"really does care about honor, about martial arts, about the respect, "
You must be joking, right? Nobody is stupid enough to get in that ring for anything other than money. MMA is not some traditional martial arts competion with all of its spiritual elements - it's just a bunch of guys looking to get the big paycheck, that's it.
I'm willing to bet my left nut that most of these guys are doped up. Even the Olympians are taking steroids these days.
People get into the ring for money when they first start out. When you get to the level of a Jon Jones or Daniel Cormier then it becomes about more than money. Legacy is what it's about as well.
If Jon Jones just wants to make money he can make movies, do endorsements, do boxing, go to the WWE for a match or two, we are talking about one of the most marketable MMA fighters in history. Conor McGregor is showing that you get to a certain level and you're bigger than MMA and Jon Jones had the opportunity to do the same thing Conor McGregor is doing.
I do think some people fight just for the money but how do you get to be as good at it as a Jon Jones without the spiritual or martial artist element? If he really only cares about the money then he is maybe the most naturally talented fighter in history who simply didn't care about martial arts.
Saying everyone does it isn't really good enough. Yeah a lot of people use PEDs but the majority aren't using actual steroids and those who do aren't usually the most naturally talented. Some fighters really need the steroids but Jon Jones isn't one of the fighters who needed it. He had all the natural gifts anyone could ask for, the fighting IQ, the reach, the natural creativity.
I also want to be clear it's very possible people set Jon Jones up. It's a very jealous world and I wouldn't put it past people close to him to deliberately help him to fail. That said, he should have learned from his first experiences to not fall for that. It's not his first time getting a tainted supplement.
You're suggesting that he didn't know that people around him were putting steroids in his supplements?
Trying to give him a benefit of a doubt.
Why should he get it though? If he already got caught twice, why should he have the benefit of the doubt?
Good point. Most others caught doing the same crime twice don't get sympathy. People make mistakes but the whole point is to learn and never make the same mistake twice.