UFC star Jon Jones could be back in the Octagon sooner than initially anticipated.
While some feared the interim light-heavyweight champion would face an automatic two-year suspension stemming from a failed drug test, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) issued a one-year ban to Jones on Monday following an arbitration ruling.
Jones tested positive for anti-estrogen agents clomiphene and letrozole in an out-of-competition urine test on June 16, 2016. Those test results results came back on July 6, three days prior to Jones’s scheduled UFC 200 title unification fight with Daniel Cormier. Jones was subsequently pulled from the fight.
Monday’s decision was rendered one week after a lengthy evidentiary hearing. The suspension is retroactive to his failed test, which means he would be eligible to return to competition as early as July 6, 2017.
Both clomiphene and letrozole are “Specified Substances in the class of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators and are prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List,” according to USADA.
During the arbitration process, Jones, who had passed seven other drug tests leading up to his scheduled fight with Cormier, claimed he ingested a sexual-performance pill, which was later found to be contaminated with the two prohibited substances.
If you enjoy legal jargon, you can read the full arbitration ruling here.
The UFC released the following statement in response to the suspension:
“UFC is aware of the one-year sanction levied against Jon Jones as a result of his UFC Anti-Doping Policy violation, decided by a three-person arbitration panel held on Monday, October 31, 2016. UFC has been advised that the one-year suspension commenced on Wednesday, July 6, 2016. While the decision indicates no evidence of Jones’ intentional use of banned substances, it does highlight the care and diligence that is required by athletes competing in the UFC to ensure that no prohibited substances enter their system.”
“Although I was hopeful for a better outcome in the USADA ruling today I am very respectful of the process in which they allowed me to defend myself,” Jones said in a statement released to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. “I have always maintained my innocence and I am very happy I have been cleared in any wrongdoing pursuant to the allegations made that I had intentionally taken a banned substance. I am pleased that in USADA’s investigation they determined I was ‘not a cheater of the sport.’
“Being cleared of these allegations was very important to me. I have worked hard in and outside of the octagon to regain my image and my fighting career and will take these next eight months to continue my training and personal growth both as a man and a athlete. Thank you to all of my fans, teammates, coaches, sponsors and to the UFC for their continued support.”
Jones and his manager, Malki Kawa, said in July they believed the failed test could have been an issue with a supplement Jones took.
“I don’t know what to say,” an emotional Jones told reporters in Las Vegas the morning after he was removed from UFC 200. “I would never take anything that would enhance my game. I would never cheat.”
This suspension is the latest in a series of missteps from Jones, who is also facing a fine and potential suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) since UFC 200 took place in Las Vegas. The 29-year-old had a tumultuous 2015, testing positive for cocaine metabolites in January then being suspended and stripped of his title after a hit-and-run accident in Albuquerque. He returned to competition in April 2016 at UFC 197 defeating Ovince Saint Preux by unanimous decision to win the interim title. Against Cormier, Jones would’ve had the chance to earn back the 205-pound title he never truly lost.
Ironically enough, Jones was replaced at UFC 200 by Anderson Silva, who was issued a one-year suspension by the NSAC in 2015 for a failed drug test that he also blamed on a tainted sexual enhancement supplement.
