By Pete Hoffman
Jon Jones, just a week away from making his hugely anticipated return to UFC, is at the forefront of another controversy.
On Sunday evening, less than a week prior to Jones ending a 17-month layoff from the Octagon with a light heavyweight rematch against Alexander Gustafsson on Dec. 29 at UFC 232, UFC announced a slight trace of the banned substance Turinabol was found in Jones’ system in a drug test conducted earlier in December. The same substance was found in Jones’ system in the lead-up to his KO victory over Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 in July 2017, which led to Jones’ most recent suspension (and caused that result to be changed to a no-contest). UFC executives led by Dana White say Jones has not taken any new illegal substances, and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) declared the latest results were consistent with a residual effect from last year's exposure.
Cormier, shockingly, doesn’t believe this explanation.
The revelation caused the UFC 232 card, scheduled for Las Vegas, to be moved on six days' notice to The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., just outside of Los Angeles. Nevada would not license the 31-year-old Jones to fight following the discovery of the drug traces, but California — which oversaw the Cormier fight and the fallout of Jones' failed test last year — was more familiar with the case and accepted the explanation, also favored by White, that Jones did nothing wrong.
The abrupt relocation to a new venue was necessary to save the main event, which is the best thing in a lousy situation. Gustafsson, a 31-year-old from Sweden with a record of 18-4, gave Jones what may have been the toughest challenge of his career at UFC 165 in September 2013, when Jones barely eked out a unanimous decision. A little more than five years later, Gustafsson is looking to hand Jones (21-1-1) his first legitimate defeat (Jones took a DQ loss against Matt Hamill in 2009 due to illegal elbows when he had the fight won).
The decision to move UFC 232 to accommodate Jones stinks for the other fighters on the card and fans who shelled out to book trips to Las Vegas during the holidays. It’s hard to say how much damage it will do to UFC — financially or in terms of credibility — to have changed the location at the last minute, but the hit will be far less than cancelling the entire event or the Jones main event (the co-main event is Cris Cyborg defending the women's featherweight title against Amanda Nunes). This is not the first time this has happened, either. It adds another wrinkle to Saturday night’s fights — especially with Jones-Gustafsson: How will the change of plans and last-minute travel affect the fighters mentally?
Follow Pete Hoffman, Isaac Feldman and Outside the Cage on Twitter for all your MMA and UFC coverage. Listen to their weekly "Outside the Cage" podcast. The next live post-fight show is Dec. 30 after UFC 232 from midnight-2 a.m. EST on CBS Sports Radio.