Jon Jones Cleared for UFC 235 Despite Adverse Findings in Drug Tests

Nevada State Athletic Commission statement on Jon Jones. #UFC235 pic.twitter.com/S9J38gvihI

— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) February 28, 2019

You can sign up for a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC on ESPN+ live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Fight fans can now breathe a big sigh of a relief, as Ultimate Fighting Championship star Jon Jones has been cleared to compete by the commissions and testing agencies in anticipation of his championship bout against Anthony Smith at UFC 235.

According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Thursday, Jones has been tested six times since the beginning of February. Two of those tests did find 20 and 40 picogram/milliliter levels of metabolites from banned substance Turinabol, which have been found repeatedly in his system since his positive test in 2017. Those adverse findings will not affect his licensing, and the NSAC stated, "…consistent with the NSAC's January 29, 2019 order to issue Mr. Jones a single fight license…the findings will not preclude him from competing on March 2, 2019." Jones does have one test from February 23 pending, and the expedited results should be released prior to UFC 235. While Jones will be subject to a litany of additional tests going forward, barring something unexpected, the show will go on as scheduled.

As a condition for licensing Jones for this event, the California State Athletic Commission, in conjunction with the NSAC, made it mandatory for Jones to enroll in the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. As such, two tests have come from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, two from VADA, and another two from the NSAC. Since his fight with Alexander Gustafsson on December 29 last year, according to MMAFighting Jones has been tested 10 times. Averaging about one test every week since that bout, Jones has now tested positive four different times in that span for trace amounts of the metabolite. None of those adverse findings will affect his licensing status, as the commission relied on a statement from Dr. Daniel Eichner of the Sports Medicine and Research Laboratory, which stated, "There is no scientific or medical evidence that the athlete (Jones) would have an unfair advantage leading up to, or for, his contest scheduled on March 2, 2019."

UFC 235 will take place on March 2 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, headlined by the light heavyweight title fight between Jones and Smith. Co-headlining the event will be a welterweight title fight between champ Tyron Woodley and Kamaru Usman.