UFC 232 moved from Las Vegas to Los Angeles after Jon Jones drugs test abnormality triggers backlash

The former light heavyweight champion has not been granted permission to fight by the Nevada State Athletic Commission due to the same substance that landed him a 15-month ban being found in a recent drugs test

UFC 232 has been moved from Las Vegas to Los Angeles at just six days’ notice due a drugs test abnormality with Jon Jones, triggering a furious backlash against the former light heavyweight champion as well as the mixed martial arts promotion from fans as well as other fighters on the card.

Jones, 31, was due to return from a 15-month ban this weekend against Alexander Gustafsson in the UFC’s year-ending show at Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. But a statement from the UFC late on Sunday night revealed that the Nevada State Athletic Commission has refused to grant Jones permission to fight due to a “very, very small amount” of a prohibited chlorine-substituted anabolic steroid being found in his system from a drugs test on 9 December.

It is the same substance that was found in a sample taken on 29 July 2017 that led to the 15-month ban and his victory over Daniel Cormier being ruled a no contest.

However, the UFC stressed that this sample is “not a violation” and that the fight will still go ahead – 270 miles away at The Forum in Inglewood, Los Angeles.

"This is the residual effect from the July 2017 test. This is not another positive test," said Jeff Novitzky, vice-president of athlete health and performance for UFC, who added that the dosage of the metabolite found in Jones’ system was like “a grain of salt split into 50 million pieces".

UFC president Dana White explained that the fight cannot take place in Las Vegas due to the NSAC not having enough time to investigate the drugs test, but that the California State Athletic Commission don’t have to as it "has already dealt with Jon Jones and have all the facts, they have everything".

Jones issued a statement on Instagram that did not address the drugs test finding, although he did claim on Twitter that he has “willingly submitted” to every United States Anti-Doping Agency test in the lead-up to the bout.

“It’s difficult to express myself at this moment but I can definitely say my heart is filled with gratitude and appreciation,” Jones wrote. “I want to thank all of you who have stood by me during the toughest stretch of my life. It has meant the world to me and always will. But now is the time to shift the focus front and centre to the road ahead. Greatness is what I’m chasing and the path to reclaiming my throne is now officially open. Comeback Season begins now.”

The decision has triggered a furious backlash from Gustafsson, who according to ESPN reporter Ariel Helwani was on a four-hour helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon at the time of the news and did not discover the change of venue until some time after it was announced. Furthermore, no official statement has been made from the UFC to those competing on the UFC 232 card, resulting in most of them discovering the news over social media.

“Now we all understand why u didn’t take the (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association) test!” Gustafsson wrote on Twitter. “U can be on rocket fuel, I’ll still gonna finish u Jon! (sic)”

Jones, who has failed drugs tests three times in the past, served a one-year ban following a positive test for the anti-estrogenic substance clomiphene as well as an aromatase inhibitor letrozole in July 2016, as well as the 15-month ban when he tested positive for the anabolic steroid Turinabol in July 2017.

Jones also tested positive for benzoylecgonine, the primary metabolite of cocaine, in the lead up to UFC 182 that took place in January 2015, although this was an out-of-competition test that did not lead to a suspension as he passed subsequent drugs tests before fighting Cormier that showed the drug was out of his system.

The news has been given short shrift from a number of other fighter on the UFC 232 card, most noticeably fellow light heavyweight Corey Anderson, who posted a lengthy statement on Instagram hitting out at both Jones and the UFC.

Gustafsson has hit out at Jones for the reasons behind the venue switch (Getty)

It read: “If we all said no we won’t travel again would they just take Jones off the card and keep it in Vegas? Or book 11 new fights, continue the move to LA, and keep the main event the same? A lot of money has been spent in travel fees for my family to be in VEGAS for this fight. I’m not even mad… just disappointed in the company I bust my ass for EVERYDAY, make sure my piss and blood is clean EVERYDAY, and represent myself like a professional EVERYDAY for. Just so clowns who sell a lot of tickets and make a lot of money could f*** up EVERYDAY and still get a pat on the back and told ‘Don’t worry, it’s not your fault,’ because at the end of the day they sell.

“I’m also currently on my five hour flight to Vegas with my wife who is seven months pregnant on the border of not being able to travel and spent an hourr and a half walking through Newark s*** show of an airport, now we have to land get our s***, figure out what’s next, load up and hassle through the airport, and travel again. The law says ‘drive sober or get pulled over’ the UFC should be ‘piss clean or hit the streets’ even if you making loads of money. But again I’m not pissed just highly disappointed.”

Tickets for the event in LA, which takes place this Saturday night, will go on sale on Wednesday 26 December, with White confirming that those fans unwilling to travel to California who had tickets for the Vegas event will be entitled to refunds.