Anthony Johnson Reacts to Jon Jones News: ‘He Cheated But His Fight IQ Was Still Sharp’

Anthony Johnson never got to face Jon Jones in the Octagon, but he was impressed with what “Bones” did against Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 — regardless of how it might have been achieved.

“I’ve been getting asked left and right about Jon Jones’ situation. Well I’ll say this…I learned from my mistakes when the UFC cut me the first time,” Johnson wrote on Facebook. “I can’t speak on if he’ll ever learn but as far as fight results, steroids will make you bigger, faster, stronger but not your IQ…”

Jones stopped Cormier via third-round TKO in their July 29 rematch, as he rocked “DC” with a perfectly-placed head kick before finishing the light heavyweight title bout with ground-and-pound. On Tuesday, USADA announced that Jones had failed an in-competition drug test and TMZ Sports reported that the Jackson-Wink MMA product tested positive for the anabolic steroid Turinabol and would be stripped of the 205-pound title. UFC President Dana White later denied that Jones had already been stripped of the belt. The substance for which Jones tested positive has not been officially revealed.

Johnson was supposed to face Jones at UFC 187, but that pairing fell through when Jones was suspended and stripped of the light heavyweight title after fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run accident in Albuquerque, N.M. in April 2015. Instead, “Rumble” fell to Cormier for the vacant 205-pound title at the event and lost to “DC” again in a rematch at UFC 210 this past April. Johnson surprisingly retired after his second loss to Cormier.

While Johnson appears to have made up his mind about Jones’ innocence, or lack thereof, it doesn’t change his perception of the troubled fighter’s performance against Cormier.

“Jon cheated but his fight IQ was still sharp!” Johnson wrote. “He set D.C. up for that head kick by doing the low kicks and liver kicks. Think about that for a second…”