The most dominant fighter in the history of combat sports, Jon Jones has lately been engulfed by controversies. Heading to his rematch with Daniel Cormier at UFC 200, the former heavyweight champion Jon Jones was pulled out due to failing drug tests prior to the match.
Now Jones’ attorney claims to have found the source to the contamination of the product that the champ consumed. If everything goes smoothly, then his suspension may get reduced.
Jones was punished for testing positive for two substances in his drug test: hydroxy-clomiphene and Letrozole, which caused him to be pulled from the UFC 200 card. Since the beginning of the controversy, Jones has been adamant that he consumed the product that consisted of the banned substance without prior knowledge of the contamination.
The Interim UFC Lightheavyweight Champion's attorney Howard Jacobs explained the current scenario to The Luke Thomas Show on SiriusXM :
“We’ve been able to establish the source of the prohibited substances. It came from a product that Jon took that was not labelled with either of these substances. We had it tested; the product was contaminated with both of them. I know USADA also independently had the product tested; their testing confirms what we found. We then sent essentially the same pills that we had tested to be tested by USADA’s lab, which also found the same thing. Pretty much every time it’s been tested, it’s shown that the product is contaminated with both clomiphene and Letrozole.”
As per the rule, Jones will face a maximum of a one-year suspension or at least a warning. He and his team will attend the hearing on October 31st in Las Vegas, where the team will try to appeal the drug test and prove the former pound for pound champ's innocence.
“It should definitely lead to a significant reduction — that’s our position,” Jacobs said, according to Bloodyelbow.com.
“The way the anti-doping rules, at least with the UFC program, are written, they mirror the World Anti-Doping Code to some extent — there are some differences. In a case like this, you can’t argue that you have no fault if you take a supplement or product that’s contaminated. But you can argue that you’re not significantly at fault, which gives you the ability to argue for a reduced sanction.”
That said Jones can be expected to be free from all controversies and suspension, and head back to the Octagon soon. But we can only hope for the best.
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