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MANILA, Philippines – Less than 24 hours after the announcement that stunned the mixed martial arts scene, an emotional Jon Jones broke his silence about his failed out-of-competition drug test.
A tearful Jones faced the media on Thursday, July 7 (Friday Manila time) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and addressed the controversial fallout.
“I want to start by apologizing to all the fans who came out to support me,” he said. “Obviously, the UFC and [UFC co-owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta] for not being able to perform. I know there’s been a lot to go into this event, the staff of the UFC.”
Jones, who shed tears at several points throughout the hastily assembled press conference, extended his apologies to Daniel Cormier.
“I want to apologize to Daniel Cormier. I know that this fight means a lot to him. The fight meant a lot to me, and the fight’s not happening. So I just really wanted to apologize to everybody sincerely. I really don’t know what to say,” he stated.
UFC president Dana White shockingly announced on Wednesday, July 6 that the second light heavyweight title encounter between Cormier and Jones at this weekend’s UFC 200 has been cancelled after the latter was notified of a potential anti-doping violation stemming from a pre-fight drug test that was administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency on June 16.
The 28-year-old native of Rochester, New York denied knowingly taking any illegal substance, but he and his management declined to specify the substance that resulted in the failed test.
“I have no clue what it is. I’ve been taking the same supplements the majority of my career. I’m extremely against performance enhancers, and the whole thing sucks because being labeled as someone who cheats hurts me more than anything else,” Jones said.
Jones’ longtime manager Malki Kawa confided that it was a metabolite of a banned substance and indicated that their camp will appeal the decision.
“Without saying too much more, I feel like by the time this is all said and done, it will be all right. It could be [a supplement issue]. I don’t want to say much more than that because I want to go through all the reasonable steps. But it could be,” Kawa asserted.
If the result of Jones’ B sample comes back positive, Jones could potentially face a two-year suspension from the sport.
The suspension could potentially be reduced if Jones’ test is found to be the result of a tainted supplement, similar to the cases of Tim Means and Yoel Romero.
“If I do have to sit out for two years, I’ll definitely back, I’m just optimistic, man. At the end of the day, I’m a fighter, and even though I may seem broken up here, I’m not broken. I’m just really upset,” Jones said.
The women’s bantamweight title fight between Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes will now headline the pay-per-view on Saturday, July 9 (Sunday Manila time). The card will also feature Brock Lesnar vs Mark Hunt in heavyweight action. – Rappler.com
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