Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones is sitting on the sidelines as USADA decides his fate after the former champion failed a drug test in line with UFC 214.
Jones manager is Malki Kawa and he is extremely confident that the former light heavyweight kingpin fights by the end of 2018.
“By the end of this month I think we get some clarity on the issues. We have a hearing with the California State Athletic Commission and we’re hoping to get the investigation with USADA wrapped up by then, as well,” Kawa said on The Luke Thomas Show. “Hopefully it all works out that way. I got to assume that by the end of March, for a fact, we will get this resolved and get an idea of what it’s looking like. I’d like to say about a 95-percent chance (Jones fights in 2018).”
The two time drug test failure could be receiving an four year suspension from the United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA).
Kawa awaits the decision from USADA alongside Jones, but the manager knows that USADA has done their due diligence on the case.
“If USADA is a respectable organization, which I think that they are, and they take all the information they compiled, all the interviews that they’ve done and all the things they’ve seen, they know for a fact that Jon Jones was not cheating and he was not intentionally taking any kind of substance. I think they know that and everybody can come to that conclusion based on the circumstances of his situation. That’s the most I am going to say at this point because it is obviously ongoing,” says Kawa.
USADA and the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) have already punished Jones in some ways, including the fighter being stripped of the UFC Light Heavyweight Title and the victory over Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 was overturned to a no contest.
