Why Was Jon Jones banned after failing drug tests? Full story explained
JON JONES’ achievements inside the Octagon, no matter how phenomenal they’ve been, will forever have an asterisk next to them.
The reigning UFC light-heavyweight champion has swept aside all those who've tried to vanquish him inside the cage.
Jones has taken out countless legends and is, in the eyes of many, the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.
His body of work, however, will forever be scrutinised by his critics due to two failed drug tests.
The first anti-doping violation of Jones’ career came a few days before his eagerly-anticipated UFC 200 grudge match with Daniel Cormier.
Jones, 31, tested positive for two banned substances, Hydroxy-Clomiphene - an anti-estrogenic substance - and Letrozole, an aromatase inhibitor.
He was subsequently removed from the contest, much to the disappointment to the entire MMA world.
Jones’ second violation took place prior to his UFC 214 grudge match with Cormier, which he won via a devastating third-round KO.
A few weeks removed from the win, which saw him reclaim the light-heavyweight crown, it emerged the JacksonWink MMA product tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Turanibol in a pre-fight screening.
Jon Jones' body of work will forever be scrutinised due to two failed drugs tests
So what punishments did he receive for his positive tests?
After a thorough investigation from the United States Anti-Doping Agency, it was determined Jones’ failed pre-UFC 200 drug test was the result of a tainted sexual-enhancement supplement which failed to list Hydroxy-Clomiphene and Letrozole as ingredients.
USADA still punished ‘Bones’, though, handing him a one-year suspension following an arbitration hearing, which determined he didn’t intentionally take the agents to boost sporting performance.
His second anti-doping violation, which could’ve seen him banned for four years, landed him a lengthier suspension.
After a painstakingly long investigation, USADA handed Jones a retroactive 15-month suspension in September 2018, 13 months after he defeated Cormier.
He was handed the sanction as the result of an independent arbitrator deeming the minuscule amount of the long-term metabolite of the Turanibol found his system wasn’t enough to have a performance-enhancing effect.
Jones managed to reduced his punishment by three months by providing USADA ‘substantial assistance’.
The M3 metabolite of Turanibol has continued to cause Jones trouble as it appeared in his system again last December before his UFC 232 bout with Alexander Gustafsson.
Due to the fact it wasn’t present in multiple other random tests and the levels of the agent in his system fluctuated, USADA opted not to sanction him again and deemed the abnormality to be the remnants of his previous ingestion.
Jones returns to the Octagon early on Sunday morning, defending his light-heavyweight crown against Thiago Santos at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.