Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones received a reduced anti-doping sentence following his latest test failure, and is eligible to return on October 28, following a suspension of 15 months. It is important for fans to understand that arbitrator Richard McLaren concluded that, There was absolutely no intention to use Prohibited Substances [by Jones].
Further influencing the reduced sentence, Jones agreed to provide USADA with substantial assistance,” as detailed on page 34 of the official decision – “USADA has determined that Mr. Jones’ sanction should be reduced based on substantial assistance pursuant to Article 10.6.” The assistance byt he fighter has to be ongoing or the original sanction returns, in this case 30 months.
Jones’ agent Malki Kawa appeared recently on The MMA Hour and denied that Jones had to “tell on” MMA athletes.
Substantial assistance doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be about someone else, it could be about himself, said Kawa, as transcribed Iain Kidd by for BE.
However, section 10.6.1 of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy defines the term “substantial assistance” and it would appear to be at odds with Kawa’s interpretation:
USADA in its sole discretion may suspend all or part of the period of Ineligibility and other Consequences imposed in an individual case in which it has results management authority where the Athlete or other Person has provided Substantial Assistance to USADA or another Anti-Doping Organization, criminal authority or professional disciplinary body which results in: (i) USADA or another Anti-Doping Organization discovering or bringing forward an Anti-Doping Policy Violation by another Person and the information provided by the Person providing Substantial Assistance is made available to USADA, or (ii) which results in a criminal or disciplinary body discovering or bringing forward a criminal offense or the breach of professional rules committed by another Person and the information provided by the Person providing Substantial Assistance is made available to USADA.
In a statement to Kidd, a spokesperson for USADA confirmed the definition above:
There are two avenues in 10.6.1 of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy which allow for a reduction in sanctions: 1) an individual can get a sanction reduction if he or she provides information that results in USADA or another anti-doping agency bringing forward an Anti-Doping Policy Violation against other athletes or support personnel; and/or 2) a reduction can be given if the information results in a criminal or disciplinary body bringing forward a criminal offense against individuals. Importantly, if the athlete or support personnel fails to continue to cooperate and provide credible substantial assistance, USADA will reinstate the original sanction. These rules set out in 10.6.1 are crystal clear and if they are not met, an individual would not be considered for a reduction based on substantial assistance. Because the substantial assistance relates to ongoing matters, USADA is unable to provide any further information.
It is now incumbent on Kawa to clarify his understanding of the issue. However, the manager was crystal clear that Jones is not informing on members of Jackson-Wink MMA.
I can just tell you without a shadow of a doubt that Jon did not tell on any teammate, said Kawa, as transcribed by Steven Marrocco for MMAjunkie. Jon did not tell on anyone in MMA. Jon did not do anything that these people are saying he did. So all that, ‘He’s a snitch’ and all that stuff, we can put it to bed. He did not do that. There’s other things that took place in here. There’s other things that Jon did with himself. There’s things that USADA – and the arbitrator and everyone involved – got from Jon about Jon that they had never had before.
It’s not like Jon sits in a room somewhere and watches people do steroids, and then he’s like, ‘Hey man, guess what, my teammate over here is doing steroids.’ Jon goes and trains, gets his stuff, and he goes home. He doesn’t take a shower there. He doesn’t really hang out there. He comes in, does his thing, and he leaves. So he doesn’t sit there and hang out like that, or would know about anyone that does that. He doesn’t do that. So when people say these things, to me, it’s a funny thing.
I’m assuming if Jon’s name comes up in something, and he was to know something, he would have to be cooperative with them. But I don’t know of a deal where it’s like, ‘Hey, we’re going to continue to’ – I don’t know about that. That’s not how it went down. I don’t want to assume anything or have this turn into a disaster all of a sudden. But from what I understand, a lot of the stuff they were talking about had to do with him – not other people.
USADA spokesperson Danielle Eurich declined to provide details on Jones’ assistance because it relates to ongoing matters.
