UFC 200 Main Event Is Off Due To Potential Doping Violation, UFC Issues Statement

The main event for the biggest UFC event in history is off, as UFC Interim light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been pulled from his fight against UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 this Saturday due to a potential doping violation.

USADA, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, informed Jones of the potential violation today which stemmed from an out-of-competition sample collection on June 16, 2016.

UFC President Dana White took part in a press conference to announce the news, which you can watch above. It was noted that Jones is afforded a full fair legal review process, which would include having his B sample tested, however there isn't enough time to conduct the review before Saturday's fight card, so the fight has been pulled.

While Jones has never tested positive for PEDs, he did fail a drug test for benzoylecgonine, a primary metabolite of cocaine, in December of 2014, ahead of his fight with Daniel Cormier at UFC 182. However, it was an out of competition test and benzoylecgonine wasn't banned out of competition by the World Anti Doping Agency.

UFC issued the statement below:

The UFC organization was notified tonight that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Jon Jones of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection on June 16, 2016.

USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case. It is important to note that, under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full fair legal review process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed.

However, because Jones was scheduled to compete against Daniel Cormier this coming Saturday, July 9 in Las Vegas, there is insufficient time for a full review before the scheduled bout and therefore the fight has been removed from the fight card. As a result, the three-round heavyweight bout between Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt will become the UFC 200 main event.

Consistent with all previous potential anti-doping violations, additional information or UFC statements will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.

Ticket refunds available upon request at primary point of purchase.

wardawgs and damien demento contributed to this article.