On the heels of this week’s announcement that former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had been suspended 1 year for his failed out-of-competition drug test back in June, it has now been announced that Jones has been stripped of the interim light heavyweight championship.
Jones, who failed a random, out-of-competition drug test back in June, was pulled from his UFC 200 bout with Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 in July just 48 hours before fight night. While an appeal process revealed that Jones didn’t knowingly take banned substances, he was still handed a one year suspension.
Now, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto has revealed that Jones has been stripped of the light heavyweight championship:
The UFC has stripped Jon Jones of a light heavyweight title for the second time in two years. (via @bokamotoESPN) https://t.co/CmPiIRXBsD
— ESPN (@espn) November 9, 2016
Jones won the belt earlier this year, defeating Ovince Saint-Preux via unanimous decision at UFC 197 after Daniel Cormier withdrew from the bout with a knee injury.
While UFC President Dana White briefly considered holding an interim title fight between Jon Jones and Anthony Johnson to determine who would challenge ‘DC’ for the light heavyweight title, the UFC opted to book Cormier vs. Johnson II for UFC 206.