NSAC Says Jones’ CIR Tests Came Back Clean

As the train continues to fills on the Jon Jone’s witch hunt express, so do the allegations that he’s defrauded the public, and the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.

Part of the public’s gripe can now be put to rest, as it appears to be recently revealed as  a non-issue.

According to a report coming out of The Bleacher Report, Jon Jones was found to not be using performance enhancing drugs, despite having very questionable hormone levels in his recent drug screenings.

Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter breaks it down: (Via Bleacherreport.com)

… during a Thursday interview with Bleacher Report, Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Bob Bennett said that carbon isotope testing was indeed done on Jones’ pre-fight drug tests, and that the results came back clean.

“CIT testing was done, and according to our doctor, none of the results were a concern,” Bennett said when asked if carbon testing was done on the samples.

The CIR tests were conducted recently and results were returned to the commission on Thursday.

Bennett said that three tests were done during each of the random tests: urine, blood testing for human growth hormone and a blood passport test.

“The only negative was testing positive for cocaine metabolites,” Bennett said. “We’ve gotten a litany of emails about the testosterone. We have a doctor we work with whose work has been impeccable for the last seven months. He does not have a concern on the last two tests.”

Bleacher Report injury expert Will Carroll says that CIR testing would have revealed if Jones were taking exogenous (synthetic) testosterone.

“CIR (carbon isotope ratio) testiing is a very technical technique that is very sensitive. Given the proper isotopic signatures, the test can very accurately detect the presence of a certain substance. In this case, that substance would be exogenous (non-natural) testosterone,” Carroll said. “Given proper testing protocols, the test itself is unassailable. It wouldn’t tell us anything else, but would be definitive for whether Jones was given testosterone in the time immediately preceding his fight.

“What CIR wouldn’t tell you is whether any other substance was present. In most cases, CIR is done after a T/E ratio test. The T/E ratio is simple and cheap and when it gives a bad result, the normal protocol is to do the more accurate CIR testing. I have to assume that other substances would be tested for as part of the normal assay.”