Jon Jones' drug test failure from before UFC 214 may come as a surprise because the failed test happened the day before the event, but one expert isn't surprised Jones failed the test by using the banned substance in question.
Luke Bernardi, owner of Amped Nutrition, appeared on the "Holy Smokes MMA Podcast" to talk about Jones' use of the banned substance turinabol which failed a USADA test on July 28. Bernardi explained that it would make sense for Jones to use turinabol the day before his rematch against Daniel Cormier because the substance can leave the user's system in a short amount of time.
"I know the things that professional athletes use that are in your system very quick and give a competitive advantage. That's what ran through my mind. I know what he was using and sure enough, when after a few days it came out, [USADA] said what they suspected they found. It came to no surprise to me that it was the drug turinabol, also known as T-Bol. Right away that came ad I was like, 'Yup.' That didn't come as a surprise to me because the compound has a very short half-life, meaning the time it takes for half of the drug to be out of your system. Turinabol has a half-lifespan of about 4-6 hours, so in about 8-12 hours it's out of your system. That's where you would think a guy would use something like that to his competitive advantage," Bernardi said.
Bernardi said if Jones were to have taken turinabol, he would likely have taken a higher dosage if he used the banned substance once. Bernardi also said Jones deadlifting heavy weights did raise a red flag for him.
"Right away, what's starts running through your mind is, 'what's he using?' because that's not something you see. You don't see MMA fighters training with weights or deadlifting weights that power lifters use," Bernardi said.
As it turns out, Jones did use the banned substance with the release of Jones' "B" sample, which also tested positive for turinabol. It's not often that the "B" sample would negate the positive test the "A" sample would have, but the recent results have confirmed USADA's initial findings.
Jones has not been formally stripped of the UFC Light Heavyweight title he won from Daniel Cormier at UFC 214, but that could change in the coming weeks. Jones is now facing a potential USADA suspension that could last up to four years because Jones is a repeat offender but Jones has vehemently denied taking any banned substances. As far as the result of the match against Cormier is concerned, it was just announced that the fight was overturned to a no-contest by the California State Athletic Commission.
The "Holy Smokes MMA Podcast" with "Showdown" Joe Ferraro and Fightful managing editor Sean Ross Sapp can be viewed live every Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET on Fightful.com and on YouTube. Bernardi's comments can be viewed in the podcast above at around the 31-minute mark.
