Jon Jones has been disqualified and stripped of his UFC title; Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier will compete for the vacant light heavyweight championship. Jon Jones suspended and stripped of UFC title Did you report anyone?

Failed a doping test. A sample taken from the fighter after the weigh-in for UFC 214, where he knocked out the champion, turned out to be positive Daniel Cormier and regained the title. The results of the analysis revealed traces of turinabol in Jones’s blood, a drug that has a positive effect on the growth of strength, muscle mass and the speed of recovery from heavy loads.

Background

This is not the first doping scandal involving Jones. A little over a year ago, right before UFC 200, John was already caught using illegal substances. Then the American’s tests showed the presence of anti-estrogenic drugs in the body. Their cheaters use them after a course of steroids (such as Turinabol) to improve the body's production of its own testosterone. Then Jones, who burst into tears at a special press conference, got himself a one-year disqualification with an “excuse” about potency medicine. And the scandalous fighter began to serve it just a couple of months after the previous one expired - a year before that, “Bones” was also suspended from performing in the cage due to a scandalous accident.

Let us recall that in 2015, shortly before defending the title from attacks Anthony Johnson, then-champion Jones became involved in an accident: an athlete, allegedly in a state of drug intoxication (this is evidenced by a pipe with traces of marijuana found in the glove compartment of his vehicle), crashed a rented car into a car driven by a pregnant woman. The famous fighter, according to witnesses, hastily left the scene without bothering to check the condition of the injured woman.

Chemist. Jon Jones fails drug test again

UFC champion Jon Jones was caught doping again, and we remembered all the chemists, cheaters, alcoholics and other regime violators from the world of MMA.

Now what?

Definitely nothing good. Jon Jones, as a malicious repeat offender, faces a ban of up to four years, the title he won in the fight with Daniel Cormier will most likely return back to DC, and the result of their rematch will officially be changed to “failed.” If the fate of the culprit of the scandal is approximately clear, then the UFC light heavyweight remained in the care of a very dubious company: “killed” by the defeat of the 38-year-old ex-champion (or champion again) Daniel Cormier, who lost all title and challenger fights Alexander Gustafsson and unheralded upstart Volkan Ezdemir with three victories under his belt.

What's next?

Before we delve into the ever-murkier prospects of the most talented fighter in history, let's remember how great a fighting career is in a coma.

He entered the UFC in 2008 as an undefeated prospect. The young fighter won the first three fights without question, forcing experts to talk about himself as a real contender for the light heavyweight title. This is not surprising, given the style in which Jones destroyed what was considered a formidable gatekeeper at that time Stefan Bonnar. Then there was a controversial defeat by disqualification for illegal elbow strikes from Matt Hamill, another series of three confident victories and a replacement for the injured Rashad Evans in a championship fight with Maurice Rua. That evening, March 19, 2011, 23-year-old Jones smashed the star Shogun to pieces and became the youngest champion in UFC history. It seemed that the talent of the daring and young fighter by MMA standards was enough to become the main genius during the existence of the sport. For the first few years, everything was going exactly like this: the light heavyweight record for the number of defenses (8), the record for the most beaten former champions (6), the record for the most defeated UFC hall of famers (6) and the record for the most victories in the light heavyweight division ( 14) - Jones managed to do all this in less than five years!

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“If John ends up getting a two or three year ban, it could be career-ending for him. You talk about his legacy, but this seems to be the end of Jones' career.

How old is he now, 30 years old? The suspension will keep him inactive until he's 32 or 33, and when he returns, what can he do? Sad. I do not know what to say. Usually I can find the words, but not this time.”
This was said by Dana White, the UFC president, who has suffered a lot from the endless antics of his promotion’s difficult child. One of the main rivals in Jones’ career, Alexander Gustafsson, also agreed with White, and openly advised the American to hang up his gloves. And this is not at all a manifestation of gloating towards the guilty fighter, but a completely objective assessment of his prospects. After all, Jones already had his last chance in life, which he missed. And even if he finds the motivation to return to the cage after a long layoff, it is unlikely that he will be able to regain the lost trust of the fans.

