White not headlining another show with Jon Jones

Former UFC light heavyweight champion (again) Jon Jones was pulled from a unification fight vs. division champion Daniel Cormier after he tested positive for a Specified Substance. These carry a maximum one-year suspension, rather than the two-years that is standard for a PED, based on the potential for a credible non-doping explanation.

On Monday Jones was suspended for the full one-year by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. USADA ruled that he had taken the drug unintentionally, but gave him the full penalty due to the recklessness he showed in taking a contaminated sexual aid that a friend had purchased on the black market.

Jones will be eligible to fight again on July 7, 2017. When he comes back, however, he won’t be headlining an event, according to UFC president Dana White, during an appearance on a SiriusXM interview with Jim Rome.

I don’t [trust him], no. I don’t, said White, as transcribed by Mike Bohn for MMAjunkie. In my opinion, I would never take the risk of headlining a show with Jon Jones again. I’d put him on the card, but I wouldn’t headline with him until he consistently gets back on track. Millions of dollars are spent on this. For a card to fall apart, and how many cards have fallen apart because Jon Jones gets in trouble for something? So no, I’m not at that place with him.

He’s lost probably $20 million. He’s probably the greatest talent we’ve ever seen in the sport. It’s sad to see it go like this. And the unfortunate part is, time off is nobody’s friend in this sport. You have to stay active, you have to stay busy. I don’t know what the reason is. Time off is never anybody’s friend in the fight game.