Three days after defeating Daniel Cormier in their light heavyweight championship bout at UFC 182, pound-for-pound king Jon "Bones" Jones announced his intention to enter a drug rehabilitation facility.
Jones' attorney released a statement from Jones to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports:
With the support of my family, I have entered into a drug treatment facility. I want to apologize to my fiancée, my children, as well as my mother, father, and brothers for the mistake that I made. I also want to apologize to the UFC, my coaches, my sponsors and equally important to my fans. I am taking this treatment program very seriously. Therefore, at this time my family and I would appreciate privacy.
Jones (21-1, 9 KOs) defeated heated rival Cormier via unanimous decision Saturday night. It was Jones' eighth consecutive title defense, putting him two away from matching the record set by all-time great Anderson Silva.
While the bout went off without a hitch, the Nevada State Athletic Commission confirmed to Iole that Jones failed a drug test on Dec. 4 prior to the bout. The test revealed Jones had benzoylecgonine in his system, which metabolizes cocaine. Benzoylecgonine is not banned out of competition, so the NSAC could not penalize Jones at the time and the fight went ahead as planned. Jones was able to pass a subsequent test, per Iole.
There is no word on when Jones will return to the ring. Bob Bennett, the Nevada State Athletic Commission's executive director, would not speculate on whether the positive test would affect his eligibility in the future.
“At this point and time, Jones checked himself into a rehab center, and we’ll cross that bridge when he get to it,” Bennett told MMAjunkie.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter
