Anti-doping expert: With 'odd' testosterone readings, CIR test needed on Jones' sample

Jon Jones

Couched in the paperwork that UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones tested positive for cocaine metabolites prior to his UFC 182 fight with Daniel Cormier is a figure that concerns an anti-doping expert and endocrinologist consulted by MMAjunkie.

Jones, who is now in rehab, thrice had his testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio measured as part of an out-of-competition drug test ordered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which oversaw UFC 182. The T/E ratio is used to tip off potential performance-enhancing drug use.

Jones’ ratios, obtained by MMAjunkie.com, were well below those of an average male which is 1 (or one part testosterone to one part epitesterone). On Dec. 4, it was .29 and .35, respectively, in two separate tests ordered by the commission (NSAC Executive Director Bob Bennett told MMAFighting.com that Jones’ initial urine sample was “watery” and requested another test). Two weeks later, it was .19, according to a document obtained by Yahoo! Sports.

The NSAC does not follow the standard set by the World Anti-Doping Agency when it comes to testing T/E ratios. WADA allows athletes to have up to a 4-to-1 ratio, while the NSAC allows a 6-to-1 ratio. In any case, Jones did not exceed the NSAC’s limit, and so his ratio was not flagged by the commission.

However, two experts told MMAjunkie said that while Jones’ ratio represents an incomplete picture, they said it is is “odd” and warrants further scrutiny.

MMAjunkie on Wednesday spoke to Don Catlin, an anti-doping expert and former head of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, and endocrinologist Jeffrey Brown, who runs a private practice in Houston.

Asked to interpret Jones’ ratios, Catlin’s immediate response was to question whether Jones had taken epitestosterone, the inactive component of testosterone, in order to lower his T/E ratio.

“That’s what will give a result like that,” he said. “The T/E ratio is the resultant of a ratio of testosterone over epitestosterone, so if you have a large amount of testosterone in the urine, you get a high T/E ratio. If you have a lot of epitestosterone, you will get a high epitestosterone (level). You can’t make a conclusion based on one value; you have to have both values.

“Those are pretty low values – I’d be pretty suspicious, but you can’t make much of it unless you can show that it was once high and then became low.”

Catlin and Brown disagreed on whether Jones’ T/E ratio could have become depressed due to excessive exertion, as would have been the case one month from his fight, when he was nearing his peak condition.

“It’s not affected by that,” Catlin. “We’ve done studies and we know that doesn’t alter the T/E ratio. What alters it is the amount of epitestosterone, and the value you have is well within the normal range. It’s normal, but it is a bit on the low side, and I would wonder. So I would go further and ask for a carbon isotope ratio test. That would tell you what’s really going on.”

Called CIR for short, the test detects the presence of synthetic testosterone in the body. It is typically a more expensive test, and in the case of the NSAC, is only ordered in the case of a positive result that is challenged.

Dr. Brown echoed Catlin’s observation that without some sort of baseline to compare Jones’ T/E ratios in the month leading up to this past Saturday’s UFC 182, it was difficult to make a conclusion as to why they were lower than the norm.

“I would say it’s odd, and without knowing anything else, it’s odd,” Brown said. “I’d like to see another one, two weeks later. The ratio is so low.”

Catlin, however, said that a ratio such as Jones should trigger additional tests to determine how he got there.

“It’s a urinary test for testosterone,” he said. “You don’t even need to (measure) free and total (testosterone). Then take look at those values. They’re probably going to be normal. The most important test would be to do a carbon isotope ratio test, because if he is doing something, the carbon isotope test will show it.”

Despite his suspicions, Catlin said Jones’ T/E ratio could be “perfectly normal.” He added, however, that the agency that ordered the test needed to go further than simply measuring the ratio.

As to why the NSAC might not have looked further into the level, Catlin dismissed the idea that it was because Jones’ T/E was below 6-to-1.

“It’s probably because they didn’t know what they were doing,” he said. “They really don’t understand this thing at all. It’s way beyond them.”

For more on UFC 182, check out the UFC Events section of the site.