Fans Go Off On USADA For UFC 232 Relocation

Jeff Novitzky has defended moving UFC 232 for Jon Jones as ‘right thing to do. But fans are none too happy about the decision.

The annual year-end PPV is still happening, albeit in a diffent state entirely. The event has been moved from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

A Jon Jones drug test came back with an “atypical finding” of trace amounts of the same turinabol metabolite that gave “Bones” his most recent 15-month suspension.

Jones’ test result is not a new violation of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. However, the Nevada State Athletic Commission doesn’t feel comfortable licensing him on such short notice. That is precisely why the UFC has decided to move the entire show to California where Jones will be granted a licence.

UFC President Dana White and the UFC VP of athlete health and performance, Novitzky, expained that Jones did nothing wrong in this instance. USADA, and other agencies believes the test result is a “pulsing” effect and not a new ingestion.

Here is what Novitzky had to say about the “picogram” levels of turinabol found in Jones’ system:

“A picogram is a one-trillionth of a gram,” Novitzky said. “If you put one grain of salt on the table and split it up into 50 million pieces, a picogram is one of those pieces of that gram of salt. These levels have shown up in the single and double digits of picograms – so such a small amount.”

Tweet Barrage

Novitzky echoed that that same sentiment early Monday morning on Twitter.

This case exemplifies how advanced and sensitive drug tests have become. With this comes a greater responsibility and the need to look at each situation objectively. The decision yesterday showed both of these things. Can’t make everyone happy, but it was the right thing to do.

“The right thing to do”? That seems a bit one-sided in my opinion. UFC fans agreed as they responded to Novitzky’s tweet in anger.

This entire situation is not a good look for the sport and a black eye for a promotion that will make its debut on ESPN programming in four short weeks.