The brother of former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones addressed his four-game ban for violating the NFL’s PED policy, although he never disclosed what he tested positive for.
Jon Jones is currently in hot water for failing his USADA drug test, which nixed his UFC 200 main event rematch vs. Daniel Cormier. He isn’t the only one in his family dealing with a PED failure, as his older brother Arthur is banned for the first 4 games (without pay) of the 2016 NFL regular season. Arthur, who plays defensive lineman for the Indianapolis Colts, did apologize to the Colts organization, fans, and teammates for his drug test failure, and blamed himself for his ban.
Art Jones:”I did a piss poor job of double checking my supplements to make sure nothing was banned.” No more details beyond that.
— Bob Kravitz (@bkravitz) July 26, 2016
This was decidedly less dramatic than Jon’s emotional press conference the day after he was pulled from UFC 200. Arthur did not disclose what he tested positive for, although this breakdown of why he got 4 games was explained by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.
“In 2014, the formula changed to impose a two-game suspension if the player tests positive for a diuretic or masking agent, a four-game suspension if the player tests positive for a stimulant or anabolic agent, and a six-game suspension if he tests positive for a both a “prohibited substance” and a diuretic or masking agent, or if the player attempted to substitute, dilute, or adulterate a specimen, if the player attempted to manipulate a test result, or if the player committed a violation of the law or other documented violation based on credible evidence.
A second violation triggers a 10-game suspension, and a third violation results in a banishment for at least two full seasons.”
So we know that Jones failed for a stimulant or an anabolic agent. The NFL’s banned substances list can be found here. For the record, the substances that Jon failed for — clomiphene and letrozole metabolite — are both on the NFL’s banned list under section 1.d in the “anti-estrogenic agents” classification.
Arthur was signed to a 5 year/$33 million deal ($16 million guaranteed) in 2014 free agency after spending the first four years of his career with the Baltimore Ravens (where he won a Super Bowl ring). He’s started just 3 regular season games for Indianapolis out of a possible 32 in his first two years, with a serious injury denying him the chance to play the whole of last season. Jones’ salary this season is $2.5 million, an agreed reduction from $4.5 million, and there’s no guarantee that he’ll be on Indianapolis’ roster come September.