Jon Jones dropped a bit of a bombshell on his Instagram recently when he said he expects to be back in the cage “really soon.”
That came as a surprise, given he’s awaiting a potential suspension for an anti-doping violation that took him out of the UFC 200 card in July. But now there may be something else to support his claim.
Today on “The Jim Rome Show,” UFC President Dana White told the host that Jones’ claim to “have found out lots of really good news, and I am expecting to be back in the octagon really soon” might be spot on.
Dana White
“It’s coming back now that it looks like he did not take the supplement that everybody thought he took,” White said on the radio show. “We’ll see how this thing plays out. I don’t even know if this is public. I don’t even know if I can talk about it,” White said. “Normally, I’ll talk about anything, but when it comes to medical stuff, you can’t do it. But it’s looking like Jon Jones did not take the drug that everybody thought he took. It looks like it’s something else.
“I’ll let this thing play out and if that’s true and that’s what USADA and the Nevada State Athletic Commission say happened, it could look good for Jon Jones.”
White told Rome that even if Jones is cleared, though, it won’t be a matter of him getting a “bum rap.”
“He definitely didn’t get a bum rap, but the substance that he was (alleged to be) on was a pill that you take when you’re coming down off of steroids,” White said. “But this thing is apparently in other things. Jon took something else. Where he doesn’t come off clean is, you have to tell USADA everything you put in your body leading up to the fight – and he did not. Absolutely (every athlete is responsible for what they put in their body).”
UFC interim light heavyweight champ Jones is No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA light-heavyweight rankings, and he’s No. 2 pound-for-pound behind flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson.
After a history of out-of-the-cage troubles prompted UFC officials to strip him of the division’s primary belt, Jones (22-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) defeated Ovince Saint Preux in April to set up a title-unification bout with reigning champ Daniel Cormier (17-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC). However, just three days before the event, USADA, the UFC’s drug-testing partner, notified Jones of a potential anti-doping violation – due to the anti-estrogen drugs clomiphene and letrozole – and “Bones” was pulled from the card.
Jones is currently under temporary suspension from USADA and the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
But in a private Instagram video, that he doesn’t expect a full two-year ban (video via Twitter):
“I’ve been doing really good – been training, spending time with family, attacking some of these legal issues that I’ve gotten myself into,” Jones said. “(I’m) really trying to just leave that all behind once and for all. I’m sure you guys are curious about what’s going on with this USADA situation. Obviously I can’t get into it because it’s still pending, but what I can say is that we have found out lots of really good news, and I am expecting to be back in the octagon really soon.”
Neither USADA nor the NSAC have had any recent updates on Jones’ situation, though other fighters have received shortened suspensions when arguing their failed tests were the result of tainted supplements.
For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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