Jones’ sample was in fact CIR tested, nothing suspicious found

There was an extraordinary outburst when the results of UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ blood tests came back – tests showed conclusively that he had recently used cocaine. Jones entered a treatment facility.

Then a careful look at the test results showed another anomaly.

Jones’ testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio was unusual, on each of the three results, administered over several weeks.

The ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E ratio) is checked as a flag for the use of performance enhancing drugs. The hormone testosterone is responsible for speed, endurance, aggression, etc. Epitestosterone does not have androgenic properties. As the human body produces testosterone, it also produces epitestosterone in equal quantity.

Thus a normal, healthy male has a T/E ration of 1:1.

If artificial testosterone is being taken, then the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone changes. A number of fighters have been caught in this manner:

Alistair Overeem: 14:1

Chael Sonnen: 16.9:1

Robert Drysdale: 19.4:1

However, some natural variation occurs. The Nevada Athletic Commission regards anything under 6:1 as plausibly falling within the natural range.

However, Jones’s results were skewed in the opposite direction.

A Dec 4 test showed a ration of .29:1 and .35:1 (the first sample was deemed to watery. Yuck.) A Dec 18 test showed .19:1.

In addition, Jones testosterone level was remarkably low.

The average amount of testosterone in a male is around 60 ng/mL. Jones tested at 1.8 ng/mL, 0.59 ng/mL and 4.9 ng/mL.

There are any number of potential causes for the unusual results. Athletes using testosterone can use a masking agent that decreases the T/E ratio, and it could have worked too well. Cocaine use can lower testosterone levels. Use of synthetic testosterone can decrease the body’s natural production of the hormone.

In the third case above, there is a further test, the carbon isotope ratio test, to determine whether there was artificial testosterone in Jones’ body. As it is expensive, at $450 per, it is not done with every sample. However, there was a chorus of calls from the MMA media and others for a CI test, some them contentious, and challenging.

Dr. Johnny Benjamin @DrJCBenjamin

•NSAC can test stored samples from Jon Jones to investigate troubling T/E ratios. CIR will reveal if external/illegal source of T or E used

•By not intervening appropriately NSAC may have opened Pandora’s box exposing potential behind the scenes shenanigan’s in MMA

•When story 1st broke I thought NSAC merely derelict for not promoting property safety measures w/ respect to cocaine. Now may be much deeper

•At this point, If NSAC fails to test Jones’ stored samples with CIR they are not incompetent…they’re complicit

Dr. Benjamin is a fellowship-trained spine surgeon. But he also has an unfortunate history of public statements that would seem to go against his usually excellent judgement. Joining him on Twitter was disgraced steroid distributor turned anti-doping crusader, and former musician with Tower of Power, Victor Conte.

Conte went Full Potato, devoting the Twitter equivalent of War and Peace to the issue.

Victor Conte ‏@VictorConte

•IMO @ufc & Nevada comm are $ partners. Cancel event = $ loss @danawhite

•Use of exogenous testosterone can result in lower epi than test ratio

•Cocaine IS a PED. They usually don’t test 4 it out of competition

•IMO. T/E ratio results 4 @ufc Jon Jones are SUSPICIOUS. 3 urine samples given. T & E levels & T/E ratios all suppressed. CIR tests needed!

•IMO. CIR testing of all 3 @ufc Jon Jones urine samples needed. Reduced T & E levels + T/E ratios could indicate exogenous testosterone use

•Avg T/E ratio references. Asians .76 to 1, whites 1.2 to 1, blacks 1.3 to 1. @ufc Jon Jones 3 T/E tests were .29 to 1, .35 to 1, .19 to 1.

•Use of exogenous testosterone suppresses testosterone & epitestosterone levels in urine. IMO. CIR testing NEEDED 4 @ufc Jon Jones samples

•Does Nevada comm/ @ufc have the balls to do CIR testing on all 3 urine samples collected from Jon Jones? IMO. All 3 results are SUSPICIOUS

•Nevada comm claims 2 follow WADA code. When suspicious T/E results are found, their protocol is 2 use CIR tests. Will Nevada & @ufc do CIR?

