It looks like Jones won himself a belt he’s going to get to keep, at least for a few more months. Despite “pulses” of Turinabol in his tests leading up to UFC 232, Jones’ “in competition” samples have come back clean.
The UFC won’t need to think about stripping Jon Jones of the light heavyweight title again. At least, not just yet. The re-crowned king of the 205 lb division has reportedly cleared his ‘in competition’ drug tests from UFC 232 — including no signs of the reported Turinabol ‘picograms’ that saw the event moved from Nevada to California at the last minute.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported the news on Twitter, as relayed to him by the California State Athletic Commission.
Breaking: Jon Jones was drug tested by USADA and the California State Athletic Commission on the night of UFC 232 on Dec. 29 and all tests have come back clean. No picograms of the M3 metabolite, which was the source of all the controversy and drama last month, were found.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) January 10, 2019
The win on December 29th over Alexander Gustafsson marked the 3rd return from suspension for Jones, whose career has largely been derailed since 2015 due to a number of conduct and PED suspensions. Jones defeated Gustafsson via TKO in the 3rd round in what was a mostly dominant rematch of their close 2013 title fight.
And while this news definitely will let the UFC breathe a sigh of relief – and give Jones the chance to make a quick turnaround for a potential UFC 235 fight against top contender Anthony Smith – it does leave core concerns unanswered. Most notably, what happens if Jones tests positive for Turinabol again? How does USADA and the UFC handle testing for an athlete that seemingly could fail at any time for a drug possibly ingested years before.
And where does that leave other fighters who may encounter similar drug test failures within the USADA system?
For right this moment, Jon Jones is champion once again. But, the decision to green light his most recent title fight still leaves more questions than answers.