Jon Jones apologizes for UFC 232 incident: 'That's not a mistake I made'

Jones apologizes for inconvenience at UFC 232 (Photo: Youtube Reproduction ufc)

Jon Jones caused a real stir at UFC 232. Scheduled to face Alexander Gustafson, in the main fight of the show next Saturday (29), the light heavyweight did not receive the license to fight in Las Vegas due to a change in the anti-doping test. The UFC considered that the change would not be doping and accepted a loss of more than R$20 million in ticket sales to transfer the show to Inglewood, California.

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Shaken by the repercussion of the case, as people from all over the world were going to Las Vegas to watch UFC 232 and were unable to reschedule flights to Inglewood, Jones took to social media to explain himself. The fighter recorded a series of videos on his Instagram account, apologizing to fans in Brazil and Sweden, saying he has tried to help some people get to the show, but says he is innocent of the doping accusation.

“How is everyone? It's your boy 'Bones' Jones here. I just wanted to apologize to the fans for what's happening. This is a situation that is completely out of my control. But I will still apologize for this happening. I know there are many people who are lost in this situation. People came from Sweden, people came from Brazil, other fighters, I feel your frustration. Today was a hellish day. A hellish day. Big shock for all of us. Exhausted with tears today because I can feel the fans' frustration and I'm going to do what I can to try to get it right, at least for some of you. I've already taken care of some flights and some tickets for people. So I'm doing what I can to make this right. I really want to assure you that this is not a mistake I made. It's completely out of my control. But I feel your pain and I am sincerely sorry. I love you and God bless you, and I think I'll see some of you in California. And that's it. Alright, I’ll try to get some sleep,” Jones said.

Understand the case

The problem with testing Jon Jones emerged when the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) reported a change in the drug test submitted by Jones on December 9. He showed the presence of the metabolite “turinabol”, the same one he had already tested positive for in July 2017. At the time, the fighter was suspended for 15 months.

According to Jeff Novitzky, vice president of athlete health and performance at the UFC, USADA stated that the change in the test, because it was so small, cannot be seen as 'positive'. He stated that the result could be a remnant of the substance found in the 2017 test and which still remained in the fighter's body. Novitzky also described the amount of the substance found at “picogram” levels.

“A picogram is one trillionth of a gram. If you put a grain of salt on the table and divide it into 50 million pieces, a picogram is one of those pieces of that gram of salt. So a very small amount,” he said.

Despite the allegation, the Nevada Athletic Commission did not grant Jones a fighter's license. Ultimate bought the fight from the former champion and moved the entire event to California, where the organization agreed to grant permission for 'Bones' to fight.