Despite his best efforts, Jon Jones failed to convince the California State Athletic Commission that he did not intentionally take Turinabol. In the latest twist of an increasingly complex tale, Jones has been fined $205,000 and has had his professional license revoked by the commission.
The decision by CSAC to pull the 30-year old’s license to fight will likely be honoured by the other North American athletic commissions. It essentially bans him from competition in the United States until a new license is granted.
Jones and his attorney, Howard Jacobs chose to accept the fact that Turinabol was found in his urine and focus their defence on him not knowingly having taken the substance. Unfortunately for Jones, all of his supplements were tested and none returned traces of the banned substance. Naturally, this leaves a huge question mark over how Turinabol appeared in his system in the first place.
In the wake of the decision, Jones maintains he has not knowingly done anything wrong,
“This situation is like really, really crappy,” Jones said. “I don’t understand how any of this happened and how it got in my system.
“Imagine being me. I have no clue how this happened. I’m just trying to figure it out just like everybody else.”
“To purposely do steroids like a week before a fight and ruin all those months talking to all those kids, it would just be stupid, I’m absolutely not the same person I was three years ago when I got into a hit-and-run car accident.”
Following on from the sanctions handed out today, Jones still has to answer to USADA, the UFC‘s anti-doping partner. Under USADA rules, Jones is classed as a repeat offender due to his 2016 positive test prior to UFC 200. As a repeat offender, the former light heavyweight champion potentially faces a 4-year ban from competition.
As part of the CSAC ruling, Jones will be eligible to reapply for his license once USADA has determined the outcome of their investigation. Should they take a lenient approach, there is still a chance we could see Jones return to the UFC before the year is out. It’s worth noting that CSAC is under no obligation to grant Jones a license regardless of the USADA outcome. The onus is on Jones to persuade the commission that he deserves to have his license reinstated. No easy task given his history.
There is currently no confirmed date for the USADA arbitration hearing but you can be certain that there is more drama to come as this chapter in Jones‘s turbulent career draws to a close.
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