The much-awaited UFC 232 has been shifted from Las Vegas from the state of Nevada to Los Angeles, California after a very abnormal finding in his drug test forced the Nevada State Athletic Commission not giving Jon Jones a license to compete for this weekend’s mega fight against Alexander Gustafsson.
According to NSAC, a recent urine sample collected from the American led to an abnormal finding. Jone Jones’s urine sample found traces of Turinabol in his system. This is the same drugs he got banned for when he tested positive for it last year after he won his fight against Daniel Cormier at UFC 214. He was later suspended for 15-months.
According to ESPN, the USADA determined Jones’s positive test this time around was because of a residual amount of the substance that lingered in Jones’s system from 2017.
But to fight in California, Jon Jones now has to undergo drug testing from two different organisation. Jon Jones has voluntarily enrolled in VADA, in addition to USADA, becoming the first MMA fighter to be enrolled in both anti-doping agencies simultaneously. The news was revealed by Andy Foster of CSAC and was broken on Twitter by Brett Okamoto.
“Jon Jones is certainly clean right now. That’s not questionable,” Foster told ESPN. “The Nevada commission did not have enough time to get this thing done, but this is not about California taking a fight Nevada would not. And out of respect for Nevada, I’ve kept all the officials working the fight the same as it would have been in Las Vegas.
“This is also not a slight on the USADA program. I have an interest in clearing this narrative out there that Jon Jones is on steroids. We flew him on a plane two days ago to make sure he doesn’t have steroids in his system. There are a lot of people out there saying he is, and that is misinformation.
“If Dr Goodman tests Jon Jones and reports back he’s completed this program, I don’t know how that narrative can continue.”
Breaking: Jon Jones has enrolled in the VADA drug testing program as of today, in addition to the mandatory UFC USADA program. California required it, as part of its approval of UFC 232 move. Jones is the first MMA fighter to be enrolled in both VADA and USADA at the same time.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) December 24, 2018
However, the latest fiasco of venue and location change has cost many fans and fighters thousands of dollars along with numerous inconvenience.
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