(“Yeah, I thought I had a great..uh…fight and, uh…hey, does anyone want one of these cheeseburgers?” Photo via Getty.)
Yes, you read that headline correctly. Just days after cementing his G.O.A.T status via a dominant five-round decision over rival Daniel Cormier at UFC 182, Jon Jones has announced that he will be entering a drug treatment facility.
Why? Because, and you’re going to find this hilarious if we know your sense of humor, he actually tested positive for benzoylecgonine, the main metabolite in cocaine, in a random drug test administered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on December 4th.
Jones released a statement to Yahoo Sports earlier this evening, which can be found below.
With the support of my family, I have entered into a drug treatment facility. I want to apologize to my fiancée, my children, as well as my mother, father, and brothers for the mistake that I made. I also want to apologize to the UFC, my coaches, my sponsors and equally important to my fans. I am taking this treatment program very seriously. Therefore, at this time my family and I would appreciate privacy.
Now, you’re probably asking yourself things like, “What’s Jones’ punishment going to be?” and “Did the NSAC know that his test result was positive prior to UFC 182?” The answers are actually quite simple: 1) Nothing and 2) Yes, they did, but because benzoylecgonine is not banned out-of-competition, the commission was unable to penalize Jones or prevent him from fighting despite knowing of the positive test.
They did, however, choose to remain silent on the issue until now, which seems like complete and utter bullshit at first, but then again, it was also a decision that will give us plenty to talk about on a non-fight week. So, thanks for that, I guess?
It should be mentioned that Jones passed a follow-up test conducted later in December.
So much to unpack. Why is a month out from the biggest fight of your career not considered “in-competition”? Why is marijuana banned out of competition but not cocaine? Should the UFC have cancelled Jones-Cormier (no). Isn’t it strange that this news comes just days after the UFC announced an end to in-house, out-of competition drug testing? Is Jon Jones going up the rails on a crazy train?
We’ll have more on this breaking news as information is made available.