Jon Jones, the three-time Light Heavyweight Champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has been stripped of his light heavyweight title.
Daniel Cormier has been reinstated as the 205-pound champion after the latest failed doping test of Jones. The 205-pound champion was originally flagged by the United States Anti-Doping Agency on August 22 this year after it was revealed he failed an in-competition at the weigh-ins for his UFC 214 title win over Cormier (19-1-1 MMA, 8-1-1 UFC). It has now been confirmed by USADA that the B sample of Jones also came back positive for metabolites of the steroid Turinabol.
The California State Athletic Commission has now overturned the result of Jones and Cormier fight to a no-contest. The California State Athletic Commission will now conduct a hearing to determine the final punishment of Jones. The next CSAC meeting is scheduled for October 17 in Los Angeles. CSAC Executive Director Andy Foster remarked the commission will work with Jones if he needs more time to put together a case. In response, the UFC stripped Jones of the light heavyweight belt and reinstated Cormier as the champion.
Jones faces up to a doping ban of four year that is likely to bring curtains down to his career. Cormier blasted the claims of Jones and his team that the steroid was in a supplement by saying Turinabol is a very expensive drug and something that could not be easily found in a supplement.
Cormier (19-1) has never lost to any opponent except Jones (22-1). Cormier held the light heavyweight title for most of the previous two years while the troubled UFC star was largely sidelined by disciplinary issues.
Jones has a lengthy history of controversies and misbehavior. Jones avoided serious punishment in previous incidents involving cocaine use and a drunk-driving conviction before he was stripped of his title in 2015 in a hit-and-run accident that left a pregnant woman with a broken arm. Months later, Jones made a return to the Octagon and reclaimed an interim title while Cormier was nursing an injury. In November 2016, the belt of Jones was stripped after he was pulled from a rematch with Cormier at UFC 200 for failing a pre-fight doping test.
The American mixed martial artist is widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. Presently, Jones has the longest active winning streak in the UFC and was ranked number one in the world during his championship reign. Jones holds many UFC records in the light heavyweight division, including the longest win streak, the most successful and consecutive title defenses, the most submission victories, and the most wins.
Jones made his professional MMA debut in April 2008 and took a unanimous decision victory against Andre Gusmao at UFC 87 on August 9, 2008. In his second fight, he stunned veteran Stephan Bonnar at UFC 94 on January 31, 2009 and won by another unanimous decision victory. The third UFC fight of Jones was against Jake O’Brien at UFC 100 where he secured a modified guillotine choke that rendered his opponent briefly unconscious just after he tapped.
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