The former UFC light-heavyweight champion had been slated to face current champ Daniel Cormier in the capstone event for this weekend's UFC 200 event in Las Vegas Saturday night. Instead, the Brock Lesnar-Mark Hunt bout will be elevated to top-of-the-card status.
MMAFighting.com is reporting that Jones won't be fighting "due to a potential violation in a USADA [US Anti-Doping Agency] drug test administered on June 16."
UFC Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitsky issued a statement, saying that Jones has yet to be declared guilty of the allegations, but, given the proximity of the company receiving the results and the fight itself, there wasn't time to conduct a review, thus necessitating the fight cancellation.
"The UFC was notified tonight that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has informed Jon Jones of a potential anti-doping policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection on June 16, 2016," Novitzky said. "USADA, an independent administrator of the anti-doping policy, will handle 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. However, because Jones was scheduled to fight Cormier this coming Saturday, July 9 in Vegas, there is insufficient time for a full review before the scheduled bout, and therefore the bout has been removed from the fight card."
BloodyElbow.com reported that UFC president Dana White was apparently eating dinner when he got the news of the failed drug test which necessitated the cancellation of one of the biggest, most anticipated pay-per-view MMA events in recent memory.
White, who along with the rest of UFC appeared to be blindsided by the stunning turn of events, did not rule out the possibility of finding a new opponent for Cormier on such short notice.
"Maybe someone will pop up and fight Cormier at the last minute," White said at a press conference Wednesday night. "Stranger things have happened."
Last fall, Jones pleaded guilty to a charge resulting from a hit-and-run crash in Albuquerque earlier in 2015 that injured a pregnant woman. Under terms of the agreement, Jones avoided jail time by agreeing to participate in 72 speaking engagements - one for each week of his probation -- at New Mexico area schools and martial arts centers on how wrong choices can damage an individual's life.
Shortly after his arrest, the UFC stripped Jones of his light heavyweight title and suspended him from fighting.
Prior to entering MMA, Jones was a New York State wrestling champ for Union-Endicott High School. He won a NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) title while at Iowa Central Community College.
Jones' slated opponent at UFC 200, Daniel Cormier, was a two-time NJCAA champ at Colby Community College in Kansas, who then transferred to NCAA Division I powerhouse Oklahoma State where he earned All-American honors at the 2001 NCAAs. The Louisiana native twice earned a place on the US freestyle team for the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
The new main event now features another former college mat star in Brock Lesnar, himself a 1998 NJCAA champ at Bismarck Junior College in North Dakota. Lesnar transferred to University of Minnesota where he was a two-time NCAA finalist, winning the heavyweight title at the 2000 NCAAs.
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