UFC president Dana White has announced that the UFC 200 main event between light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and interim champion Jon Jones is canceled. USADA, the UFC’s independent Performance Enhancing Drug testing agency, has flagged UFC Jones for a potential anti-doping violation.
The official announcement was made by UFC Vice President of Athlete Health & Performance Jeff Novitzky:
The UFC organization was notified tonight that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Jon Jones of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection on June 16, 2016.
USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case. It is important to note that, under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full fair legal review process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed.
However, because Jones was scheduled to compete against Daniel Cormier this coming Saturday, July 9 in Las Vegas, there is insufficient time for a full review before the scheduled bout and therefore the fight has been removed from the fight card. As a result, the three-round heavyweight bout between Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt will become the UFC 200 main event.
Consistent with all previous potential anti-doping violations, additional information or UFC statements will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.
Ticket refunds available upon request at primary point of purchase.
White determined to move on.
When you have the biggest, baddest fight card ever assembled, it doesn’t sting as bad if you lose a fight – but it stings real bad for Daniel Cormier, said White to MMAjunkie. This is the way it should be. We have the best program in all of sports. This is the way it should be. … I kept going, ‘Everything is going so smooth,’ and nobody had been hurt. Everyone was healthy. So this was a pretty brutal phone call.
Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Hunt becomes the new main event.
UFC 200 is widely expected to be the biggest event in league history, and takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 9.
H/T Taz Styles
