After being handed a one year suspension by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) regarding a failed UFC 200 drug test, former longtime UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones was stripped by the promotion of his interim 205-pound title. Despite that, it’s likely that Jones will fight for the title upon his return given the
After being handed a one year suspension by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) regarding a failed UFC 200 drug test, former longtime UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones was stripped by the promotion of his interim 205-pound title. Despite that, it’s likely that Jones will fight for the title upon his return given the scarcity of the division as well as his past accomplishments inside the Octagon, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be headlining an event.
In fact, UFC President Dana White said that he will not trust the former pound-for-pound king moving forward:
“I don’t trust Jon going forward,” White said, according to Luke Thomas of MMA Fighting. “I would never take the risk of headlining a card with Jon Jones again.”
The failed drug test, which forced Jones to withdraw from his scheduled UFC 200 rematch with Daniel Cormier just days prior to the event, isn’t the first issue he’s had outside of the Octagon. After his first bout with Cormier in January 2015, it was made clear that he had tested positive for Cocaine metabolites. He was then arrested on hit-and-run charges in April 2015, forcing him out of a scheduled title fight with Anthony Johnson, and leading the promotion to strip him of his title.
Here’s to hoping Jones can once and for all fix his issues outside of the cage and return to the fight game.
The full decision (PDF) in Jon Jones arbitration case against USADA makes for illuminating reading, and explains a lot more than just the statement that USADA issued along with it. It describes Jones, lawyer Howard Jacobs, and agent Malki Kawa attempting to make a case that is full of holes. The story goes something like this…
On June 14th or thereabouts, Jones was eating dinner with Eric Blasich, a new teammate at JacksonWink MMA, when Blasich told Jones that that he had been taking what he said was Cialis, the brand name for the erectile dysfunction drug tadalafil. Jones, who had previously taken Viagra (sildenafil) and understood the two drugs to be similar, asked Blasich if he could give him one. Blasich got the pills from his car and Jones took one immediately.
The “Cialis” was actually something that Blasich ordered from a website called “All American Peptides” without a prescription. The site is currently “down for maintenance,” but you can view an archive of their page for tadalafil. The package that they sell has the following disclaimers:
“This Product is for CHEMICAL RESEARCH USE ONLY. NOT INTENDED FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION/USE. WARNING: If product is ingested accidently contact Poison Control.“
“This product is not a drug, food, or cosmetic and should not be misbranded, misused or mislabelled (sic) as a drug, food or cosmetic.“
Both the samples sent from Jones/Blasich and the ones that USADA ordered from the website tested positive not just for clomiphene and letrozole, the drugs Jones tested positive for, but also tamoxifen, a similar banned substance that didn’t come up in his tests. Blasich did have receipts to prove that he had ordered and received the capsules before Jones claimed to have ingested one…though the receipts also indicated he ordered clomiphene. Aside from maybe that last part, you take all of this into account and you have a case where, while there’s sketchiness, Jones did not intend to take the banned drugs. So why did he get the full one year suspension?
The sketchiness and lack of due diligence on Jones’ part plays into it, as the past sports arbitration cases cited as precedent establish that the athlete was being responsible and couldn’t have expected any kind of contamination. Jones didn’t do that, instead asking a new teammate for prescription erectile dysfunction medication almost out of the blue (Blasich talking about it doesn’t mean he’s offering it). Then he took an unmarked pill from someone he barely knew in spite of being a drug tested athlete.
The other problem was that Jones didn’t declare Cialis by any name on his forms with USADA. You’re supposed to put down every medication and supplement you’re taking so you can’t just test positive for something and say “Hey, I found a contaminated supplement with that in it!” later. Jones “gave different excuses for that lack of candour, embarrassment about disclosure of his use of so called Cialis on the one hand, perceived irrelevance on the other.” There was also concern over Tamoxifen not being found in his drug test, but the dosages in the capsules were inconsistent enough to explain that.
