Jon Jones tested positive for cocaine earlier this week! You know what that means, right? If you guessed an overhaul of drug testing procedures and increased transparency from the Nevada Athletic Commission and the UFC, you’d be wrong. No, what this significant development in MMA means is another Wanderlei Silva pro wrestling-style shoot promo.
He set his sights on the NAC, bashing them for ruining Jones’ reputation and for being the bumbling, corrupt idiots we all sort of know they are (transcript via MMA Fighting). Read it after the jump.
Jon Jones tested positive for cocaine earlier this week! You know what that means, right? If you guessed an overhaul of drug testing procedures and increased transparency from the Nevada Athletic Commission and the UFC, you’d be wrong. No, what this significant development in MMA means is another Wanderlei Silva pro wrestling-style shoot promo.
He set his sights on the NAC, bashing them for ruining Jones’ reputation and for being the bumbling, corrupt idiots we all sort of know they are (transcript via MMA Fighting):
Let’s analyze what happened to Jon Jones. [The NAC is] saying that test shouldn’t have been done out of competition and that it was an accident. So they went to test him and accidentally tested for cocaine. But now Jon Jones’ champion image is damaged. So what’s the commission going to do about this? They go, ‘ah, we don’t know, we’ll see what’s going to happen.’ Are there laws or are there no laws? Sometimes there are laws and sometimes there are none? There are no protocols to be followed? Where are the laws? Who voted for them? Who implements them? You are lost, you don’t know what you are doing.
Good points. He’d go on to make a few more…
This sport has to be regulated. The way that it’s going can’t continue. This commission is a mess. They don’t know what they are [doing]. You can punish or not? There’s no set punishment, there’s no set testing system. You guys have to be professionals, you ask for fighters to be professionals when you are not. How can you want to put people on trial without laws? Without laws that apply equally to all? Everybody knows the UFC is a business. They put on fights to make money, and in those regards they’re not wrong. But the entity that implements the laws for the athletes, the entity that punishes athletes and controls their lives yet doesn’t know what they’re doing, just can’t be. It’s a commission that doesn’t follow protocols or laws. So you better clean up this mess. Instead of regulating it, you are damaging the sport.
While Silva’s words have truth to them (hell, we agree with pretty much all of them) they sound awfully strange coming from the guy who literally ran away from a piss-cup-carrying commission member.
And Silva has released scathing videos like this before, one on fighter sponsorships and the other on fighter pay. Being a disgraced fighter and habitually releasing scathing videos is putting Silva dangerously close to fringe MMA weirdo territory — think Luke Cummo and Dan Quinn. And once you become one of those guys, there’s no coming back. You’re condemned to signing autographs in third-rate pizza places for all eternity.
We still want to love you, Wandy, you’re just making it harder and harder. So instead of latching onto the popular cause of the minute every few weeks, please figure out how to escape your UFC contract so we can watch you murder professional wrestlers in Bellator.
LAS VEGAS — In the wake of Jon Jones‘ failed test for cocaine metabolites, social media lit up with discussion over Jones’ curious testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratios. Victor Conte, the man who was famously involved with the BALCO doping scandal, took to social media to note that Jones’ T/E ratio was out of line with the norm. […]
LAS VEGAS — In the wake of Jon Jones‘ failed test for cocaine metabolites, social media lit up with discussion over Jones’ curious testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratios. Victor Conte, the man who was famously involved with the BALCO doping scandal, took to social media to note that Jones’ T/E ratio was out of line with the norm. […]
While there’s been a lot of hubbub (rightfully) made about Jon Jones’ positive test for cocaine and the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s subsequent bumblefucking of his case, it’s taken (some of) us a couple days to see another, perhaps greater abnormality in Jones’ sample. Also, I just used hubbub and bumblefuck in the same sentence and probably deserve some kind of award for that.
As you already know, Jones’ two tests on December 4th both came back positive for traces of cocaine metabolites, with his follow-up test on the 18th coming back clean. All three tests, however, showed significantly lower than usual levels of testosterone, which for a young athlete of Jones’ level is unusual to say the very least.
