Dana White Considering Jon Jones vs. ‘Rumble’ Title Eliminator

When top-ranked UFC light heavyweight Anthony Johnson knocked out formerly surging contender Glover Teixiera in a mere 13 seconds (highlights) in the co-main event of last weekend’s (Sat., August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, he was under the impression that he had all but sealed his next shot at champion

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When top-ranked UFC light heavyweight Anthony Johnson knocked out formerly surging contender Glover Teixiera in a mere 13 seconds (highlights) in the co-main event of last weekend’s (Sat., August 20, 2016) UFC 202 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, he was under the impression that he had all but sealed his next shot at champion Daniel Cormier.

With three straight knockout wins over Teixeira, Ryan Bader, and Jimi Manuwa, it was easy to understand “Rumble’s” stance. However, that may not end up being the case according to Dana White.

“Rumble” had largely spent the build-up to his UFC 202 co-headliner against Teixeira trying to distance himself from temporarily suspended longtime former champion Jon Jones, whom he was scheduled to face at 2015’s UFC 187 before “Bones” was stripped of the belt for legal trouble, allowing Cormier to come in and beat him for the title. While “Rumble” is certainly deserving of the next title fight on merit alone, White revealed on today’s “UFC Unfiltered” podcast that the promotion is considering a Jones vs. Johnson title eliminator:

“I’m in a weird place. We saw that fight, and it was a great fight. I’ve still got to talk to (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva and see what he thinks. But I’m thinking maybe we do Anthony Johnson vs. Jon Jones to see who gets to fight Daniel Cormier.”

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Jones, who is temporarily suspended by the NSAC for two potential USADA anti-doping violations that ruined his UFC 200 main event rematch with Cormier, recently released an Instagram video revealing supposedly “really good” news that would allow him to get back into the Octagon soon. News soon followed that Jones’ failure for two banned estrogen blockers may have been due to Cialis, something that White hinted at.

He couldn’t release any official details, but White did note that Jones shockingly has yet another chance for a comeback, and things are realistically “looking good” for his return:

“I haven’t talked to Jon, but the guy’s got 13 lives. It’s looking good for him. I think he’s got to deal with (the) Nevada (State Athletic Commission) right now and this thing that went down. I can’t say a lot about it because it’s not my place. We’ll see how this thing plays out, but it’s looking good for him.”

As one of the most anticipated bouts in all of MMA – and quite possibly the most at light heavyweight – there’s little question that a Jones vs. ‘Rumble’ match-up would do big business and provide a clear-cut title contender in a division that could only be called a mess due to Jones’ seemingly never-ending troubles outside the cage.

But most wanted to see “Bones” vs. “Rumble” for the official title, and it’s a legitimate question if whether or not Jones will be able to make his way through one training camp, let alone the two he would have to in order to finally realize his long-held rivalry with Cormier.

That’s a lot of variables to fall into place, and it could easily be argued that “Rumble” has done much more than Jones in terms of actual fight accomplishments over the last two years. Jones does own a win over the man who beat “Rumble” in Cormier, however.

If you didn’t think the time-honored UFC 205-pound division was messy enough, it could get a whole lot messier in the coming months, fight fans. Stay tuned.

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Confirmed: Jon Jones Tested Positive For Anti-Estrogen Substances

It’s been nearly two weeks since decorated former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones threw the MMA world into complete madness when he was forced out of his scheduled UFC 200 main event against arch nemesis Daniel Cormier due to a potential USADA violation from a June 28 test. The discussion has now shifted to

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It’s been nearly two weeks since decorated former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones threw the MMA world into complete madness when he was forced out of his scheduled UFC 200 main event against arch nemesis Daniel Cormier due to a potential USADA violation from a June 28 test.

The discussion has now shifted to just what will happen to the troubled but talented Jones, and that process got started at today’s (Mon., July 18, 2016) Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) hearing in Las Vegas.

First, it was confirmed by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that Jones had indeed tested positive for anti-estrogen substances as had been speculated by Chael Sonnen and Rashad Evans:

Then word came from FOX Sports’ Damon Martin that Jones would be temporarily suspended until a later hearing:

So the wheels of Jones’ final punishment are in motion, but obviously not anywhere close to stopping for good anytime soon. His team has claimed the standard go-to defense of a tainted supplement, something that UFC athletes Yoel Romero and Tim Means have actually gotten reduced suspensions for after violating the UFC’s new and increased doping policy, which obviously has some kinks still to be worked out.

But the onus is going to fall on Jones here, because at the very least he was responsible for not having a supplement checked for the dangerous red flag of having anti-estrogen substances in them somehow.

It’s simply the latest in a long line of highly-publicized and sad incidents in the saga of Jones, who could potentially face a two-year ban from USADA in the prime of his fighting career.

There’s also no telling how this may affect his probation, which he received for leaving the scene after hitting and fracturing the arm of a 25-year-old pregnant women in Albuquerque last year and was already jailed for violating earlier this year.

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Video: Emotional Jon Jones Apologizes To Lorenzo Fertitta

His UFC 200 light heavyweight title unification bout with Daniel Cormier in the main event of this Saturday night’s (July 9, 2016) blockbuster event from Las Vegas may be ruined, but interim light heavyweight champion Jon Jones let the world know that he’s sorry for failing a USADA drug test and will fight the accusations

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His UFC 200 light heavyweight title unification bout with Daniel Cormier in the main event of this Saturday night’s (July 9, 2016) blockbuster event from Las Vegas may be ruined, but interim light heavyweight champion Jon Jones let the world know that he’s sorry for failing a USADA drug test and will fight the accusations in a short press conference from Las Vegas today.

