UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has tested positive for cocaine.
MMAJunkie confirmed on Tuesday that Jones tested positive for cocaine metabolites prior to his fight against Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 last weekend. Jones went on to defeat Cormier by unanimous decision.
Jones was randomly drug tested on Dec. 3 and the results came back on Dec. 23. He tested positive for benzoylecgonine, which is a primary metabolite of cocaine that is not banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. That’s why the UFC could not keep Jones from defending his title against Cormier despite being aware of the failed test.
“At this point and time, Jones checked himself into a rehab center, and we’ll cross that bridge when he get to it,” Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Bob Bennett told MMAJunkie.
Jones, through his attorney, provided this statement to Yahoo Sports:
“With the support of my family, I have entered into a drug treatment facility. I want to apologize to my fiancée, my children, as well as my mother, father, and brothers for the mistake that I made. I also want to apologize to the UFC, my coaches, my sponsors and equally important to my fans. I am taking this treatment program very seriously. Therefore, at this time my family and I would appreciate privacy.”
Jones testing positive for cocaine is a huge development because of what it means for his image. Jones has always portrayed himself as a clean-cut guy who doesn’t get into trouble.
He even made these comments when the UFC decided to sponsor him in 2012:
“We came up with a strategy to keep it clean and be sponsored by the UFC itself. I’m glad the UFC wanted to work with me as well, and I think that they trust that I’ll never make them look bad. You never have to worry about me with a DWI (driving while under the influence) or doing something crazy,” Jones said in 2012.
The irony is a few months later, Jones was in a DUI crash and had two female passengers with him. When you couple Jones’ DUI crash with his anti-gay Instagram comments, as well as his shameless womanizing and now the positive cocaine test, we see a completely different guy from the one he tries to portray himself as publicly.
What’s also interesting is that the positive test does not come as a surprise for some MMA insiders.
MMA reporter Josh Gross tweeted this after news of the positive test emerged:
One of MMA's worst kept secrets is that Jon Jones loves to party. One of the reasons many people think he's fake.
— Josh Gross (@yay_yee) January 6, 2015