In closing, here’s how the arbitrators summarized their decision:
On the evidence before the Panel, the Applicant is not a drug cheat. He did not know that the tablet he took contained prohibited substances or that those substances had the capacity to enhance sporting performance. However by his imprudent use of what he pungently referred to as a “dick pill” he has not only lost a year of his career but an estimated nine million dollars. This outcome which he admits to be a wake-up call for him should serve as a warning to all others who participate in the same sport.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quochOMLsls
The full decision (PDF) in Jon Jones arbitration case against USADA makes for illuminating reading, and explains a lot more than just the statement that USADA issued along with it. It describes Jones, lawyer Howard Jacobs, and agent Malki Kawa attempting to make a case that is full of holes. The story goes something like this…
On June 14th or thereabouts, Jones was eating dinner with Eric Blasich, a new teammate at JacksonWink MMA, when Blasich told Jones that that he had been taking what he said was Cialis, the brand name for the erectile dysfunction drug tadalafil. Jones, who had previously taken Viagra (sildenafil) and understood the two drugs to be similar, asked Blasich if he could give him one. Blasich got the pills from his car and Jones took one immediately.
The “Cialis” was actually something that Blasich ordered from a website called “All American Peptides” without a prescription. The site is currently “down for maintenance,” but you can view an archive of their page for tadalafil. The package that they sell has the following disclaimers:
“This Product is for CHEMICAL RESEARCH USE ONLY. NOT INTENDED FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION/USE. WARNING: If product is ingested accidently contact Poison Control.“
“This product is not a drug, food, or cosmetic and should not be misbranded, misused or mislabelled (sic) as a drug, food or cosmetic.“
Both the samples sent from Jones/Blasich and the ones that USADA ordered from the website tested positive not just for clomiphene and letrozole, the drugs Jones tested positive for, but also tamoxifen, a similar banned substance that didn’t come up in his tests. Blasich did have receipts to prove that he had ordered and received the capsules before Jones claimed to have ingested one…though the receipts also indicated he ordered clomiphene. Aside from maybe that last part, you take all of this into account and you have a case where, while there’s sketchiness, Jones did not intend to take the banned drugs. So why did he get the full one year suspension?
The sketchiness and lack of due diligence on Jones’ part plays into it, as the past sports arbitration cases cited as precedent establish that the athlete was being responsible and couldn’t have expected any kind of contamination. Jones didn’t do that, instead asking a new teammate for prescription erectile dysfunction medication almost out of the blue (Blasich talking about it doesn’t mean he’s offering it). Then he took an unmarked pill from someone he barely knew in spite of being a drug tested athlete.
The other problem was that Jones didn’t declare Cialis by any name on his forms with USADA. You’re supposed to put down every medication and supplement you’re taking so you can’t just test positive for something and say “Hey, I found a contaminated supplement with that in it!” later. Jones “gave different excuses for that lack of candour, embarrassment about disclosure of his use of so called Cialis on the one hand, perceived irrelevance on the other.” There was also concern over Tamoxifen not being found in his drug test, but the dosages in the capsules were inconsistent enough to explain that.
In closing, here’s how the arbitrators summarized their decision:
On the evidence before the Panel, the Applicant is not a drug cheat. He did not know that the tablet he took contained prohibited substances or that those substances had the capacity to enhance sporting performance. However by his imprudent use of what he pungently referred to as a “dick pill” he has not only lost a year of his career but an estimated nine million dollars. This outcome which he admits to be a wake-up call for him should serve as a warning to all others who participate in the same sport.
On this day five years ago, independent arbitrators weighed in on Jon Jones’s use of a Cialis pill that led to a USADA sanction. The following story is presented to you in its original, unaltered form courtesy of the MMA News Ar…
[MMA NEWS ARCHIVES]
On this day five years ago, independent arbitrators weighed in on Jon Jones’s use of a Cialis pill that led to a USADA sanction. The following story is presented to you in its original, unaltered form courtesy of the MMA News Archives.
