Jon Jones' Attorney Says Tested Product Was Contaminated

Howard Jacobs, an attorney for former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, said the fighter's recent positive test for banned substances was because of a contaminated product.

Jones' showdown with Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 was scrapped in July after a doping test detected clomiphene and letrozole in his system.

On The Luke Thomas Show on SiriusXM Radio (h/t Nick Baldwin of the Bloody Elbow), Jacobs said Jones' camp and the United States Anti-Doping Agency discovered the source of the banned substances.

"It came from a product that Jon took that was not labelled with either of these substances," he said. "We had it tested; the product was contaminated with both of them.

"Pretty much every time it's been tested, it's shown that the product is contaminated with both clomiphene and letrozole."

Here is the full interview:

This is significant news for Jones as he gets set for his Oct. 31 appeal hearing. Per Baldwin, the maximum punishment Jones faces is a one-year suspension, though he could escape with a warning.

"In a case like this, you can't argue that you have no fault if you take a supplement or product that's contaminated," Jacobs said. "But you can argue that you're not significantly at fault, which gives you the ability to argue for a reduced sanction."

Jones is considered by many to be one of the finest-ever MMA competitors, with 22 wins and one defeat—by disqualification—in his 23 professional fights.

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The man known as Bones was last in the Octagon at UFC 197 in April, when he outclassed Ovince Saint Preux in a unanimous-decision victory. That bout came after Jones was stripped of his title and suspended following his arrest on a felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving death or personal injuries. He defeated bitter rival Cormier in his last fight before that in early January 2015.

Jones then tested positive for cocaine in mid-January 2015 and was slapped with a $25,000 fine by the UFC for violating company standards; he was not banned by the Nevada Athletic Commission, as the test came out of competition.