Longtime UFC analyst Joe Rogan is glad UFC 232 is pushing forward this week in the wake of Jon Jones’ drug testing abnormality.
But he’s not a fan of the card moving to Southern California from its original home in Las Vegas on a week’s notice, and he wonders if it could have been avoided had the Nevada State Athletic Commission done things differently.
“What the (expletive) are you doing? You’re going to let him fight in California? Let him (expletive) fight in Nevada,” Rogan said on his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.” “It’s stupid. It’s stupidity. In this case, it’s stupid. I’m upset. I just wanted this fight to take place without any bull(expletive) behind it. I just want it to be a great fight. It’s an amazing matchup.”
Jones (22-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) fights Alexander Gustafsson (18-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in a rematch for the light heavyweight title in the UFC 232 main event, which now takes place Saturday at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., instead of at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Late Sunday, MMAjunkie was first to report that a Jones drug test sample on Dec. 9 found a trace amount of Chlorodehydromethyltestosterone (DHCMT), or turinabol, in his system. That’s the same substance Jones tested positive for in 2017 that led to the 15-month suspension he recently was cleared from in order to fight this week.
But because the NSAC said it did not have proper time to investigate in order to keep Jones cleared to fight, it couldn’t grant him a license. Instead, it waived his license request so the UFC could move the entire event to California, the state that was part of Jones’ most recent sanction after his positive test at UFC 214 in July 2017.
“I don’t understand why they couldn’t just do this in Nevada,” Rogan said (his Jones discussion can be found at the 1:57 mark of the video below). “I guess they’re on vacation or some (expletive). That’s crazy. Figure it out. Let’s make a phone call. Isn’t there one person? One person should say, ‘OK, is it, to the best of your knowledge, absolutely from the original test?’ ‘Yes sir, by all the science, we’ll submit the science, show you the science, tell you the number.’ ‘OK, let him fight.'”
Rogan said if CSAC director Andy Foster is on board with giving Jones a license based on the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency not ruling Jones’ test a violation due to a belief it’s a residual “pulsing” effect from his previous positive test, then he can be on board.
“Andy Foster – I have a great deal of respect for that guy,” Rogan said. “Very proactive with weight-cutting, very proactive with weight classes, very proactive with a lot of the rules. He’s really good. If he believes this is scientifically proven to be the same exact thing that he’s already been punished for, I agree with him. That guy knows what the (expletive) he’s talking about. Same with (Jeff) Novitzky, same with all the other people saying it’s legit.”
But Rogan also is willing to entertain the possibility that other fighters have been given suspensions for the same thing Jones is getting a pass for.
“Here’s the question: Have other people still been punished for the exact same crime?” he asked. “Have other people tested positive for the exact same thing? This is what I do not know. Is this preferential treatment? That’s what the argument would be: Is it preferential treatment? Because tainted supplements are a legitimate problem.”
For more on UFC 232, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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