and that Jones was simply venting his frustration over the inconvenience.
‘The American Gangster’ also argued that the process of collecting samples could be improved upon to avoid situations like this going forward.
“Jon’s going, wait a minute. I didn’t do anything. I’m in my house. You came to my house. Whether he was angry or he was attempting to be funny, there’s was nobody ever in danger,” Sonnen said. “But it can come down to how did it make you feel.”This is not right.
“This is not right to come down on Jon Jones. This has been bound to happen and this has got to be used as a learning experience. We had Tim Kennedy draw a .45, fully loaded semi-automatic because he had people come to his property. Oh, by the way, Tim Kennedy prior to pulling the semi-automatic on the USADA team that had showed up there very early, which means in the dark. That’s the relevance to early. This for sure was on its way to happening.
“I am suggesting for you that maybe there is another way. To give a guy a 10 minute heads up. Just for example, to send a phone call and/or text message. I don’t think any of us believe a guy can clean his system or find a way to cheat. I’m not putting this on them, but you’ve got to take it off Jon. He’s in his house. He has to comply. He has to let them in. He can’t let them leave his sight.”
