Dana White: It’s Looking Like Jon Jones Didn’t Take the Drug Everybody Thought He Took

Things continue to point in a positive direction for Jon Jones.

Just a couple days after the Jones posted a video on Instagram saying he hoped to be back in the Octagon “really soon,” UFC President Dana White confirmed on "The Jim Rome Show” Tuesday that the interim light heavyweight champion’s situation might not be as dire as it initially appeared.

“I don’t know if this is public. I don’t even know if I can talk about it. It’s looking like Jon Jones didn’t take the drug that everybody thought he took,” White said. “It looks like it’s something else. I’ll let this thing play out. If that’s true, and that’s what USADA and the Nevada State Athletic Commission say happened, it could look good for Jon Jones.”

Jones was pulled from the UFC 200 headliner against Daniel Cormier after failing an out-of-competition drug test on June 16. The NAC later revealed that “Bones” tested positive for the estrogen blocking substances hydroxyclomiphene and letrozole metabolite.

A tearful Jones apologized for the failed test at a press conference before UFC 200 and denied taking performance enhancing drugs. He was temporarily suspended by the NAC pending a formal hearing and faces a maximum two-year sanction pending an appeal process.

Even if Jones is found to have unintentionally taken a banned substance and receives a reduced suspension, White says the light heavyweight star isn’t completely absolved of any wrongdoing.

“He didn’t get a bum rap. He definitely didn’t get a bum rap. The substance that he was on is a pill that you take when you’re coming down off of steroids,” White said. “But this thing apparently is in other things. Jon took something else. Where he doesn’t come off clean is you have to tell USADA everything you put in your body leading up to the fight. And he did not.”