Jeff Novitzky is the UFC Vice President Of Fighter Health & Performance and he recently appeared on UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer’s podcast.
The UFC VP made some comments about former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones’ issues with USADA and now he wants to clarify those statements.
“The headline and corresponding article took excerpts from an interview I did last week, where I was asked about the status of Jon Jones’ pending case,” Novitzky wrote in the statement to MMA Fighting. “I indicated that Jon’s camp, the UFC and USADA were all working hard and together to determine the source of the prohibited substance in Jon’s system. That is still the case. I stated that this is often a lengthy process that can take up to several months to complete, but that possible sanctions based on the findings of a completed case ranged from a multi-year suspension, to a minimal, or no-fault sanction, if an unavoidable ingestion of the prohibited substance was determined.”
Jones was suspended for a failed drug test after defeating Daniel Cormier at UFC 214, the title has since been returned to Cormier and Jones is still awaiting punishment.
Novitzky also states that Jones’ team and USADA’s team are still hunting for evidence to help him in his case for a failed drug test.
“While all parties are hoping to find evidence of the unintentional or unavoidable use of the prohibited substance, at no time during the interview did I indicate that there were developments leading in that direction, as was the inference of the headline,” Novitzky said.
This isn’t the first time that Novitzky has had to deal with Jones’ drug test issues, as he was front in center when Jones failed a drug test prior to UFC 200.
