Rony Jason Still Says He Did Nothing Wrong After Suspension

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Rony Jason (14-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) spoke about his nine-month suspension from MMA and maintains that he didn’t do anything wrong. He was suspended after failing a test for the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide after UFC Fight Night 67. His submission win against Damon Jackson was overturned and his “Performance of the Night” $50,000 bonus was taken away.

On not knowing what went wrong: “They wanted me to admit to it so I’d get a lower suspension, and I said I wasn’t going to do that. I’m not going to confess to a crime I didn’t commit. I’m a gullible guy. I’m at a restaurant with people, I’ll eat what they give me to eat. I’ll drink the water they give me to drink. Sometimes I’ll be finishing up a training session in the locker room and ask for a sip of water. And I’ll drink it. I’m innocent like that. But not anymore. Now I’m wiser.”

On his training partners: “It’s a strong team technically, but to me the most important part is the basic human material and the discipline. Out of 50 people, only me and another two or three guys drink. The rest are insanely focused. They just teach and train. It’s like a parallel universe. When I’m here, I join them in ‘Narnia.’ When I’m away, I’ll party, play around. But here, it’s different. Sometimes I wanna grab a beer on the weekend and I have to beg someone to go. And I still can’t find anyone. They’ll say they’re going running in the park and I’m like, ‘You spent the entire week training, and you wanna go to the park?’ But it’s good because I end up caving, saying fine, and going with them.”

On who he’d like to fight: “It’d be awesome to fight a guy like, say, Diego Sanchez. He’d plant his feet, I’d plant mine and we’d trade until one of us collapsed. But guys like Dominick Cruz and T.J. Dillashaw, I don’t like that. It’d be like throwing a chicken inside a cage and having me follow it. They want to hit, but don’t want to get hit. They want to play alone. They take the video game controller and won’t share it!”