On This Day Five Years Ago…
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 7, 2016, 8:02 PM]
The full decision (PDF) in Jon Jones arbitration case against USADA makes for illuminating reading, and explains a lot more than just the statement that USADA issued along with it. It describes Jones, lawyer Howard Jacobs, and agent Malki Kawa attempting to make a case that is full of holes. The story goes something like this…
On June 14th or thereabouts, Jon Jones was eating dinner with Eric Blasich, a new teammate at JacksonWink MMA, when Blasich told Jones that that he had been taking what he said was Cialis, the brand name for the erectile dysfunction drug tadalafil. Jones, who had previously taken Viagra (sildenafil) and understood the two drugs to be similar, asked Blasich if he could give him one. Blasich got the pills from his car and Jones took one immediately.
The “Cialis” was actually something that Blasich ordered from a website called “All American Peptides” without a prescription. The site is currently “down for maintenance,” but you can view an archive of their page for tadalafil. The package that they sell has the following disclaimers:
“This Product is for CHEMICAL RESEARCH USE ONLY. NOT INTENDED FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION/USE. WARNING: If product is ingested accidently contact Poison Control.“
“This product is not a drug, food, or cosmetic and should not be misbranded, misused or mislabelled (sic) as a drug, food or cosmetic.“
Both the samples sent from Jones/Blasich and the ones that USADA ordered from the website tested positive not just for clomiphene and letrozole, the drugs Jones tested positive for, but also tamoxifen, a similar banned substance that didn’t come up in his tests. Blasich did have receipts to prove that he had ordered and received the capsules before Jones claimed to have ingested one…though the receipts also indicated he ordered clomiphene. Aside from maybe that last part, you take all of this into account and you have a case where, while there’s sketchiness, Jones did not intend to take the banned drugs. So why did he get the full one year suspension?
The sketchiness and lack of due diligence on Jones’ part plays into it, as the past sports arbitration cases cited as precedent establish that the athlete was being responsible and couldn’t have expected any kind of contamination. Jones didn’t do that, instead asking a new teammate for prescription erectile dysfunction medication almost out of the blue (Blasich talking about it doesn’t mean he’s offering it). Then he took an unmarked pill from someone he barely knew in spite of being a drug tested athlete.
The other problem was that Jones didn’t declare Cialis by any name on his forms with USADA. You’re supposed to put down every medication and supplement you’re taking so you can’t just test positive for something and say “Hey, I found a contaminated supplement with that in it!” later. Jones “gave different excuses for that lack of candour, embarrassment about disclosure of his use of so called Cialis on the one hand, perceived irrelevance on the other.” There was also concern over Tamoxifen not being found in his drug test, but the dosages in the capsules were inconsistent enough to explain that.
In closing, here’s how the arbitrators summarized their decision:
On the evidence before the Panel, the Applicant is not a drug cheat. He did not know that the tablet he took contained prohibited substances or that those substances had the capacity to enhance sporting performance. However by his imprudent use of what he pungently referred to as a “dick pill” he has not only lost a year of his career but an estimated nine million dollars. This outcome which he admits to be a wake-up call for him should serve as a warning to all others who participate in the same sport.
In case you haven’t been keeping up with everyone’s favorite cage fighting junkie, Jon Jones has been awaiting sentencing on his arbitration case held last monday with USADA. After testing positive for estrogen blockers clomiphene and Letrozol, Jones proclaimed his innocence and vowed to be vindicated. And he was, kinda.
In case you haven’t been keeping up with everyone’s favorite cage fighting junkie, Jon Jones has been awaiting sentencing on his arbitration case held last monday with USADA. After testing positive for estrogen blockers clomiphene and Letrozol, Jones proclaimed his innocence and vowed to be vindicated. And he was, kinda.
While USADA did slap Jones with a full one year suspension for his violation, they did make it a point to include that “the applicant was not a drug cheat”, and that the suspension was mainly due to “his degree of fault”, which “verged on the reckless”. In layman’s terms, Jon was negligent and irresponsible with the substances he was putting inside his body.
