Jeff Novitzky addresses the ongoing situation when it comes to UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and his positive drug tests. He’s slated to make his next title defense against Anthony Smith in the co-headliner of the UFC 235 pay-per-view event.
Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) chairman Anthony A. Marnell III went on record that his pre-fight tests wouldn’t be released until fight week. This is where he made it known that Jones’ test results were being collected and will be released in whole.
It all started in the lead up to his fight at UFC 232 PPV event once it was revealed “Bones” had metabolites of turinabol still in his system. Despite repeated adverse findings, the UFC 232 post-fight drug tests came back clean. This is the same drug that got him a 15 month suspension due to it being a banned substance.
Jones was at the height of training for his title defense when a pair of drug tests came back positive for the M3 metabolite. This is something that the UFC vice president of Athlete Health and Performance tried to clarify.
“Typically, a fighter is getting ready for a fight will gradually increase that intensity, peak. Then maybe a couple weeks out, taper off so they’re fresh for the fight,” Novitzky told MMAJunkie. “That was right in the heart of when Jon, what his camp has told me, was peaking in his training for this fight.”
“All of us are of the opinion that while … it’s not great that every time Jon fights, an issue like this comes up, however, based on the amount of testing he’s had over the last two months, these low-level positives are the best evidence we’ve seen of what these experts are telling us.”
