Possible drug violation knocks Jon Jones out of UFC 200

By Case Keefer (contact)

Published Wednesday, July 6, 2016 | 8:43 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, July 6, 2016 | 10:15 p.m.

As UFC President Dana White dined Wednesday night at StripSteak inside Mandalay Bay, he said he thought about how fortunate he had been that no injuries or other factors had affected Saturday night’s monumental UFC 200 fight card.

Then his phone rang.

A representative from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the UFC’s independent drug-policy administrator, notified White that a random drug test given on June 16 had flagged interim light heavyweight champion Jon Jones for a potential violation.

Jones would not be allowed to fight Daniel Cormier in the main event of what the UFC hoped would be the biggest fight card in promotional history.

“I must have jinxed myself,” White said.

White held a news conference an hour after he received the news, announcing that a heavyweight bout between former champion Brock Lesnar and knockout artist Mark Hunt would shift from the co-main event to the main event. He couldn’t even get a hold of Lesnar or Hunt to let them know the change.

His first phone call was to Cormier, whom White asked to meet at the MGM. Cormier feared the worst and developed a pit in his stomach.

“I came here and I was actually early, it was probably the first time in my life I’ve been early for anything,” Cormier said with his face down and voice cracking. “He’s usually a good news guy, and today he had to deliver some pretty bad news.”

Cormier “was a mess,” according to White, as the UFC brass tried to explain all they knew about the situation. It wasn’t much.

UFC Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky did not reveal what substance was found in Jones’ system or any other details aside from the date of the test. Jones tested positive for cocaine before a January 2015 victory over Cormier, but recreational drugs are not believed to be the culprit of this positive test.

USADA rules only indicate a fighter must not have recreational drugs in his or her system 24 hours prior to their competition. Jones’ flagged test was likely a doping violation.

“It’s important to note that under the UFC anti-doping policy, there is a full, fair legal review process afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed,” Novitzky said. “However, because Jones was scheduled to compete against Daniel Cormier this Saturday, July 9, in Las Vegas, there was insufficient time for a full review.”

The UFC began its comprehensive drug testing program at last year’s International Fight Week in an effort to clean up the sport. The rules allow USADA to test blood or urine of any athlete on the roster unannounced at any time.

Two samples are collected, so Jones’ first recourse could be to request a test of his B-sample. White was unsure if that was Jones’ intention, because he had not spoken to him.

“He’s got the chance to prove himself innocent before being called guilty,” White said. “But, if it’s true, obviously, it’s super disappointing.”

A first violation of the UFC’s doping policy carries a two-year suspension. If that’s Jones’ punishment, it could put an end to his rivalry with the 39-year-old Cormier.

The two developed one of the most contentious relationships in UFC history with a war of words that spilled into a brawl in the UFC lobby two years ago at a news conference for their first scheduled fight. Cormier said he would still be open to fighting Jones, though he also expressed understandable devastation.

“I’ve got to move forward,” Cormier said. “This chapter in my life has been dragging me and dragging me. It’s made me ugly. That’s not me normally.”

It was undetermined whether Cormier would stay on the UFC 200 card. He wanted another fight, but understood the difficulty in corralling an opponent to fight a champion on less than 72 hours notice.

“I would like for that to happen for Cormier honestly,” White said. “When you have the biggest, baddest fight card ever, it doesn’t sting as bad when you lose a fight but it stings really bad for Daniel Cormier. This is devastating to him, his family and I’d like to make a fight if I can.”

Cormier will lose out on millions if he doesn’t fight at all, and likely will take a financial hit regardless. Losing a main-event fight should cut into pay-per-view projections that White indicated Wednesday night were the highest in the history of the company.

It’s the latest incident in a series of costly mistakes by the UFC’s top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter. In addition to the brawl and cocaine, Jones was arrested for driving under the influence in 2012 and convicted of a felony hit and run last year.

But he had touted becoming sober and surrounding himself with the right people ahead of UFC 200. Both White and Jones said all indications pointed toward Jones having turned his life around.

“Jon deserves due process but this is true: If a guy is going to do something that affects you negatively a month before you fight, there’s a pretty good chance that that person would do something to enhance themselves, too,” Cormier said. “Take that for whatever it is, but he never failed before, so there was no way for me to think he would fail.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.