“On the evidence before the Panel, the Applicant is not a drug cheat,” the arbitrators wrote in their epilogue. “He did not know that the tablet he took contained prohibited substances or that those substances had the capacity to enhance sporting performance. However by his imprudent use of what he pungently referred to as a ‘dick pill’ he has not only lost a year of his career but an estimated nine million dollars. This outcome which he admits to be a wake-up call for him should serve as a warning to all others who participate in the same sport.”
What could be the reasoning for such a major oversight? “Dick Pills.” He claims he took pills from a teammate that were suppose to be for sexual performance. Unfortunately for Jones the pill didn’t just get him hot and bothered, it also caught the attention of the authorities.
While it may seem like 1 year is not so bad (seeing as it would start back in July 2016), you have to remember that he could be facing a further 2 year suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. While one of those years would be concurrently, that still means it could possibly be several years before the G.O.A.T could fight again.
Now I don’t know about you guys but his line of defense seems pretty thin. Most likely it was a story he was advised to tell to have some sort of excuse for his negligence. Yoel Romero took a substance in a mark bottle with a list of substances; the substance he did get popped for wasn’t listed in the ingredients – this is a whole nother story.
“Although I was hopeful for a better outcome in the USADA ruling today, I am very respectful of the process in which they allowed me to defend myself. I have always maintained my innocence and I am very happy I have been cleared in any wrong doing pursuant to the allegations made that I had intentionally taken a banned substance. I am pleased that in USADA’s investigation they determined I was “not a cheater of the sport”. Being cleared of these allegations was very important to me. I have worked hard in and outside of the octagon to regain my image and my fighting career and will take these next eight months to continue my training and personal growth both as a man and a athlete. Thank you to all of my fans, teammates, coaches, sponsors and to the UFC for their continued support.”
While a moral victory for Jones, he definitely felt the long arm of the law on this one. Here’s to hoping it stays at one year. What do you think of USADA’s verdict, fair or foul play?
Tom Lawlor is the latest UFC fighter to come under scrutiny by the USADA, receiving a provisional suspension for a potential USADA anti-doping violation.
Lawlor last fought at UFC 196, …
Tom Lawlor is the latest UFC fighter to come under scrutiny by the USADA, receiving a provisional suspension for a potential USADA anti-doping violation.
Lawlor last fought at UFC 196, losing via decision to Corey Anderson. He is 10-6 overall with one no-contest, including 11 fights with the UFC since appearing on The Ultimate Fighter.
Below is a statement from the UFC:
The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Tom Lawlor of a potential Anti-Doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on October 10, 2016. USADA has provisionally suspended Lawlor based on the potential anti-doping violation.
USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case. It is important to note that, under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full fair legal review process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. Consistent with all previous potential anti-doping violations, additional information or UFC statements will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has certainly ramped up the drug testing in the UFC since the two parties started working together in July 2015. We’ve seen multiple big name fighters get popped in recent months, and it’s unclear if this trend will continue. One big name fighter that tested positive for multiple banned
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has certainly ramped up the drug testing in the UFC since the two parties started working together in July 2015. We’ve seen multiple big name fighters get popped in recent months, and it’s unclear if this trend will continue.
One big name fighter that tested positive for multiple banned substances in 2015 was former longtime middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva, although the Brazilian legend was lucky enough to avoid the wrath of USADA given that his failed test came in January of 2015. That doesn’t mean that the third party testing organization hasn’t kept a close eye on him, however.
In fact, according to a chart constructed by Amy Kaplan of Champions.co, “The Spider” has been the most tested fighter of the year:
Longtime veteran Dan Henderson and reigning bantamweight king Dominick Cruz did not fall far behind Silva.
After failing his drug test surrounding his UFC 183 bout with Nick Diaz, Silva was suspended one year by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC). He returned last February and dropped a somewhat controversial decision to current 185-pound titleholder Michael Bisping. The Brazilian then dropped another decision to light heavyweight king Daniel Cormier on just two days’ notice at July’s UFC 200.
Despite being tested quite often, Silva hasn’t had any more issues regarding failed drug tests, and at 41 years of age, it’s expected that he will indeed fight again.
