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Despite Suspension, Jon Jones Pleased to be Cleared of Cheating
Jon Jones on Monday received the maximum allowable suspension for ingesting a prohibited substance prior to UFC 200 and failing an out-of-competition drug test. Although his one-year suspension is retroactive to July 6, 2016, the date upon which he was provisionally suspended, that means Jones is ineligible to fight until July 6, 2017.
Despite receiving the lengthiest penalty, Jones on Monday issued a statement expressing his pleasure at not being characterized as a “cheater” by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency investigation and arbitration proceeding.
“Although I was hopeful for a better outcome in the USADA ruling today, I am very respectful of the process in which they allowed me to defend myself. I have always maintained my innocence and I am very happy I have been cleared in any wrong doing pursuant to the allegations made that I had intentionally taken a banned substance,” Jones said in a statement to MMAWeekly.com.
“I am pleased that in USADA's investigation they determined I was ‘not a cheater of the sport.' Being cleared of these allegations was very important to me. I have worked hard in and outside of the octagon to regain my image and my fighting career and will take these next eight months to continue my training and personal growth both as a man and an athlete.”
Jones became the first fighter to appeal a UFC Anti-Doping Violation via an arbitration hearing instead of accepting whatever decision USADA issued him. The evidentiary hearing took place on Oct. 31 in a daylong proceeding. An independent three-member arbitration panel from McLaren Global Sports Solutions, Inc. (MGSS) determined that Jones should receive the maximum one-year period of ineligibility for his anti-doping policy violation.
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The arbitrator's decision wasn't based on the idea that Jones had been proven guilty of knowingly taking a product that contained clomiphene and letrozole, both Specified Substances in the class of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy. The decision was centered on Jones' negligence for ingesting a substance without making sure that it did not include performance-enhancing substances.
“On the evidence before the (Arbitration) Panel, the Applicant (Jones) is not a drug cheat,” read MGSS' conclusion. “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. This outcome, which he admits to be a wake-up call for him, should serve as a warning to all others who participate in the same sport.”