•If Nevada follows WADA code then @ufc Jones’ samples are saved. IMO. His T/E results are suspicious. Easy 2 retest w/ CIR & reveal the truth

•IMO. All 3 of Jones’ T/E tests are suspicious

•Do @ufc fans deserve 2 know the truth about possible use of testosterone by Jon Jones? IMO. retesting w/ CIR could provide TRUTH either way

•I believe Nevada comm & @ufc have opportunity 2 show their integrity 2 MMA fans by retesting Jones’ samples w/ CIR. Will they? @danawhite

•Dana may prove his case w/ CIR test. DO IT

•IMO. @danawhite may help provide the TRUTH about @ufc Jon Jones use of testosterone or not by a retest of his samples with CIR. DO IT DANA!

•Do @danawhite @ufc & Nevada want 2 know the truth about Jon Jones’s suspicious T/E tests? We’ll see. A retest w/ CIR may provide the TRUTH

•Will Nevada @ufc & danawhite walk the talk? Do they really follow WADA code? Will they follow up on Jones suspicious T/E tests w/ CIR test?

•Wonder if @danawhite has a reasonable explanation 4 the 3 highly suspcious T/E ratio results 4 Jon Jones. Hope @ufc demands the CIR TRUTH

•Wonder how many MMA scribes have the balls 2 investigate the 3 suspicious T/E ratio tests for @ufc Jon Jones? Samples frozen per WADA code?

•Exogenous testosterone & steroid use both reduce the body’s production of T & E. When levels of both are low it’s suspicious @ufc @danawhite

•Jon Jones’s Testosterone Levels Are Suspect @culturexfire http://tinyurl.com/ogoaqnb @ufc @danawhite Good read 4 non fan boy MMA scribes

•Does “administrative oversight” explain how Nevada comm failed 2 do appropriate follow-up tests of Jon Jones’s urine w/ CIR testing? @ufc

•Testosterone use out of competition is against WADA rules. IMO @ufc Jon Jones’s 3 T/E ratio tests are suspicious. CIR follow up tests=TRUTH

•64K question now is will the Nevada comm have the balls 2 do what’s right & retest @ufc Jones’ samples w/ CIR & reveal the truth? @danawhite

•IMO. WADA’s Utah lab knows these @ufc Jones samples are suspicious

•$ rules RT @BoxingYoda: @Gabriel_Montoya @LeftyHaro @VictorConte @ufc @danawhite UFC lacks star power so they will protect their one & only

Now Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Bob Bennett has informed Jeremy Botter for Bleacher Report that the samples have in fact been CI tested, the results came back today, and that no synthetic testosterone was detected.

“His urine samples were tested, and according to our doctor he doesn’t have a concern with the results of the urinalysis test at this time,” said Bennett.

As a matter of fact, Comier’s T/E ratio was low too, with a .4 T/E ratio on Dec. 2 and .48 T/E ratio on Dec. 17. Cormier’s testosterone levels were 50 ng/mL and 70 ng/mL, lower than average, but higher than Jones’s.

Kevin Iole with Yahoo Sports spoke with Dr. Christiane Ayotte, the head of Montreal’s Laboratoire de contrôle du dopage INRS, one of 32 WADA-accredited labs worldwide. She saw no problem with Jones’ T/E ratio. Dr. Ayotte said she was not alarmed by Jones’ test results, and said they were not the result of taking epitostosterone to manipulate the T/E ratio.

“I read the interviews of ‘specialists’ on that topic [in MMA media accounts], and, well, I am sorry, but such T/E values are not at all abnormal,” said Dr. Ayotte. ” … The administration of epitestosterone is easily detected. It does not give a small increase that looks natural, but a huge peak that is very difficult to control. I have seen only one case of attempted masking with epitestosterone and it was readily detected.

“Epitestosterone is not metabolized rapidly and stays high. An epitestosterone urine sample does not look like the ones you sent me.”

Jon Jones clearly has a cocaine problem. But he clearly is not using PEDs. Individuals who stridently voiced their suspicions that he was using PEDs now have a responsibility to as stridently report that the evidence is he was not. It will be telling of their character if they are forthright about the truth, or make barely a murmur.