There will be no miracle stemming from the testing of Jon Jones’ B sample, taken as part of his failed UFC 214 drug test. According to a report by MMA Junkie, UFC Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky has confirmed that the B sample also tested positive for steroid turinabol. The B sample is collected at the same time as the original sample tested, to eliminate any lab contamination or other abnormalities.
Jones tested positive prior to defeating champion Daniel Cormier by KO in the third round of their main event bout at UFC 214 in July. The failed test took place after weigh-ins for the event, which went forward as results were not immediately available. That win is increasingly looking as if it will be changed to a No Contest, which could see the belt revert back to Cormier (given with a No Contest, it will be as if the fight never took place).
Jones’ next step will be arbitration with USADA, a process he should be familiar with. Jones went through the USADA process after failing a pre-fight drug test prior to UFC 200. He was eventually cleared of intentionally taking a prohibited substance, but suspended a year regardless for carelessly ingesting not one but two substances on the banned list – clomiphene and letrozole.
Despite reports that Jones passed a blood test following the positive test for turinabol, it should be noted that the steroid, developed in East Germany in the late 50s/early 60s, is only detectable via a urine analysis. That’s exactly the test that found the it in Jones’ case. It’s also apparently the same steroid that fellow Jackson-Winklejohn teammate Frank Mir tested positive for last year.