Jones’ first test (the “watery” sample) is pictured above. As you can see, Jones’ testosterone levels measured at 59ng/dL, and his epitestosterone levels measured at 170ng/dL. This raises several red flags, as the range for epitestosterone is usually similar to that of testosterone (hence the 1:1 T/E ratio that is considered normal). Jones’ second and third tests are after the jump.
Now, there are a few possible explanations as to why Jones’ T/E ratio could come back so abnormal…
While there’s been a lot of hubbub (rightfully) made about Jon Jones’ positive test for cocaine and the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s subsequent bumblefucking of his case, it’s taken (some of) us a couple days to see another, perhaps greater abnormality in Jones’ sample. Also, I just used hubbub and bumblefuck in the same sentence and probably deserve some kind of award for that.
As you already know, Jones’ two tests on December 4th both came back positive for traces of cocaine metabolites, with his follow-up test on the 18th coming back clean. All three tests, however, showed significantly lower than usual levels of testosterone, which for a young athlete of Jones’ level is unusual to say the very least.
Jones’ first test (the “watery” sample) is pictured above. As you can see, Jones’ testosterone levels measured at 59ng/dL, and his epitestosterone levels measured at 170ng/dL. This raises several red flags, as the range for epitestosterone is usually similar to that of testosterone (hence the 1:1 T/E ratio that is considered normal). Jones’ second and third tests are after the jump.
Now, there are a few possible explanations as to why Jones’ T/E ratio could come back so abnormal…(as BloodyElbow’s Iain Kidd theorizes):
What possible explanations are there for such odd results? Well for the low testosterone there are plenty. The normal levels are those taken first thing in the morning. If Jon Jones was tested late in the day, his levels would be slightly lower than normal anyway. If the tests came after a strenuous training session, this would lower them even further. Certain drugs, especially opiate based painkillers, can also have a very significant, though temporary, effect on testosterone levels and production.
I am personally unaware of any natural reason for epitestosterone to be so much higher than testosterone. Readings such as this are typically seen as red flags for drug testing agencies, as exogenous epitestosterone (that is, epitestosterone administered from an external source, not produced naturally by the body) is banned due to its use as a masking agent. Athletes were using epitestosterone to ensure their T:E ratios would not be too high on standard urine tests, leading to the ban by WADA and other organisations.
As every website reporting on these levels have noted, none of these explanations should be considered fact until all the information is out there. Considering that NSAC executive director Bob Bennett told reporters yesterday that the lab responsible for testing Jones might *also* have screwed up in regards to what he was actually tested for, it’s too early to really start lobbing any potentially libelous claims Jones’ way.
Jones’ second test is below. Although his T levels had risen to a much more normal 180ng/dL, note his higher-than-average 610ng/dL E levels.
His December 18th test, on the other hand, still shows a lower-than normal 180ng/dL, but his epitestosterone levels are off the charts at 2000ng/dL.
So what does this mean? Well, at the risk of being forced to print another retraction, we’ll just say that the results possibly indicate that an external/synthetic form of epitestosterone could be behind Jones’ abnormal samples. But as Kidd continues:
It has to be noted that urine testing for testosterone levels is significantly less accurate than blood testing. All three tests appear to be urine tests only. It’s also possible that the concentration/dilution of Jones’ urine mean his levels look abnormal. It should not affect the relative ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, though. Nor do I believe it would explain the drastic change in epitestosterone level between his December 4th and December 18th test, since his testosterone levels do not show the same rate of increase.
Of course, there’s an easy way to put all of these rumors to rest, as Dr. Johnny Benjamin and Victor Conte have both pointed out on Twitter. By using a carbon isotope test on Jones’s stored samples, NSAC would be able to accurately determine if he was using synthetic testosterone or epitestosterone, which could result in an even bigger shitstorm for the much-troubled champion. Of course, the NSAC being NSAC, these tests will likely never happen. Which…
Again, we will hopefully have more definitive answers regarding Jones’ case when the NSAC meets next Monday.
Related: Oh, had we forgotten to mention that there’s a possibility that Jones perjured himself while speaking in front of the commission back in September? Because yeah, that too (via MMAFighting):
Jon Jones told the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) in September that he lost his Nike endorsement due to a brawl he had with Daniel Cormier during a press event in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Last week, Jones backtracked from that statement and now the Nevada deputy attorney general is reviewing whether or not Jones perjured himself under oath at the hearing, MMAFighting.com has learned.
