Jon Jones - USADA Update, Reason UFC Fighter Was Pulled, UFC 225 Live Coverage And Podcast
- The first installment of "UFC 225: Embedded" for this Saturday's event was released late Monday night, as the behind-the-scenes reality series caught up with Rafael dos Anjos, Colby Covington and others. Dos Anjos and Covington meet in Chicago for the interim welterweight title, with middleweight champion Robert Whittaker defending his title against Yoel Romero in the main event. CM Punk will return to the Octagon and face fellow 0-1 fighter Mike Jackson in the opening fight of the main card.
Hear from dos Anjos during a media luncheon, listen in as Covington declares himself the "King of Brazil" and see Whittaker take part in some secret stretches in the video above.
- We will have live coverage of UFC 225 this Saturday, as well as a special podcast after the show covering UFC 225 with CM Punk's return, NJPW Dominion and more with Matt Morgan, Raj Giri and Chris Featherstone.
- Abe Kawa, the manager for former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, appeared on "The MMA Hour" recently to discuss the future of "Bones." According to Kawa, the matter between Jones and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency is "complicated" to say the least.
"USADA does a very good job. People are banging on them and hating on them. There's things I do not agree with with USADA," Kawa said (thanks to MMA Fighting for transcribing). "I've told them behind closed doors things I don't agree with. But USADA does a very good job. They've done a very good job cleaning up the sport. It's imperative that they get this right. It's imperative that they get this case right, because of who Jon is. And I think they're doing the best they can to get it right. With that being said, I'm confident that we will have a decision soon. I just don't want to put a date on it and say, it's gonna come down at this time, it's gonna come at that time. There is a decision coming and it's hopefully sooner rather than later."
Jones failed a drug test almost a year ago around his match with Daniel Cormier at UFC 214. He is facing a potential four-year ban from the sport if found guilty as a second-time offender. Jones tested positive for Turinabol, a steroid, and also had a positive test for two anti-estrogen agents back in 2016.
- The New York Athletic Commission pulled a planned fight at UFC Fight Night 131 between Jessica Aguilar and Jodie Esquibel because of a potentially contagious medical issue on Aguilar, the commission told MMA Fighting.
"Medical personnel identified a potentially contagious medical condition," read the NYSAC statement, via New York State Department of State spokesperson Lee Park. "For the safety of the impacted fighter and her opponent, the fight was called off. UFC medical personnel were also consulted and concurred with the decision."
Both fighters had successfully weighed in for their strawweight clash before the commission decided against clearing Aguilar. No word yet if the fight will be rescheduled for a future date.