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Body language experts weigh in on Jon Jones interview

By Phil Watson

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When UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones denied having a cocaine problem in a one-on-one interview this week, some body language experts saw some red flags.

Jon Jones, the UFC light heavyweight champion who tested positive for cocaine before his victory over Daniel Cormier on Jan. 3, told FOX Sports’ Charissa Thompson in a one-on-one interview that he doesn’t have a problem with the drug.

“I know I don’t [have a problem],” Jones said. “There’s no room in my life to be a cocaine addict.”

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Yahoo Sports consulted separately with a couple of leading experts in the field of body language to discuss Jones’ interview.

Janine Driver is a former agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and a deception and body language training officer who wrote the best-seller “You Can’t Lie to Me.”

Driver found eight potential red flags during Jones interview, specifically with his choice of words and some gestures he made throughout the interview.

“When he said that the cocaine he has done was done, ‘Mainly just in college … ,’ another deceptive red flag popped up,” Driver said. “Both the words ‘mainly’ and ‘just’ indicate that there is more than what he’s telling us.

“Plus, then he does a shoulder shrug, which means he’s uncertain. If he’s telling us the truth, what’s he uncertain about?”

Another cause for alarm to Driver was his eye movement.

“When the fighter says he is not a cocaine addict or frequent user, his eyes go to his bottom right, which is indicative of processing information with emotions,” Driver said. “This is a change from his baseline throughout the interview, where he looked to his bottom left, which is internal dialogue or self talk. Why the change in behavior here?”

Another expert in the field, Patti Wood, has an advanced degree in interpersonal communication with an emphasis in non-verbal communication who has consulted with law enforcement agencies and as an expert for several media outlets.

One of the first things Wood noticed was the difference between Jon Jones, the person, and “Bones” Jones, the personality.

“Jon Jones truly does have an on-air, off-air personality and great media coach,” Wood said.

She also said that while Jones looked calm, he was far from it. Wood also found language cues that suggest Jones was perhaps covering up the truth about what had really happened.

When Jones says he was ‘basically at a party’, the use of ‘basically’ acts as a curtain word that covers up the truth and details of what happened at the party. I typically only hear someone use a curtain word in interviews and interrogations and courtroom testimony when they are hiding the truthful details. … A scientist might use the word when trying to describe a complex process that he doesn’t want to spend the time describing to a novice in his field. Jones is not telling you how wild his behavior really was.”

The bottom line in all this analysis—be it from experts such as Driver or Wood or from the self-appointed psychoanalysts that range freely across the Internet—is that if you are a fan of Jones’, you’re going to be more inclined to believe him. If you’re not, you won’t be.

Call it the “Bill Belichick Deflated Football Response” theory.

[H/T: Yahoo Sports]

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