Jon Jones Suspended For One Year By USADA

Jon Jones has officially been disciplined by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

An arbitration panel levied a one-year ban on UFC interim Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones on Monday. Jones' suspension will be up in July 2017, as it's retroactive to his notification of a USADA test failure earlier this year. 

Jones tested positive for clomiphene in an out-of-competition drug test that forced him out of his UFC 200 unification bout with Daniel Cormier. Jones would later claim that he ingested a tainted sexual-performance substance, something that was later confirmed by USADA. However, the case arbiters ruled that Jones should have followed up and done his homework on the substance he was taking, calling him 'reckless.' 

You can see the full ruling here, and an excerpt below.

Jones, 29, tested positive for the presence of two prohibited substances, clomiphene and letrozole, following an out-of-competition urine test on June 16, 2016.Clomiphene and letrozole are both Specified Substances in the class of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators and are prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, the standard sanction for a policy violation involving a Specified Substance is a one-year period of ineligibility.

Depending on the athlete’s degree of fault for the doping offense, the sanction for an anti-doping policy violation involving Specified Substances can range from a reprimand and no period of ineligibility, up to the standard one-year period of ineligibility. Here, the MGSS Panel, comprised entirely of specially trained arbitrators from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, concluded that Jones’ degree of fault was at the very top end of the scale.

The supplement in question was manufactured under the name "All American Peptide," under standards that the arbiters stated were much less rigorous than WADA standards. The panel also recommended not giving Jones the six-month reduced sentences that Yoel Romero and Tim Means received, as they both proved their tainted supplements didn't have the drug listed on their packaging. 

The arbiters also noted "The applicant is not a drug cheat. He did not know that the tablet he took contained prohibited substances or that those substances had the capacity to enhance sporting performance. However by his imprudent use of what he pungently referred to as a 'dick pill' he has not only lost a year of his career but an estimated nine million dollars."

Jones made headlines earlier this year when he said that he had 'good news' about the situation. Many expected Jones to face a two-year suspension in relation to the failed test.

"I'm sure you guys are curious about this USADA situation. Obviously, I can't get into it because it's still pending, but what I can say is we have found out lots of really good news, and I'm expecting to be back in the Octagon really soon," said Jones in August.