Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jones Jones was recently handed a fifteen month suspension from USADA for a failed drug test in line with UFC 214.
Some rumors have suggested that Jones was given a reduced sentence because he “snitched” on other fighters who have used illegal substances, but his agent in Malki Kawa says that it isn’t going down that way.
“It’s not like Jon Jones is sitting around in a room watching guys do steroids and then turning around and saying, ‘Oh, wait a minute, I just got popped, I’m gonna go tell on my poor teammates that I know for a fact are sitting in a room doing it, because I just watched them do it,’” Kawa said on The MMA Hour. “That’s not what happened. Jon goes to training, he trains and he leaves. There’s no hanging out in a room, there’s not going to a bathroom, there’s no shooting somebody up. He doesn’t do that. There was none. But I keep saying that and everybody keeps running with it. Substantial assistance doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be on somebody else. It could have been on himself. People don’t understand. That whole line and all that, I don’t have a lot of clarity on it, I don’t understand it. They said to me, ‘Hey listen, this is how it’s gotta be worded.’ I said, ‘OK, cool.’ I kind of just let it be, because I’m thinking, OK, I don’t really get it, but maybe everybody else doesn’t either. I don’t know.”
Jones is going to be able to fight again after October 28, meaning the former champion could potentially fight by the end of the year.
USADA, in response to what Kawa stated, issued a statement to MMA Fighting, saying that fighters could get a reduced suspension for providing information on other individuals:
“There are two avenues in 10.6.1 of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy which allow for a reduction in sanctions: 1) an individual can get a sanction reduction if he or she provides information that results in USADA or another anti-doping agency bringing forward an Anti-Doping Policy Violation against other athletes or support personnel; and/or 2) a reduction can be given if the information results in a criminal or disciplinary body bringing forward a criminal offense against individuals. Importantly, if the athlete or support personnel fails to continue to cooperate and provide credible substantial assistance, USADA will reinstate the original sanction. These rules set out in 10.6.1 are crystal clear and if they are not met, an individual would not be considered for a reduction based on substantial assistance. Because the substantial assistance relates to ongoing matters, USADA is unable to provide any further information.”
It is unknown if Jones actually did snitch on other fighters or just provided more information on his own misdeeds, like what Kawa stated on The MMA Hour.