“The UFC’s plan was to arrange a fight between Jones and Miocic, possibly in Detroit, in December of this year,” Dana White said, among other things, in a fresh interview. But, as you know, if you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.

Jon Jones is considered one of the best, and one of the most controversial fighters in MMA history. The former UFC light heavyweight champion, who was suspended for 15 months for failing a drug test, recently learned that he could return to the Octagon on October 28.

In an exclusive interview with ESPN, Jones discussed his feud with Daniel Cormier, his USADA suspension, his battle with depression and his relationship with the UFC.

Describe your last year.

The past year has taught me a lot. It was a real test of my faith, but I passed it.

How did you react to the news of your failed doping test last August?

I remember how I found out about this. I was shocked. I was broken. I will never forget that day.

Did you think then that your career was over?

No, I never gave up on my career. It was just a huge step aside. I knew I would have to be extremely patient.

At that time, people thought you would be suspended for two or four years. If you found out that day that you would be suspended for 15 months, what would your reaction be?

I wouldn't have believed you in those days. In those days I felt helpless.

When did you come to your senses?

After six months I was able to come to terms with the idea that I had lost my belt, my sponsors and my job.

Can you call yourself happy now?

I regained my joy in life by seeking professional help. I turned to specialists, and I had to love myself again, as a father, as a husband, as a brother and as a friend. I went back to being Jonathan Jones, I learned to separate him from the Jon Jones of the fighter. After that, my happiness returned. I remembered all the things I can be happy about, like my family and my beautiful daughters. All this makes me truly happy.

What kind of help did you turn to specialists for?

Counselors, psychotherapists... I learned to cope with trauma and defeat. This helped me a lot.

When it was?

At the end of June.

The place is called "Guest House" in the city of Ocala.

How long did you spend there?

I spent 30 days in the hospital. They taught me how to cope with the death of my mother and the loss of my career. Mom died in June 2017 and then I lost my title in August. Those two losses led me into a deep depression, after which I needed professional help. I'm glad I contacted them.

What was it like for you to find out that Daniel Cormier regained the light heavyweight title in January?

Everything was fine. I understood the situation, I understood that the division could not stand still.

Any idea why you failed the drug test?

No, until now no one has understood how prohibited substances ended up in my body, it scares me. Very scary. Sometimes fear develops into paranoia. Now I'm extremely suspicious of everything that ends up in my body. Before this incident, we took every precaution by hiring specialists to monitor everything I took and consult with USADA. So we kept a close eye on all the supplements, but now I keep an eye on everything basically. I only eat at certain restaurants, I only order drinks from certain places. I carry a water bottle with me everywhere. I try not to eat in the same places, which is very annoying.

Are you afraid that someone will put something in your food or drink?

Yes. For the rest of my career I will have to live with the idea that something like this could happen.

Are you happy with USADA's decision on your 15-month suspension?

It seems to me that the whole process of clarifying the circumstances took too much time. It's not easy to prove your innocence. For me and my team, it didn’t matter how long everything would take. We just wanted to prove my innocence. If it took 15 months, so be it.

It would be nice not to get suspended at all, but I think they made an honest decision. Once they received evidence that I didn't do it on purpose, they let me go.

According to a statement from the organization, your suspension was reduced by 30 months because you chose to cooperate with USADA in providing information to help identify doping in other athletes. As a result, you were called an “informer.”

Have you reported on anyone?

USADA asked me to do various things during the proceedings, but I certainly did not report anyone in MMA. I didn't give them information about any fighter, but I don't know anyone who doped. I think this whole “informer” story looks stupid. It's funny how people jump to conclusions about things they don't know. I have nothing more to say on this topic.

Does it irritate you when people call you a "snitch"?

Not annoying for several reasons. I know my place in our sport. I understand that I will never get rid of the controversial image in our sport. I understand that I will always be the guy who is fun to talk to in any situation. I'm just glad to stay on the MMA radar. When you become one of the best athletes in the sport, people will start talking about you.

I think people are turning a blind eye to the scientific findings regarding my case. They want to pretend that I'm guilty but got out of trouble because I framed someone else, but that's not true.

