UFC champ Jon Jones tests positive for anabolic steroids

Image: UFC.com

On a week where the eyes of the fight world are on the UFC lightweight champion making his debut in a boxing ring, a budding megastar with a troubled past has once again given the UFC a black eye.

TMZ is reporting Tuesday night that UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones tested positive for the anabolic steroid Turinabol and has been stripped of the title he won by knocking out Daniel Cormier last month at UFC 214 — his first fight back since coming off a one-year ban for his first USADA violation. A second positive failure could mean up to a four year ban from the sport.

UFC confirmed the news, saying the positive test was taken on July 28th after Jones weighed in.

Yahoo’s Kevin Iole said Jones hasn’t been stripped of the title yet and that a statement from his team is coming.

After several years of incidents with the law and the USADA violation, Jones looked to have finally won the fans back after his impressive effort over Cormier. The expectation was that he would fight former opponent Alexander Gustafsson at some point this year and move up to heavyweight for a megafight against WWE Universal Champion and former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in 2018.

If Jones is indeed suspended, a Cormier-Gustafsson rematch is appealing as well as a Cormier-Volkan Ozedemir fight given the latter’s recent propensity for knockouts.