Misha Cirkunov Finds It 'Mind-Blowing' That Jon Jones Could Fight Again

UFC light heavyweight Misha Cirkunov has never been one of the most outspoken fights on the UFC roster, but there are seemingly some things that he feels very strongly about and the USADA anti-doping program and Jon Jones are two fine examples.

Speaking to TSN earlier this week, Cirkunov explained that he was very pleased with the USDA program, but he has some questions about the punishments being handed out. The Canadian is of the mindset that if you get caught you should face severe consequences and that there should be no exceptions.

“Things get changed and I don’t know exactly how it works, but in my opinion, if you get caught, if you did something wrong, you should get punished for that,” Cirkunov said. “Especially if it happens a second time, never mind if it happens a third time. If it happens a third time they should be set as an example, because if someone does something wrong and they don’t ever get punished for it, then what makes you think they will stop doing it if they didn’t stop doing it for the third time?

“I think that if you get charged for something you should pay the price. If you do the crime you do the time. It’s just how it works and I think everyone should follow the rules.”

One man who could be feeling USADA’s wrath for the second time very soon is Jon Jones. The former UFC light heavyweight champion was cited for Turinbol following his fight with Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 and Cirkunov is having a hard time understanding why people are even talking about him potentially returning one day.

“I understand Jon Jones is a good fighter, but he also got caught with many different things,” Cirkunov said. “Those things don’t work together, that’s why I don’t understand how there’s talk that he will be fighting again. Usually, I look at it like this, in the Olympics, if they catch you for something you’re down for four years and that’s the first time.

“I can’t even imagine an Olympic athlete getting caught for something a third time in a row and there’s still talk about him competing in the next games.