Jon Jones declines additional VADA drug-testing recommended by CSAC

At a hearing earlier this month, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC), advised former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to enroll in VADA drug testing in addition to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) drug testing that he’s subject to as a UFC fighter. This extra testing was not mandatory, merely encouraged.

“I, for one, would like to put the doubts to sleep and to put them away once and for all,” commissioner Martha Shen-Urquidez told Jones at the hearing. “And for people to believe you, that you are that talented and that you are the greatest, and that you can win a fight just clean, and that this is Jon Jones, and to put those doubts away once and for all.”

At first, Jon Jones and his team seemed open to this idea, although his attorney Howard Jacobs said they would need more information before committing.

“We need to see what exactly it is that we’re agreeing to, as far as what VADA is testing for, when they test, what their restrictions are,” he explained.

In the end, however, Jon Jones and his team have declined to partake in this additional testing, choosing instead to stick to the USADA testing that all UFC fighters are subject to. CSAC director Andy Foster confirmed this news to MMAjunkie on Wednesday.

Speaking to MMAjunkie on Monday, Jacobs divulged that there were “some issues” with the notion of VADA testing, which would test Jones for performance enhancing drugs but not “drugs of abuse.”

Jon Jones will return to the Octagon at UFC 232 on December 29, when he will battle Alexander Gustafsson for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title.

Jones will enter this fight having not fought since July of 2017, when he knocked out Daniel Cormier. Unfortunately, this bout was quickly ruled a no contest when it was announced Jones had failed a drug test. The title was returned to Cormier, and after more than a year of deliberation, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), handed Jones a 15-month suspension. Because this suspension was retroactive to the date of his failed test, he was eligible to compete again at the end of October. He’s 22-1 (1) overall.

Jones and Alexander Gustafsson first met in the main event of UFC 165, in 2013 in Toronto. On that night, Jones walked away with a unanimous decision win, though many fans felt Gustafsson should have been awarded the decision. Whatever the case, the bout is widely regarded as one of the best in UFC history.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 12/19/2018.