Jon Jones is a free man.
The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion sees his one-year sanction by the United States Anti Doping Agency end today. Jones is scheduled to face current champion Daniel Cormier for the title July 29 at UFC 214 after missing over 18 months of action.
Jones tested positive for clomiphene in an out-of-competition drug test that forced him out of his UFC 200 unification bout with Daniel Cormier. Jones would later claim that he ingested a tainted sexual-performance substance, something that was later confirmed by USADA. However, the case arbiters ruled that Jones should have followed up and done his homework on the substance he was taking, calling him 'reckless.'
Jones, 29, tested positive for the presence of two prohibited substances, clomiphene and letrozole, following an out-of-competition urine test on June 16, 2016.Clomiphene and letrozole are both 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. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, the standard sanction for a policy violation involving a Specified Substance is a one-year period of ineligibility.
Depending on the athlete’s degree of fault for the doping offense, the sanction for an anti-doping policy violation involving Specified Substances can range from a reprimand and no period of ineligibility, up to the standard one-year period of ineligibility. Here, the MGSS Panel, comprised entirely of specially trained arbitrators from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, concluded that Jones’ degree of fault was at the very top end of the scale.
The supplement in question was manufactured under the name "All American Peptide," under standards that the arbiters stated were much less rigorous than WADA standards. The panel also recommended not giving Jones the six-month reduced sentences that Yoel Romero and Tim Means received, as they both proved their tainted supplements didn't have the drug listed on their packaging.
It was made clear by arbiters that Jones shouldn't be considered a drug cheat, but should have followed up on what he was taking.
Jones' longtime rival Daniel Cormier posted a message to the former champ on Twitter, begging Jones to not mess up ahead of UFC 214.
UFC 214 takes place July 29 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
