#mark hunt

by Gautham Nagesh

FormerUFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones is out of the UFC 200 main event this Saturday after he was informed of a potential anti-doping violation on Wednesday night by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

Food and Drug Administration agent Jeff Novitski said the potential violation stems from an out-of-competition sample collected on June 16th. Jones was scheduled to fight Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 for the light heavyweight title. Novitski said there will be full legal review process available to Jones, but there isn’t sufficient time for that review before Saturday’s card.

The news is a huge blow to the UFC, which had expected this Saturday’s Pay Per View to be one of the biggest cards in its history. As a result, the three-round heavyweight fight between Mark Hunt and WWE superstar Brock Lesnar will become the main event of UFC 200.

There is no word yet on what substance Jones tested positive for. He previously tested positive for cocaine before UFC 182. Jones was stripped of his light heavyweight title last year after a hit-and-run incident. He returned to the octagon in April with a win over Ovince St. Preux, his first fight since beating Cormier by unanimous decision in January 2015.

UFC boss Dana White said he received the news during “a pretty brutal phone call" and said he hasn’t spoken to Jones since. White said Jones still has the option to have his B sample tested, with a representative present if he desires. 

During a brief press conference after Novitski’s announcement, White recalled a recent interview he gave to sports talk host Jim Rome this week where he said he believed Jones had learned from a tumultuous 18 months and gotten his life on track.

“It’s weird to say, but [last year’s suspension] might be the best thing that ever happened to Jon Jones…and then boom, this happens,” White said.