Your 15-month suspension ends right before the UFC event at Madison Square Garden. Have you been offered to perform on this card?

They offered, but only five or six weeks before the event. I didn't want to come back unprepared, so I declined.

We are still negotiating about this fight, but most likely I will go against him. The contract has not yet been signed.

Will the fight be for the belt?

The fight will be for the light heavyweight championship.

Daniel Cormier is disappointed that he will be stripped of his 205-pound title. Do you agree with him?

I agree with him and understand his frustration, but I think he needs to look at the whole situation. If USADA has concluded that I am completely innocent, maybe the belt should be returned to me right away. Part of me thinks I shouldn't fight Alexander Gustafsson for it because I didn't do anything illegal. In a sense, the title never belonged to Cormier. They handed it to him just like that.

Would you fight him a third time?

No. I've already beaten him twice. I have no personal complaints against him. I want to pursue greatness, not fighters. Daniel Cormier needs to fight me again if he wants to be thought of as one of the best. I still have a lot of time for this.

What did you think when you saw that he became the heavyweight champion?

I was actually happy for Daniel Cormier. I thought he deserved to get the title. For the first time in his career, he became a real UFC champion. He was an incredibly successful light heavyweight, but I never considered him the champion of our division. Despite what happened, I have been the champion since 2011. But now Cormier has joined the ranks of the promotion's champion, and I was happy for him because I know how hard he works. The heavyweight title is in good hands.

Would you like to fight him for the heavyweight title?

Not really. If I challenged him in another division, it would mean that our conflict went beyond the sport, and for me it is not. I wasn't the one who went home crying after our two fights. It was he. I don't want to take anything away from him or make his life harder in any way. I just want back what's mine. Let him have what he deserves.

He's been criticizing USADA ever since your suspension was announced. Do you think he is right about something?

No, I don't think so. I think he's just looking for another reason to justify the fact that I knocked him out. They explained to me that the amount of steroids in my body could be compared to a pinch of salt in an Olympic swimming pool. Such an amount could not affect my abilities. He shouldn't be mad at USADA. USADA didn't knock him out.

Have you ever knowingly taken illegal drugs?

No, I never knowingly took illegal drugs, and in January I passed a polygraph test, which confirmed my words. If you're one of the best in the sport, people tend to ignore the test results, as if I have the ability to cheat.

Are you afraid that failed drug tests will haunt you for the rest of your career?

No, I don't care. If you are talked about as one of the best in sports, there will always be opposing opinions. I have loyal fans and I feel their support. There are a lot of people who decided a long time ago that they don’t like me, and there’s no way I can change their minds. So I just learned to be grateful for my lifestyle, and I understand that the critics are not asleep.

You recently criticized Georges St-Pierre on Instagram. He seems to have angered you. What's the matter?

I was hurt by Georges St-Pierre's recent comments about my situation. We've treated each other with respect over the years, so I was surprised. But now this is in the past, although he did not apologize to me. I still respect Georges.

Describe your relationship with the UFC.

I have a great relationship with the UFC. Mainly thanks to Ari Emanuel and Hunter Campbell. We talk on the phone every week or two. We mostly don't talk about business, they just ask how I'm doing and stuff like that. It feels like they care about me not only as an athlete, but also as a person. I am grateful to them for all their support over the past year. I am their debt.

How about Dana White?

Relations with Dana are fine. I'm open to connecting with him. I want to get closer to him when I return to the sport.

Let us recall that for the first failed test in 2016, Jones was suspended for one year and deprived of the interim championship title, and for the second, he was deprived of the undisputed title, suspended for 15 months, and the result of Jones’s rematch with Daniel Cormier was changed to "failed"

“People make excuses not to give me credit,” Jones said. “In both cases of failed doping tests, it was scientifically proven that the amount of banned substances found was so small that they could not affect my performance.

In the Viagra situation, this was proven to be a mistake. Who takes Viagra expecting to be a better fighter? We found the company, ordered the same pills and found something in them that shouldn't have been there. Such a small amount that it will not make you better or stronger.

