Jon Jones might have been stripped of the light heavyweight title and removed from the rankings after his latest failed drug test for Turinabol, but ‘Bones’ is still in the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) drug testing pool.
That’s according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, who reported that Jones is still being tested and that his latest sample came back clean.
Jones, who knocked out rival Daniel Cormier in a championship rematch at UFC 214, had his win overturned to a No Contest and has been bombarded with criticism after promising fans that he’d turned his life around in the last year.
The controversial former champion was formerly suspended for 12 months after testing positive for banned substances clomiphene and letrozole prior to last year’s blockbuster UFC 200 pay-per-view.
UFC health and performance vice president Jeff Novitzky confirmed that Jones’ most recent case is still being investigated. The Jackson-Wink product could face a maximum four-year suspension for being a repeat offender, although Bloody Elbow’s Iain Kidd thinks this a 1-3 year ban is more likely.
Jones has been stripped of the light heavyweight title three times in the last three years and was formerly considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Jones became the youngest champion in UFC history when he battered ‘Shogun’ Rua to win the title in 2011 and went on to defend the belt eight times against a who’s who of top fighters and former champions.