NAC executive director Bob Bennett said the commission is aware of Jones’ comments prior to UFC 182 and the matter has been sent up the ladder.
“They’re considering it for review,” Bennett said. “It’s nothing new to us.
“It would be concerning if anyone lied during testimony.”
According to Jones himself, he “definitely worded it wrong.”
“Nike did not drop me because of that fight and I kind of owe an apology to Nike for saying they dropped me because of the fight.” said Jones during a media conference call. “They actually didn’t. Nike has been known to support its athletes through much worse things than a brawl in the middle of MGM [Grand].”
So basically, I’ve just used a lot of words to describe the past couple months of Jon Jones’ life, when it can all be summed up in a 3-minute song.
(Yeah, that’s pretty much all we can do at this point.)
As you might expect, the news of Jon Jones’ positive test for cocaine did not come without its fair share of questions from both fans and media members, questions like “Why wasn’t Jones punished prior to UFC 182?”, “Will he be punished now?” and “If cocaine isn’t banned out-of-competition, why was he tested for it in the first place?” And those are all sensible questions that the Nevada State Athletic Commission would love to answer. The problem is, none of them can seem to get their stories straight.
Where to begin, where to begin. I guess we should start with the date that NSAC was made aware of Jones’ test failure, which according to NSAC chairman Francisco Aguilar in an exclusive statement made to MMAFighting, was “around” December 23rd. While the UFC was informed shortly thereafter, Jones was not made aware of his positive test until two days after his fight with Cormier, for whatever reason. The UFC has declined to share their timeline of events in this matter, which isn’t sketchy in the least bit.
As to why Jones was being tested for cocaine in the first place? Well, it starts to get really, really murky there…
(Yeah, that’s pretty much all we can do at this point.)
As you might expect, the news of Jon Jones’ positive test for cocaine did not come without its fair share of questions from both fans and media members, questions like “Why wasn’t Jones punished prior to UFC 182?”, “Will he be punished now?” and “If cocaine isn’t banned out-of-competition, why was he tested for it in the first place?” And those are all sensible questions that the Nevada State Athletic Commission would love to answer. The problem is, none of them can seem to get their stories straight.
Where to begin, where to begin. I guess we should start with the date that NSAC was made aware of Jones’ test failure, which according to NSAC chairman Francisco Aguilar in an exclusive statement made to MMAFighting, was “around” December 23rd. While the UFC was informed shortly thereafter, Jones was not made aware of his positive test until two days after his fight with Cormier, for whatever reason. The UFC has declined to share their timeline of events in this matter, which isn’t sketchy in the least bit.
As to why Jones was being tested for cocaine in the first place? Well, it starts to get really, really murky there, because it turns out that Jones was tested twice on December 4th after his first sample came back “watery,” and both samples came back positive for trace amounts of cocaine metabolites. This is according to NSAC executive director Bob Bennett, who then attempted to answer why Jones was tested for a drug that isn’t banned out-of-competition by claiming “an administrative oversight.”
“That was a bit of an anomaly that will be addressed [at the next NAC hearing on] Jan. 12.” Bennett told MMAFighting. “It was not a report requested by the NAC. It appears to have been an administrative oversight.”
Of course, Bennett also revealed that Jones was then tested *again* on December 18th — or nearly a week before NSAC had been informed of his previous failure — and passed with flying colors. While Bennett was quick to claim that Jones wasn’t tested for “street drugs” in his follow-up test, Aguilar told Yahoo! Sports that Jones actually was. A quick look over the actual test results seems to coincide with Aguilar’s understanding of things:
Accept that they don’t, because in a follow-up interview with MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani, Bennett then claimed that the lab responsible for carrying out Jones’ test “copied the info that they put in the 12/4 test results but DID NOT test Jones for any recreational drugs on 12/18.” For what it’s worth, Aguilar told Kevin Iole that wasn’t sure of the exact date of Jones’ second test, but that it happened “about a week later, Dec. 11 or Dec. 12.”
So Jones may or may not have been tested for cocaine on two separate occasions, depending on which member of NSAC you are asking, and his second test was conducted before the results of his first were made available. Also, no one really seems to know when he was tested, and either the lab messed up what he was actually tested for or Bennett is flat-out lying to us. Now would probably be a good time to reiterate that these are the people the UFC deferred its out-of-competition drug testing because they were the more competent of the two.
