Jon Jones Takes Polygraph Test To Prove PED Innocence
Here’s a new one we haven’t seen before.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who had his title stripped and was provisionally suspended for testing positive for anabolic steroid Turinabol prior to his UFC 214 win over Daniel Cormier, reportedly took and passed a polygraph test last month according to UFC sources via MMA Fighting.
Jones presumably took back the throne he technically never lost in the cage with an impressive third-round knockout of archrival Cormier at last July’s UFC 214. His drug-related troubles continued, however, when news arrived that he had tested positive for Turinabol on August 22, 2017, leading to the UFC stripping him of a title an unprecedented third time.
“Bones'” team claimed a tainted supplement similar to how they did with his failed drug test prior to July 2016’s UFC 200, where he tested positive for banned substances clomiphene and Letrozol before claiming it was “dick pills” that had caused the failed test. There, he was not allowed to fight and was stripped of his interim light heavyweight title before being suspended for a year by USADA.
He returned to compete at UFC 214 and won, but his win over Cormier was overturned to a no contest by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC), and he has yet to receive a current punishment from USADA with a hearing scheduled for next month. Cormier was given the title back after originally winning it at 2015’s UFC 187 after Jones was stripped for the first time following a concerning arrest for a hit-and-run accident in Albuquerque.
Apparently, Jones is taking preemptive steps to clear his name, taking a polygraph test at PGP Polygraph & Interviewing Service in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on December 7. He passed said test, allegedly proving he had not knowingly taken Turinabol.
There’s little evidence of how the polygraph test could affect any potential punishment, as no fighter has used one to prove or even attempt to prove his innocence in the UFC’s nearly three-year anti-doping partnership with USADA.
Meanwhile, Cormier will defend the title against rising contender Volkan Oezdemir in the co-main event of this weekend’s UFC 220 from Boston.
Could Jones find himself with yet another chance to fight in the octagon after stirring up arguably the most outside-the-cage trouble in UFC history?
