Jon Jones’ recent troubles have once again come back to bite him. After he was striped of the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in 2015, he came back with a vengeance and handled business. While he was supposed to have a rematch with Daniel ‘DC’ Cormier at UFC 197, Cormier had to pull out due to injury. Bones then went up against Ovince Saint Preux and took care of his challenger. His victory promptly set up a main event bout between Bones and DC at UFC 200, the biggest card in the companies history.
Earlier today, the UFC officially had their fighters come out for a press conference and formally introduced the card to the world. Jones vs Cormier was slated to be the main event of the historic UFC 200 card. That is until Jon found himself in some more trouble.
The UFC and president Dana White removed Jon Jones from the card due to a potential anti-doping violation. The light heavyweight championship bout is no longer the main event. In its place, Brock Lesnar’s return against Mark Hunt will take the top of the card.
Following is the full statement from an official UFC announcement.
The UFC organization was notified tonight that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Jon Jones of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection on June 16, 2016.
USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case. It is important to note that, under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full fair legal review process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed.
However, because Jones was scheduled to compete against Daniel Cormier this coming Saturday, July 9 in Las Vegas, there is insufficient time for a full review before the scheduled bout and therefore the fight has been removed from the fight card. As a result, the three-round heavyweight bout between Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt will become the UFC 200 main event.
Consistent with all previous potential anti-doping violations, additional information or UFC statements will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.
Dana White and Cormier said the following after learning of the news.
With insufficient time for a full review of Jones’ case before his main event bout against UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, Jones was removed from the card.
“It’s super, super disappointing,” White said during a hastily called press conference at MGM Grand. “It was a brutal phone call.”
White then had another brutal call to make, as he had to ask Cormier to meet him at 8 p.m. PT to give him the news.
“I had a very bad feeling in the pit of my stomach,” Cormier said. “To hear something like this is very sad from a competitive and financial standpoint. I don’t know exactly to explain how I’m feeling right now.
“I’m just very disappointed,” he continued. “I’ve worked really hard to prepare for this. You take care of what you can take care of and that’s what I did. More than anything, I’m really disappointed.”
What’s next for Jon Jones? Who knows but he’s already been on thin ice with the UFC and if this anything serious, it might be the end for him. Still only 28-years-old, turning 29 on July 19th, Jones has a lot of potential left in him. But If he continues to get himself into hot water, he might ended up getting burned for the final time.
As for Cormier, right now there’s no opponent for him. He’s ready to fight but had no opponent. Possibly lucky for him, new UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping appears up for the challenge.
2 months, 2 weeks, 2 days…… Hmmm middle vs light heavy???? I stand by my words. I'd do it!
— michael (@bisping) July 7, 2016
