The UFC revealed on Sunday that Saturday’s UFC 232 will no longer be taking place in Las Vegas and has been moved to Inglewood, California due to licensing issues with Jon Jones.
UFC 232 was scheduled to take place at the T-Mobile Arena and was going to be regulated by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. But that all changed following a drug test sample submitted to USADA by Jones earlier this month and in a statement sent to the media, NSAC Executive Director Bob Bennett explained why the commission would not give Jones a license to compete in Nevada on Saturday.
“Today, Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) Executive Director Bob Bennett announced that, in consultation with NSAC Commission Chair Anthony Marnell, III, unarmed combatant Jon Jones will be allowed to withdraw his pending application for licensure, which was intended to clear him to fight in a major contest in Nevada later this month,” the statement said.
“After extensive analysis of Mr. Jones’ prior 18 months of USADA in- and out-of-competition anti-doping drug testing results, Director Bennett, Chair Marnell, and Mr. Jones agree that he will appear at an evidentiary hearing in January. This will allow for a measured, thoughtful, and comprehensive discussion of his anti-doping testing protocol and results and provide an opportunity for the NSAC to determine the appropriate path forward for him in Nevada. We look forward to his hearing.”
UFC Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky explained the entire situation with the media in Las Vegas on late Sunday afternoon (full video above via MMA Junkie). