Daniel Cormier has faced a roller coaster of emotions over the past six weeks.
It was July 29 when Cormier suffered a third round knockout to Jon Jones in the main event at UFC 214 that saw him lose his light heavyweight title.
A few weeks later it was revealed that Jones has failed a drug test administered by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) from July 28 that came back positive for the steroid Turinabol. Earlier this week USADA also confirmed that Jones’ ‘B’ sample confirmed the results from the ‘A’ sample.
On Wednesday, the California State Athletic Commission then overturned the fight from a win for Jones to a no contest due to the positive drug test for steroids. Hours later, the UFC stripped Jones of the light heavyweight championship and handed the title back over to Cormier.
Needless to say, Cormier is still trying to wrap his head around everything.
“I think it’s crazy. It’s one of the craziest things,” Cormier said during “UFC Tonight” on Wednesday. “USADA’s being very straight line saying due process but the reality is you can’t fail drug tests. You can pass 100 drug tests, you cannot fail one. They’re saying we have to wait for the due process but what are we waiting for? We’ve tested the ‘A’ sample, we’ve tested the ‘B’ sample. If there’s anything you cannot test positive for performance enhancing drugs. You just can’t do it. It’s unfair. I’m very upset about it.”
While it was tough for Cormier to face the fact that his loss had been overturned to a no contest, he eventually realized that the result was no different than if Jones had cheated during the fight and been disqualified.
In this case, Jones has produced a positive drug test for steroids, which means his win and the title have been vacated.
Unfortunately this is just the latest in a long line of incidents involving Jones including another positive drug test from last year that ended with a one-year suspension being handed down by USADA. While Jones was exonerated from purposefully cheating because he took a tainted sexual enhancement drug, USADA still found him negligent in the matter.
This time around, Jones faces up to a four year suspension due to this being his second offense under the UFC’s anti-doping policy.
“He disqualified himself by taking a steroid before the fight. So it didn’t happen. So now I get the belt back, which is the right thing to do. I’m not only saying that because it’s me. It’s the right thing to do. You don’t cheat the sport. You don’t cheat the fans. You don’t cheat me,” Cormier said.
“You have all the physical advantages, sir. You’re 30 years old, you’re 6’4?, you’ve got a 84-inch reach. I’m 38 years old — I would love to take stuff and wake up every morning and not have to walk down my stairs sideways and just get back to training. It’s an unfortunate situation. We had one of the biggest fights of the year and once again this guy has made a mockery of the sport.”
As far as Jones’ future goes, he will be afforded an adjudication process with USADA as well as a hearing with the California State Athletic Commission before any potential penalties are handed down.
Jones’ team has already stated that they believe the now former champion was the victim of a tainted supplement, which would then explain why he produced a clean drug test in early July but then returned one on July 28 with the steroid Turinabol.
Cormier believes that Jones will have to fight for his life in this situation because a four-year suspension could virtually spell the end of his career.
“You said he has to fight this and he has to cause this is a death sentence if this does what it says it can be, it’s a death sentence,” Cormier said. “This is a very expensive drug, something that’s not gonna just be easily found in a supplement. I’ve been in the USADA program for 12 years, I’ve never had these issues. If it was a mistake the first time, you’ve got to be more careful, especially with all the scrutiny that was on him coming back from a suspension. You’ve got to be cautious and careful — for people to understand anymore is just ridiculous.”
