I recall reading an article a few years back which went into great detail about the tests and concluded that there was no intentional cheating. I personally find that to be dubious and think it's happened far too many times to be unintentional, but it's interesting to think that he's been cleared of knowingly cheating cheating in each instance. Below are a recap of each of his failed tests where he was exonerated by either USADA, an independent arbitrator, or both.
UFC 182
- Fails pre-fight drug test for cocaine metabolites, but no performance enhancing impact stems from cocaine usage.
- Jones is found to have an abnormally low Testosterone/Epitestosterone ratio. NSAC confirms that despite the low T/E ratio, the same samples were tested via Carbon Isotope Ratio testing. Per NSAC, the only finding was still solely cocaine metabolites.
MAIN TAKEAWAY: By Jones' own admission and the test's findings, he intentionally used cocaine, which does not enhance performance.
UFC 200
- Fails pre-fight drug test for banned two substances, clomiphene and letrozole. Jones maintains innocence and claims this is a direct result of taking a contaminated product which he believed to be Cialis.
- USADA obtains an exact sample of the product Jones referred to and finds it to be contaminated.
- Through an arbitration hearing, a panel concludes that Jones did not intentionally use banned substances to gain an advantage due to their confirmation of the contaminated substances.
MAIN TAKEAWAY: USADA officially concludes that Jones did not intentionally cheat by using clomiphene and letrozole; however, he must be held responsible for what he ingests and is disciplined with a one-year suspension.
UFC 214
- Jones tests positive for a banned substance, Turinabol. His KO title win over DC is overturned and he is stripped of the title.
- USADA issues him a 15-month suspension, which is reduced because he agreed to snitch/inform on other athletes, or "Substantial Assistance."
- USADA releases a statement advising that an independent arbitrator found that Jones was not intentionally cheating as this was another case of tainted supplements.
MAIN TAKEAWAY: Jones is again deemed to have unintentionally used tainted supplements resulting in the positive test for Turinabol.
UFC 232
- Jones again tests positive for a miniscule trace amount of Turinabol, which results in NSAC not licensing him to fight against Gustafsson in Nevada.
- The event is moved to Los Angeles where CSAC requires Jones to enroll in VADA along with his participation in the USADA program.
- Drug tests find the existence of trace amounts of Turniabol to be a result of the "pulsing effect."
- On the advice of medical experts, CSAC does not take any disciplinary action against Jones as he was not believed to have re-taken any substances following the UFC 214 positive test.
MAIN TAKEAWAY: Jones is cleared of any intentional cheating by CSAC as the positive test for trace amounts of Turinabol stemmed from the unintentional UFC 214 instance.
TL;DR, Jones has tested positive for performance enhancing substances three times and has been cleared of intentionality each time by USADA, independent arbitrators, and CSAC, respectively.
Fighters aren't always cleared of intentionality. Take Anderson, for example. He was cleared of intentionally cheating as he took tainted supplements leading up to a scheduled Gastelum fight, but was not cleared for having androsterone is his system for the Diaz fight.
Jones' legacy will likely always be marred by the sheer number of times his name has been associated with drug tests gone awry. But it's only fair to at least recognize the factual reality that he's been officially cleared each time, regardless of whether these exonerations are believed to be corrupt or not.
