With big fight planned for July, Reebok and UFC standing behind Jones

Earlier today, UFC light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones announced he was entering into rehab following the positive drug test that came back from the…

By: Stephie Haynes | 9 years ago
With big fight planned for July, Reebok and UFC standing behind Jones
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Earlier today, UFC light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones announced he was entering into rehab following the positive drug test that came back from the Nevada Athletic Commission’s out of competition testing from early December. Fan and media reaction has been rife with questions about the unusual circumstances around the test and the possible repercussions that could stem from it.

A couple of those questions have recently been answered in a pair of reports from MMA Junkie and the LA Times. With an expected bout tentatively set for July 11th between Jones and the winner of the Alexander Gustafsson vs. Anthony Johnson fight, both Reebok and the UFC are standing firmly behind the champ.

Reebok statement:

“We commend Jon for taking the necessary steps to address this issue, and we will support him in any way we can,” the apparel giant said in a prepared statement to MMAjunkie. “The status of Jon’s relationship with Reebok has not changed.”

UFC statement:

“I am proud of Jon Jones for making the decision to enter a drug treatment facility,” White said in a prepared statement. “I’m confident that he’ll emerge from this program like the champion he truly is.”

The one thing that could put a damper on this proposed July match-up is that the Nevada Athletic Commission is exploring disciplinary action. Bob Bennett, the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, had this to say on the matter:

“The commission will address this [out-of-competition] anomaly,” Bennett said. “That is an issue we will take up and [fighter discipline] is certainly an option available to the commission.”

The question now is, will NSAC sanctions kill that fight? Keep your browser locked on Bloody Elbow for the latest news on this developing story.

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About the author
Stephie Haynes
Stephie Haynes

Stephie Haynes has been covering MMA since 2005. She has also worked for MMA promotion Proelite and apparel brand TapouT. She hosted TapouT’s official radio show for four years before joining Bloody Elbow in 2012. She has interviewed everyone there is to interview in the fight game from from Dana White to Conor McGregor to Kimbo Slice, as well as mainstream TV, film and music stars including Norman Reedus, RZA and Anthony Bourdain. She has been producing the BE podcast network since 2017 and hosts four of its current shows.

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