Suggesting that a tainted supplement could be to blame for his failure, Jones laid out his apology for his fans and his employers, while his manager Malki Kawa laid out some brief details of the course of action they’re planning to take in order to clear “Bones’” name.

For what it’s worth, Jones, who has routinely been accused of being a less-than-genuine person, appeared genuinely distraught and emotional as he was driven to tears while discussing the sticky situation in this short video snippet from today’s presser courtesy of Fancy MMA. Check it out:

During the segment, Jones revealed that while he had not spoken with UFC President Dana White, he had spoken with UFC CEO and co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, to apologize for the massive windfall:

“I have not talked to Dana White yet, but I would like to. I talked to Lorenzo Fertitta and I told him I would never cheat. I pride myself on my work ethic and I just apologized to him.”

As for his upcoming fight with USADA, Jones said his team was going through every supplement he had taken in order to learn more about the banned substance he was pulled off UFC 200 for supposedly taking:

“There’s a few things that have nothing to do with performance that I’ve tried. And, like I said, whatever it is, I can’t even pronounce it, I’ve never even heard of it, so I’m learning about it myself. Right now I’m just going through and thinking everything I’ve taken leading up to the fight, and we’re going through a process of getting everything figured out.”

It’s worth noting that “Bones” did appear genuinely bad about his forced withdrawal from UFC 200, but that won’t save UFC 200, the onetime historical event that will always carry an asterisk from this massive mess that threatens to overshadow three straight nights of incredible martial arts action.

Are you buying Jones’ explanation?

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Jon Jones Hints Tainted Supplement Was Reason For UFC 200 Withdrawal

With the UFC and the entire MMA community still trying to wrap their collective heads around the devastating news that Jon Jones had been removed from his UFC 200 main event against rival Daniel Cormier due to a potential USADA violation, the troubled former champion appeared in front of fans and media in Las Vegas

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With the UFC and the entire MMA community still trying to wrap their collective heads around the devastating news that Jon Jones had been removed from his UFC 200 main event against rival Daniel Cormier due to a potential USADA violation, the troubled former champion appeared in front of fans and media in Las Vegas today (Thurs., July 7, 2016) to address the situation.

First, Jones issued an apology to his UFC and his fans:

“Oh man. I, um, I want to start by apologizing to all the fans, all the fans who came out to support me for UFC 200. Obviously the UFC, the Fertittas, for not being able to perform, and I know there’s been a lot going into this event, all the staff of the UFC. And Daniel Cormier – I want to apologize to Daniel Cormier. I know this fight means a lot to him. The fight meant a lot to me, and the fight’s not happening. I really don’t know what to say. I’m really sorry about this happening.”

From there, his manager Malki Kawa took the mic, noting that the last day was obviously a storm and that they were going to fight the allegations:

“What can I tell you guys is this last 24 hours was a whirlwind. We got the notification from Jeff Novitzky of the UFC that there was a possible flag for some PED violation. We’re here this morning to basically deny that, apologize that this has happened, and go from there. But at this point, we’re not going to get into the details of the notice that we got, simply because we’re going to do what we have to do to fight this.”

Expanding on that, Kawa assured the press that Jones’ B sample was already being tested:

“The B sample’s being tested today.”

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Jones then spoke again, adding that he has never been and is not an advocate of performance-enhancing drugs, and has taken the same supplements throughout his career:

“The whole situation really sucks. It really sucks. It really hurts a lot. You know supposedly they found something in one of my samples I have no clue what it is. I don’t even know how to pronounce it. I’ve been taking the same supplements my whole career. And I’ve been so outspoken about being against any type of performance enhancers; I’m still to this day extremely against performance enhancers. The whole thing sucks because, you know, being labeled as someone who would ever cheat, it just hurts me more than anything else I’ve ever been through in my career. It just sucks, right now I’m kind of like, I don’t really know how I feel about it.”

Kawa took back over again, noting that Jones is still emotional about the whole scenario as they attempt to fight through the necessary steps to clear his already sullied name:

“Obviously it just happened. He’s a little emotional about it; he’s a little distraught about it. It’s not an easy thing for him to swallow. So obviously we’re just going to go step-through-step through the process and take it day-by-day.”

Discussion then shifted to the specifics of Jones’ failure, to which Kawa said he couldn’t go into great detail about. All he could reveal was that the Jones camp felt their fighter would be exonerated by the end of the process:

“From my preliminary understanding of it, absolutely, one hundred percent. So, without saying too much more, you know, I feel like by the time this is all said and done, it’ll be alright.” 

From that point of view, it seemed as if Kawa and Jones were insisting that the failure could have been a tainted supplement, something that has seen previously flagged combatant Yoel Romero and Tim Means receive shortened suspensions after initially being tabbed for PEDs.

With details still scarce, Kawa went as far as to suggest that was the case without saying it outright:

“It could be. I don’t want to say much more than that because I gotta go through all the reasonable steps, but it could be.”

The tainted supplement defense seems to be one that nearly every fighter is using as their go-to fallback when flagged for a potential USADA violation, and indeed, in these early days of working out the kinks of the UFC’s new and increased testing partnership, it may in fact be a viable defense.

But with drug-based (performance-enhancing or not) violations seemingly racking up for Jones with no end in sight, he’s going to have to put together quite the argument to find himself cleared of this one.

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