Due to a drug test which revealed metabolites related to Turinabol in an out-of-competition test of Jon Jones, UFC 232 is moving from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada to The Forum in Inglewood, California. The reason being is due to a licensing issue with the state of Nevada.
An out of competition drug test earlier this month from Jones turned up Turinabol, the same substance that caused his 15-month suspension. Again, USADA indicated it had no idea where the Turnabol came from and there was some scientific things that were explained by UFC executive Jeff Novitsky. But, to be honest, not of that really matters.
Why? Well, what I explained above and from reading multiple reports indicates that Jon Jones had a test flagged for a banned substance. This also means he failed a drug test. Brett Okamoto succinctly breaks it down
Jon Jones tested for a trace amount of the same metabolite that was found in his system in 2017. USADA has ruled the test was caused by a residual amount of the substance from 2017 and will not sanction Jones, but Nevada didn’t feel it could license him. California will.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) December 23, 2018
How a residual amount of the substance can stay in one’s system for over a year is baffling.
USADA does provide an explanation:
USADA Statement on Jon Jones Sample and UFC Anti-Doping Policy pic.twitter.com/GAlrwYS0gh
— USADA | UFC Anti-Doping Program (@USADA_UFC) December 23, 2018
Last week the California State Athletic Commission gave approval to Jones for a temporary license despite its concerns with how USADA handled Jones’ case. Rather than take Jones off the card, it has moved the entire show to another state where Jones has a license.
This did not take into consideration the money expended by fans and athletes for attending the event this Saturday. The UFC indicated fans will get refunds on the Nevada tickets but it does not account for the hotel and airfare fans had expended.
Payout Perspective:
This is a complete public relations disaster by the UFC. The only saving grace for the UFC is for Dana White to throw his tantrum similar to the one he gave about Greg Hardy being in the UFC. Then, he’ll just enlist some folks to shout down those questioning him. Why one fighter has this much importance and is getting the benefit of the doubt once again reflects that the UFC is built on just a handful of stars. And those stars take advantage of the UFC just as much as the UFC takes advantage of them. The good news, is the UFC probably knows that they are going to score on PPV no matter the inconvenience of the fans.
As for the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, USADA is showing its flexibility in dealing with Jon Jones. Not only has it once again emphasized that this test result was not his fault, it is not sanctioning him. Yet, it cannot invest on determining why Jones had this in his body in the first place. Moreover, in discussing this issue, it skirts the issue about Jones failing the drug test which would likely take him off this card.
Notably, California suggested Jones enroll in VADA to clarify any issues with his image. Jones denied it. And his opponent this Saturday, Alexander Gustafsson noticed.
Now we all understand why u didn’t take the Wada test! U can be on rocket fuel,, I’ll still gonna finish u Jon! #andnew #ufc232
— Alexander Gustafsson (@AlexTheMauler) December 24, 2018
He does mean VADA testing above but its clear that he doesn’t believe in Jon Jones’ drug test capabilities.
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