With USADA and the UFC are ending their partnership, Jon Jones wants to see his No Contest against Daniel Cormier reverted back to a win. Israel Adesanya, meanwhile, is taking an extended hiatus from MMA in the wake of his loss to Sean Strickland. It’s Sunday, here’s your Sunday MMA Quick Hits for October 15, 2023!
Jon Jones wants No Contest against Daniel Cormier overturned
The UFC and USADA are parting ways at the end of 2023, and it has been an ugly, ugly breakup so far. USADA got ahead of the news last week, calling the relationship untenable. The UFC then returned fire and have issued a legal letter to the anti-doping body reportedly demanding a retraction.
That doesn’t mean drug testing in the UFC is going away. Instead, they’ve partnered with Drug Free Sport, who handle sample collection for numerous professional sporting leagues including the NBA and MLB. In the meantime, however, USADA “survivor” Jon Jones wants his loss to Daniel Cormier overturned.
“Man I survived USADA. First they said I was guilty of having picograms, then they considered me innocent, next picograms became legal,” Jones wrote on social media a few days back. “Guess what I’m still here, still unbeaten. That BS no contest over DC needs to be taken off my record. I’ve never cheated this sport and I will stand by that until the Day I die.”
Man I survived USADA. First they said I was guilty of having picograms, then they considered me innocent, next picograms became legal. Guess what I’m still here, still unbeaten. That BS no contest over DC needs to be taken off my record. I’ve never cheated this sport and I will…
— BONY (@JonnyBones) October 12, 2023
Jones is certainly one of the greatest fighters of all time, but his career has several black marks thanks to not one but multiple failed drug tests (and drunk driving charges, and crashing his car into a pregnant woman’s vehicle then fleeing the scene, and domestic abuse allegations, and… yeah). The DC incident in 2017 saw him test positive for Turinabol, and he was stripped of the UFC’s light heavyweight championship as a result — his third time being stripped of a UFC title.
It’s unlikely the result will be overturned, given a) the No Contest was already the result of the outcome being overturned and b) despite an arbitrator finding Jones had not intentionally cheated, he still had banned substances in his system. Under the UFC’s Anti-Doping program with USADA, athletes are given a list of certified supplements they can use. Anything not on that list is essentially “use at your own risk.” Coincidentally, Jones had multiple supplements submitted for testing; none proved to be contaminated.
Israel Adesanya stepping away from MMA
Like GSP and Jon Jones before him, Israel Adesanya is stepping away from MMA for a bit.
Adesanya suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of Sean Strickland last month, losing the UFC middleweight championship for the second time.
On The Rock podcast, “The Last Stylebender” revealed that he’s now taking a break from the fight game. “I’m going to take time to look after myself, and I’m not going to fight for a long time,” stated Adesanya. He added, however, that he’s definitely not retiring, because “I’m not leaving like that.”
Israel Adesanya is ready to take a break from fighting 😳 pic.twitter.com/Mih9vQrB9v
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 13, 2023
Jones supports Izzy
They haven’t always been the best of friends over the years, but Jones, who himself took an extended hiatus from the sport, gave his support to Adesanya once news of his break got out.
Jon Jones sends his support to Israel Adesanya after he announced his break from fighting 🤝
(h/t @JonnyBones) pic.twitter.com/8enSx8rmGz
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 15, 2023
