The clash between former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) continues in full force after “Bones” tested positive for banned substances prior to UFC 200 this past July. Jones has proclaimed he will return to action soon while a generic form of Cialis has been pinpointed as a possible reason why the 29-year-old popped under USADA watch.
It now seems as if Jones is even closer to exonerating himself and returning to a sport he has dominated his entire career. According to Jones’ lawyer, Howard Jacobs, the independent tests that USADA administered on the substances Jones took earlier this year have all come back positive, marking the entire crop “contaminated.”
SB Nation’s Luke Thomas recently spoke with Jacobs and transcribed the conversation via Twitter:
Howard Jacobs also tells me, like Romero, USADA independently tested substances Jones took. Their tests confirm presence of banned…
— Luke Thomas (@SBNLukeThomas) October 21, 2016
…substances, meaning the entire crop of them is contaminated.
— Luke Thomas (@SBNLukeThomas) October 21, 2016
If that’s the case, and USADA/NAC are acting rationally as well as within precedent, Jones should be competing soon.
— Luke Thomas (@SBNLukeThomas) October 21, 2016
Remember, Yoel Romero was suspended just six months earlier this year after it was revealed that a contaminated dietary supplement he took following a victory over Ronaldo Souza at UFC 194 this past December was the cause for failing an out-of-competition USADA test. If Jones can somehow seal his fate in the same matter, he could significantly lower his punishment and make a return to the cage as soon as January of 2017.
Stick with Mania as more news regarding Jones becomes available.