UFC star Jon Jones has been handed a one-year doping ban after taking a sexual-performance pill tainted with a performance-enhancing substance NFL draft 2017 .
AFPUpdate: Nov 7th, 2016 16:55 EST
ETHAN MILLERAFP
UFC star Jon Jones has been handed a one-year doping ban after taking a sexual-performance pill tainted with a performance-enhancing substance, it was confirmed on Monday.
Jones, the Ultimate Fighting Championships interim light heavyweight champion and largely considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, tested positive for the substance shortly before UFC 200 in July.
The ban will be applied retroactively to the date of the test, meaning Jones, 29, will be free to fight again in July 2017.
A three-member panel which adjudicated on Jones’ case said they were satisfied the fighter had ingested the substance unwittingly.
Full screen
Jon Jones puts his arms in the air after the UFC light heavy weight championship fight against Glover Texeira.© USA Today Sports / ReutersUSA Today Sports
Not a drug cheat
“On the evidence before the Panel, the Applicant is not a drug cheat,” the panel from McLaren Global Sports Solutions wrote, according to MMAFighting.com.
“He did not know that the tablet he took contained prohibited substances or that those substances had the capacity to enhance sporting performance. However by his imprudent use of (the pill) he has not only lost a year of his career but an estimated nine million dollars.
