USADA issues statement on Jon Jones potential anti-doping policy violation

Yesterday evening it was announced that current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones had been flagged by USADA for a potential anti-doping violation stemming from his UFC 214 fight with Daniel Cormier on July 29.

That news sent shockwaves throughout the mixed martial arts community which resulted in many of Jones’ peers taking to social media with their respective reactions.

Jon Jones UFC 214 opponent, former UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, was all class when responding to “Bones” potential drug test failure (read that here).

Cormier admitted that he was shocked by the news, but also encouraged fans to let the USADA testing process unfold before jumping to conclusions.

Today, “DC’s” statement was echoed by a USADA spokesperson during an interview with MMAFighting:

“We can’t comment on an on-going case, but importantly all athletes under the UFC anti-doping program are innocent unless and until the established process determines otherwise,” a USADA spokesperson said in a statement. “As part of this process, Mr. Jones is given the opportunity to be heard, confront and cross examine the evidence and have the ultimate decision of whether he violated the rules or not be decided by independent judges. It’s only fair to let due process occur before drawing any conclusions about Mr. Jones.”

The failed drug test in question was administered the day of the UFC 214 weigh ins (July 28), one day before Jones defeated Daniel Cormier via third-round knockout.

CSAC executive officer Andy Foster confirmed to MMAFighting that Jon Jones had passed all of his out-of-competition drug tests leading into UFC 214. “Bones” was tested on July 6 and July 7 by USADA, the results of those samples came back negative.

UFC President Dana White recently revealed that prior to USADA’s disappointing announcement, the promotion was making plans to have “Bones” square off with current UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 218 in Detroit.