NAC Grants Jon Jones One Fight License To Compete At UFC 235; Jones To Be Tested Twice A Month

Jon Jones will compete at UFC 235.

After a lengthy hearing in front of the Nevada Athletic Commission, Jones was granted a one-fight license that will allow him to still fight at UFC 235 on Mar. 2. Jones is scheduled to defend his UFC Light Heavyweight Title against Anthony Smith at the event.

Jones must submit to at least two drug tests per month from a combination of USADA, VADA and NAC for the rest of 2019 if he wishes to fight in Nevada again. Results from the tests will be expedited. 

ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reports that even Jones tests positive for picogram levels of M3 steroid metabolite, he’ll be cleared to fight, as long as they don’t increase in a suspicious way.  

Jones had an abnormal drug test in December where 60 to 80 picograms of the metabolite were found in his system. As a result of the abnormal test, Nevada would not license Jones for his UFC 232 bout against Alexander Gustafsson without conducting a proper investigation, which they did not have time to do between the time the test was reported and the date of the event.

The entire UFC 232 event was moved from Nevada to California six days before the event was scheduled to take place on Dec. 29. California agreed to license Jones on the condition Jones enrolled in Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency. Jones tested positive for 33 picograms of the same long-term oral Turinabol metabolite in a Dec. 28 in-competition screening conducted by VADA. 

It was determined that a “pulsing” remnant caused the abnormal tests. Jones previously failed a July 2017 drug test for the metabolite, which resulted in a 15-month suspension.

In a statement following the hearing, Jones thanked USADA, UFC, his team and fans for sticking by him throughout the process and that he is excited to be fighting in Nevada on Mar. 2. He also said he is “looking forward to all the testing.”

You can watch Jones’ brief statement here.