Frank Mir Gives Insight While Comparing His Situation To Jon Jones

Frank Mir gives some interesting insight while comparing his own dealings with USADA in light of the news of Jon Jones. The internet went crazy on Sunday evening once it was revealed that one of Jones’ test from earlier this month was found to have an ‘atypical finding.’ It led to the NSAC not licinging him and the UFC was forced to move UFC 232 to California.

Jones is slated to take on Alexander Gustafsson in the headliner for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title. Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir was one of many who commented on this situation.

Mir had his own dealings with USADA after he suspended from competition for two years. This all started after he tested positive for the same substance as Jones did back in April 2017. Jones failed in in July 2017 as well as the atypical finding. This led to Mir taking to his Facebook account to compare the situations.

Insight Offering

“In the spring of 2016, when USADA representatives sat in my Las Vegas kitchen and told me that the turinabol metabolite. They said I tested positive for could only have been ingested within a window of the past several months, I vehemently proclaimed my innocence. Having never failed any drug test throughout my career. I asked if we could go back further in the past to test any supplements that I could’ve taken. But they claimed that was both impossible and unnecessary. They were firm on their assertion that there was only a recent period of several months that would warrant any consideration.

Now, little more than two years later, Jon Jones has tested positive for the same trace of the same banned substance. USADA is taking the position that this same low level is in fact not a new ingestion. But something that could be the result of a residual ‘pulsing’ effect that could potentially stay in his system ‘forever’. Further, they are now claiming that this phenomenon is something that they are seeing in other cases as well.”

Continuation

The only difference between the fighters was the suspension length as Jones got a 15-month suspension. Mir continued by bringing up some possibilities.

“This latest shift in USADA’s position would seem to suggest one of two possibilities. Either they are a) offering special dispensation to Jon Jones or b) they are second guessing and subsequently ‘revising’ the presentation of their own science. Either scenario leaves myself and a number of other fighters whose careers have been similarly damaged by past testing claims to wonder what this says about USADA’s consistency and their tests’ reliability.

Sadly, my accusation came at a time when the UFC’s partnership with USADA had not yet been subjected to the kind of doubt that now seems to further cloud it with each new instance of convoluted circumstances.”