Verdict’s in…

In case you haven’t been keeping up with everyone’s favorite cage fighting junkie, Jon Jones has been awaiting sentencing on his arbitration case held last monday with USADA. After testing positive for estrogen blockers clomiphene and Letrozol, Jones proclaimed his innocence and vowed to be vindicated. And he was, kinda.

While USADA did slap Jones with a full one year suspension for his violation, they did make it a point to include that “the applicant was not a drug cheat”, and that the suspension was mainly due to “his degree of fault”, which “verged on the reckless”. In layman’s terms, Jon was negligent and irresponsible with the substances he was putting inside his body.

“On the evidence before the Panel, the Applicant is not a drug cheat,” the arbitrators wrote in their epilogue. “He did not know that the tablet he took contained prohibited substances or that those substances had the capacity to enhance sporting performance. However by his imprudent use of what he pungently referred to as a ‘dick pill’ he has not only lost a year of his career but an estimated nine million dollars. This outcome which he admits to be a wake-up call for him should serve as a warning to all others who participate in the same sport.”

What could be the reasoning for such a major oversight? “Dick Pills.” He claims he took pills from a teammate that were suppose to be for sexual performance. Unfortunately for Jones the pill didn’t just get him hot and bothered, it also caught the attention of the authorities.

While it may seem like 1 year is not so bad (seeing as it would start back in July 2016), you have to remember that he could be facing a further 2 year suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. While one of those years would be concurrently, that still means it could possibly be several years before the G.O.A.T could fight again.

Now I don’t know about you guys but his line of defense seems pretty thin. Most likely it was a story he was advised to tell to have some sort of excuse for his negligence. Yoel Romero took a substance in a mark bottle with a list of substances; the substance he did get popped for wasn’t listed in the ingredients – this is a whole nother story.

“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. I have always maintained my innocence and I am very happy I have been cleared in any wrong doing 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.”

While a moral victory for Jones, he definitely felt the long arm of the law on this one. Here’s to hoping it stays at one year. What do you think of USADA’s verdict, fair or foul play?

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