Jon Jones is one fighter who isn’t sad to see the USADA go.
The anti-doping agency is set to cease its partnership with the UFC in January, news that has drawn a variety of reactions from those in the MMA world directly affected by the announcement. Jones, the UFC’s current heavyweight champion, shared his thoughts on social media Wednesday evening
“I survived USADA,” Jones wrote, adding that he would like to see a past knockout win of rival Daniel Cormier that was overturned to a no-contest due to a failed drug test reversed back to the original result.
Man I survived USADA. First they said I was guilty of having picograms, then they considered me innocent, next picograms became legal. Guess what I’m still here, still unbeaten. That BS no contest over DC needs to be taken off my record. I’ve never cheated this sport and I will…
— BONY (@JonnyBones) October 12, 2023
Man I survived USADA. First they said I was guilty of having picograms, then they considered me innocent, next picograms became legal. Guess what I’m still here, still unbeaten. That BS no contest over DC needs to be taken off my record. I’ve never cheated this sport and I will stand by that until the Day I die.
Jones, also a three-time light heavyweight titleholder, has had a complicated relationship with the USADA, to say the least.
In 2016, Jones was removed from a light heavyweight championship unification bout against Cormier that was to serve as the main event of UFC 200 on July 9, 2016, after testing positive for clomiphene and letrozole, banned substances classified by the World Anti-Doping Agency as “hormone and metabolic modulators.” The USADA later ruled that Jones would receive a one-year suspension for the failed test, but acknowledged Jones’ claim that the result was due to an off-brand sex pill that the USADA was able to independently confirm for contamination.
A year later, Jones defeated Cormier at UFC 214 via head-kick knockout, but that result was overturned to a no-contest when Jones’ pre-fight drug test samples came in positive for the anabolic steroid turinabol. This time, Jones received a 15-month suspension, which was considerably reduced from a maximum of four years due to the fighter providing USADA with “substantial assistance” and the agency once again determining that Jones did not knowingly take a banned substance.
The turinabol saga followed Jones to his comeback fight at UFC 232 in December 2018, where a trace amount of the steroid was discovered in Jones’ system (a phenomena that doctors described as “pulsing.”). At the time, Jones defended himself by emphasizing that the amount of turinabol found in his system was measurable in picograms, which are one-trillionth of a gram.
Regardless, the Nevada Athletic Commission declined to license Jones for his headlinign fight against Alexander Gustafsson, prompting the event to be moved from Las Vegas to California. The California State Athletic Commission subsequently determined that there was no evidence that Jones had re-administered turinabol.
Jones has said in multiple interviews and public statements that he has felt vindicated by the investigations into his drug test history as well as changes made by the USADA in regards to testing thresholds. With the agency out of the picture, he’s still hoping for further action to be taken regarding his record.
In 29 pro bouts, Jones only has two blemishes: the no-contest against Cormier and a 2009 disqualification against Matt Hamill for illegal elbow strikes. Both Jones and UFC CEO Dana White have previously called for the disqualification to be overturned.
Jones’ most recent fight saw him win a vacant heavyweight title with a dominant first-round finish of Ciryl Gane to become a two-division champion. He defends the title for the first time when he fights former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
