Daniel Cormier now has one less loss to Jon Jones on his record. The CSAC (California State Athletic Commission) overturned the result of their UFC 214 fight to a No Contest on Wednesday, according to a report by MMA Fighting citing CSAC exec Andy Foster. The move came just a day after the results of Jon Jones “B” sample stemming from his failed drug test became known. In fact, the news was out less than twenty-four hours before this new development took place.
As the UFC, not the athletic commission, controls its championship belts, the change does not automatically mean that the title will revert back to Cormier. For the time being, the title remains with Jon Jones, though it’s likely the UFC will move to strip him. It could, however, wait for the outcome of the arbitration process, which is excepted to take at least several months.
Jones finished Cormier in the third round of their UFC 214 main event, setting up the finish with a head kick. Cormier, who had held the title in Jones’ absence, was visibly devastated after the loss. In the build-up to UFC 214, he had accused Jones of taking performance enhancing drugs through much of his career.
Jon Jones has twice been stripped of UFC light heavyweight titles before — once after hitting a pregnant woman with his car and fleeing the scene in 2015, then again last year after testing positive for performance enhancing substances prior to UFC 200. That failed drug test, which Jones blamed on sexual performance pills, resulted in a year-long suspension by USADA.
Jones could be looking at a suspension of up to four years as a result of his prior suspension.