In the second situation, USADA said: “The level of steroids found in your body, John, is so small that it could be compared to a grain of salt thrown into an Olympic swimming pool.” Such a small number, it is obvious that they were taken unintentionally. Obviously, this won't help you knock out Daniel Cormier.

If, after everything I've said, people continue to call me a cheater, then that means you just don't want to admit that I'm pretty f*cking good at this sport."

Let us remind you that Jones’ second suspension has come to an end and he will return to the Octagon on December 29th for a title fight against Alexander Gustafsson.

Officially!! Jon Jones has been disqualified and stripped of his UFC title; Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier will compete for the vacant light heavyweight championship.

The best pound-for-pound fighter in the world is no longer the UFC champion.

The organization has suspended Jon Jones indefinitely and stripped him of his title following an incident that occurred last Sunday in Albuquerque. As you know, the UFC champion caused an accident and fled the scene.

UFC President Dana White announced the organization's decision on FOX Sports Live, announcing that the light heavyweight title fight remains on the UFC 187 card as Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier will compete for the vacant championship on May 23. light heavyweight.

The head of the organization also said that he met with John Jones and his lawyer in Albuquerque.

"He didn't talk too much," Dana White said. “It is obvious that now he needs to deal with the problems that have arisen in court. His lawyer was also not very talkative. We went there to find out all the facts of the incident on the spot. The press has said a lot about those events, and some of them are not true. Some of the circumstances surrounding the incident are speculative and we wanted to hear personally from John what actually happened and hear his lawyer's opinion on this matter."

“John is very disappointed and upset right now. He wanted to go down in history as the greatest fighter of all time, but what happened, happened. We had to make this decision"

After UFC executives announced their decision, Jon Jones issued an official apology on his Twitter account.

“I have to figure myself out. I apologize to everyone I let down,” the former UFC champion wrote on the social network.

Recall that on Monday morning, John Jones, while driving a car, ran a red light and crashed into another car driven by a 20-year-old pregnant woman. Another vehicle was damaged in the accident, but there is no definitive information about its driver - it was likely a parked vehicle.

According to updated data, Vanessa Sonnenberg, who was injured in the accident, broke her arm during the incident. Witnesses said Jones left the scene, taking "a handful of money" from the car and jumping over a fence. The police who arrived at the scene did not have time to detain the light heavyweight, but one of them, who is a UFC fan, managed to identify him as the current light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones. Vanessa Sonnenberg also recognized the famous athlete as the culprit of the accident.

After searching the car abandoned by Jones, the police found a marijuana pipe, documents related to the light heavyweight's sports activities, as well as documents for renting a car.

After John Jones was arrested and released on bail, police department officials said he was charged with leaving the scene of an accident that endangered the lives of those injured in the accident. As for the drugs found in Jones' car, he has not yet been charged with possession of marijuana.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of three years' imprisonment and a fine.

"Obviously we have a guy like Jon Jones and he's defended his title many times," Dana White continued. “So, stripping him of the title and disqualifying him was not a very happy decision for us. But, as they say, the show goes on. Anthony Johnson is ready to fight, and Daniel Cormier was happy to take advantage of the opportunity. In that sense, it was pretty simple for us because as soon as Cormier found out about this situation, he said, “I'm ready. I want this opportunity. Put me out." He attacked Lorenzo and me from the very first moment, as soon as this incident became known."

On June 6, Daniel Cormier was supposed to fight Ryan Bader at UFC Fight Night 68 in New Orleans, and now matchmakers of the organization are busy searching for a new opponent for Bader.

Dana White also said that he does not yet know what the future awaits Jon Jones in the UFC.

Shot of the day. Jon Jones's car.

Indefinitely and strips him of the title due to an incident that occurred last Sunday in Albuquerque. As you know, the UFC champion caused an accident and fled the scene.

UFC President Dana White announced the organization's decision on the latest edition of FOX Sports Live, while announcing that the light heavyweight title fight remains on the UFC 187 card, as Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier will compete for the vacant championship belt on May 23 light heavyweight.