White: Jones had ‘right to fight’ at UFC 182
Dana White: “Jon Jones was contracted to fight, and everyone thinks we can just say, ‘the fight’s off, the fight’s not happening.’ He had the right to fight.”
When news broke that Jon Jones had failed a drug test for a recreational drug in early December, fans and media questioned why he was still allowed to fight. As explained by UFC President Dana White, the drug test was ‘out-of-competition’ and therefore the commission nor the UFC could stop Jones from fighting:
“No,” White said Wednesday, when asked on FOX Sports 1 if he considered canceling the Jan. 3 main event. “No. 1, he was healthy. No. 2, the reason you would stop the fight and the hammer would drop on the guy would be if he tested for performance-enhancing drugs.”
White went on to say that he didn’t have the legal power to pull Jones out of the fight even if he wanted to, since Jones signed a contract and technically did nothing to violate the agreement.
“The other thing people have to understand in this situation,” White said. “Jon Jones was contracted to fight, and everyone thinks we can just say, ‘the fight’s off, the fight’s not happening.’ He had the right to fight.”