The legacies of Jon Jones and Anderson Silva are in tatters but Joe Rogan believes one is innocent and the other should be forgiven…

For a long time, MMA fans debated who the Greatest of All-Time (GOAT) was. Anderson Silva and Jon Jones had both previously been in this conversation but multiple failed drug tests have complicated this.

Silva failed his 2nd drug test in November, his first failure under USADA. His previous failure occurred after his UFC 183 victory over Nick Diaz (later overturned). Where Silva ranks now amongst the greats has been rendered hopelessly unclear as a result.

The question comes down to whether one believes Silva was cheating for his whole career or if he began using PEDs only after his athleticism began to regress due to age.

Jon Jones, on the other hand, is adamant he has never knowingly taken steroids. He has even taken a polygraph test to prove his innocence. The polygraph administered to Jones was conducted by the PGP Polygraph & Interviewing Service on December 7th, 2017 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He passed the test.

If Rogan is correct in his comments, then neither Silva or Jones should be black-balled from the GOAT conversation. Whether Rogan is correct or not is unclear, however.

Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sport

Joe Rogan Doesn’t Believe Jon Jones Knowingly Took Steroids

On the latest episode of Joe Rogan’s MMA podcast, Matt Brown and Rogan discussed the issue.

Here’s what Rogan had to say:

“This is the big story about Jon Jones, this is the big rumor. They think that he was doing coke that had creatine in it. It was cut with creatine and that creatine probably had trace elements of steroids.”

The reason why that makes sense is because he tested negative right before that test, and then tested positive, and then tested negative again a short time after that. This is a steroid which takes several months to get out of your system but it got out of his sytem very quickly which would indicate it was a very, very small trace amount. Not an amount that you would actually take if you were actually using it to get a performance-enhancing benefit.”

Rogan mentioned his theory is also believed by the Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance for UFC, Jeff “Golden Snitch” Novitzky.

“I believe it, it makes sense to me. It makes sense to Novitzky too”

Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports

Anderson Silva’s Legacy

For years Silva occupied the #1 spot on MMA’s pound-for-pound rankings. The only fighter who offered any hint of threatening his position was Georges St. Pierre.

Those days are over, however, and now multiple failed drug tests threaten to eliminate Anderson Silva from MMA’s GOAT conversation.

YouTube video

Joe Rogan Reacts to Anderson Silva Failed Drug Test

Rogan and Brown have differing opinions on how Silva’s failed tests impact his legacy. Brown believes a lifetime ban for a 1st offense is appropriate but Rogan disagrees.

“When you think about a guy like Anderson Silva, like Anderson Silva just tested positive again, do you think that takes him out of the consideration for greatest of all-time?” Rogan asked Brown.

Brown responded:

“In my mind 100%”

Rogan was not convinced, however.

“See in my mind, he’s doing it cause he’s old,” Rogan replied. “I feel like he’s doing it cause he’s 40.”

Unfortunately, we will most likely never know how often Anderson Silva or Jon Jones have used PEDs throughout their careers.

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Ian is a MMA writer based out of Toronto, ON Canada. An avid mixed martial arts enthusiast and passionate fan since he was born, Ian has been writing about mixed martial arts for over 5 years.