UFC interim light heavyweight champion Jon Jones held a press conference Thursday morning at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas one day after UFC announced he was removed from Saturday's UFC 200 card after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency informed the promotion of his possible violation.
Jones started by apologizing to everybody involved in the event, including the fans and expected opponent Daniel Cormier. His manager, Malki Kawa, noted they "deny any possible flagging," but he didn't want to provide any further details about the test results, per Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting.
The 28-year-old star only made brief comments about the situation before being forced to leave the stage as his emotion started to show. "The whole situation really sucks, it really hurts a lot," Jones said, via Kel Dansby of BSO.
He also stated "to this day I am extremely against PEDs," according to Chamatkar Sandhu of MMA Junkie.
Kawa confirmed they have taken the option to get the "B" sample tested by the USADA. He admitted the chances of getting a different result are "very slim," per Helwani. Shaheen Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting noted the Jones camp is expecting to find out what the test shows sometime tonight.
Jones returned after trying to regain his composure. Fox Sports UFC pointed out he apologized for struggling to make it through his answers.
"I believe that something good will come from this but it's hard to see it," he said. "I'm sorry that I'm crying guys."
ESPN provided more of his reaction:
Jones stated he still hasn't spoken with UFC president Dana White since the news broke. He did have a conversation with promotion CEO Lorenzo Fertitta and told him he would never cheat, per Mike McMahon of Pro Wrestling Torch.
Phil Murphy of ESPN noted when former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen asked Jones whether he denied taking a banned supplement or just not knowing it was on the banned list, he replied: "Both."
Finally, Jones said he still considers himself a "fighter" and doesn't plan to walk away from the sport, even if a suspension is levied.
"If I'm out for two years, maybe this is something I needed for my development as a person," he said, according to Helwani.
Looking ahead, White stated he isn't sure whether the expected rematch between Jones and Cormier will ever happen, per Damon Martin of Fox Sports. He's going to wait until any potential discipline is handed down regarding the matter.
"I don't know. We'll see how this thing goes down. Jones might get two years for this. We'll see," White said.
Meanwhile, UFC 200 moves forward with Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt in the main event. It makes the decision to sign Lesnar to a one-off contract with permission from WWE even more critical as interest in his return to the Octagon should ensure the intrigue level for the milestone event remains high.
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