The tl;dr version, in case you’re having trouble keeping track of all this…
But let’s get to Jones’ possible punishment, shall we? According to WADA code, the Nevada State Athletic Commission would have no grounds to punish Jones for his drug test failure because it did not come during WADA’s definition of “in competition” — the 12-hour stretch before a contest, as well as the time needed to collect any test samples immediately afterwards. The problem is, those very codes actually state that, yes, NSAC can very well punish Jones for his test failure (via Bleacher Report):
But Nevada allows the Athletic Commission great leeway. In fact, Nevada code allows the Athletic Commission to revoke a fighter’s license for:
“cause deemed sufficient by the Commission upon a hearing as provided for in NRS 467.113.”
The state likely could have stopped the fight had they desired to based on this catch-all provision. Of course, Nevada is the same state that allowed Floyd Mayweather to delay his jail sentence in order to fight Miguel Cotto in 2012. Combat sports are big business in Nevada, capable of injecting upwards of $100 million into the local community with each major bout.
Additionally, Jones’ positive test also violates the UFC’s Code of Conduct, which states that “Discipline may be imposed for misconduct, which includes without limitation, the following examples: …criminal offenses relating to performance-enhancing and prohibited substances, or substance abuse …” But if you honestly think the UFC is going to punish Jones beyond giving him a pat on the back for entering rehab, then we’ve got a bridge to sell you.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission will meet on Monday to discuss any and all issues related to Jones’ test, and hopefully we’ll get some actual, definitive answers then. Until then, let’s all just sit back and enjoy the glorious clusterfuck that is our sport.
ESPN reported yesterday that Belfort passed the blood and urine test that he submitted at the request of the NSAC on November 1st, coming up negative for all banned substances. Belfort’s blood serum testosterone levels were also within normal range. According to NSAC executive director Bob Bennett, the UFC paid for the cost of Belfort’s test.
ESPN reported yesterday that Belfort passed the blood and urine test that he submitted at the request of the NSAC on November 1st, coming up negative for all banned substances. Belfort’s blood serum testosterone levels were also within normal range. According to NSAC executive director Bob Bennett, the UFC paid for the cost of Belfort’s test.
Yahoo!’s Kevin Iole reported this weekend that the Nevada State Athletic Commission subjected UFC middleweight title contender Vitor Belfort to a random drug test on Saturday — his first such test since being granted a conditional license in Nevada on July 23rd. According to the Yahoo! report, a collector representing the Nevada commission took blood and urine samples from Belfort in Florida, where the fighter currently lives and trains.
Belfort was cooperative with the procedure, and did not attempt to escape out the side door of his gym like some people we know. Results from Belfort’s test will not be ready for approximately two weeks. (Suspense!)
Nevada’s decision to finally drop a rando on Belfort followed a public shaming led by Chris Weidman and MMA news outlets like us, who screamed at the NSAC to do its damn job after it came out that the Nevada commission wasn’t testing Belfort like it had promised in the wake of his failed drug test for elevated testosterone back in February. However, NSAC executive director Bob Bennett told Yahoo! Sports that he had always planned to have Belfort tested — it just took a bit longer than we expected.
Yahoo!’s Kevin Iole reported this weekend that the Nevada State Athletic Commission subjected UFC middleweight title contender Vitor Belfort to a random drug test on Saturday — his first such test since being granted a conditional license in Nevada on July 23rd. According to the Yahoo! report, a collector representing the Nevada commission took blood and urine samples from Belfort in Florida, where the fighter currently lives and trains.
Belfort was cooperative with the procedure, and did not attempt to escape out the side door of his gym like some people we know. Results from Belfort’s test will not be ready for approximately two weeks. (Suspense!)
Nevada’s decision to finally drop a rando on Belfort followed a public shaming led by Chris Weidman and MMA news outlets like us, who screamed at the NSAC to do its damn job after it came out that the Nevada commission wasn’t testing Belfort like it had promised in the wake of his failed drug test for elevated testosterone back in February. However, NSAC executive director Bob Bennett told Yahoo! Sports that he had always planned to have Belfort tested — it just took a bit longer than we expected.
