How successful would TJ have been without EPO?

It's interesting that Jones seems to be the only fighter who is acknowledged as being so talented that he didn't need PEDs. (Not stating this as a fact, but I hear it a lot)

In light of TJ testing positive for EPO, the general attitude seems to be that he wouldn't have amounted to much without the help of PEDs.

What say you?

I think he'd still be top 5, if not champ.

 

Top 5-10

 

He'd have been champ imo

 

Probably the same

 

How are we supposed to know? Is there some type of science report about the effect of EPO on MMA competitors that we were supposed to read prior to commenting?

 

Without the epo he probably couldn't have trained as hard or put in as many reps in drilling. Or have the endurance to use his constant movement to look for openings for his entries and counters

 

Why no "not sure" category?

 

People should think intelligently and ask why he thought he needed it in the first place.

 

champ

 

there is no way of knowing.

 

Adding a "don't know" option for you, buddy.

 

Not much different. Maybe he wouldn't have finished Barao in the last round but the fight would have gone about the same. Cejudo still would have TKOed him in 30 seconds.

 

The real answer is there is no way of knowing or even making an intelligent estimate without knowing where his clean baseline performance is.

 

Still BW GOAT like he currently is

 

We won't and can't know unfortunately. But you have to hold it against his legacy regardless. That's the risk you run in using banned substances. If you get caught, you never get to claim full legitmacy ever again.

 

This is so retarded. How could we know how talented Jones is/was if we have never seen him fight without PEDs?

 

There's no way to know

 

Absolutely proposterous; being so smug as to venturing into the darkness of the unknown

 

Would have gotten knocked out by even more flyweights. PEDs are known to help recovery and chin, who knows since Barao was landing some decent shots the 1st fight and Cody might have even finished him the 1st fight if Dilly didn’t have the recovery and speed.

 

Exactly.

This is the thing shertards don't understand. They say Jon Jones is "so talented that he doesn't need to cheat'... but maybe that talent came from being able to put in 2x the hours that non-PED users did? Clean athletes just can't train that long without damaging their bodies. Using PEDs enhances your cardio (longer training) and tissue recovery (less wear and tear).

I would argue the biggest benefit to athletes like Jones & TJ is all the extra quality training time they get due to PEDs.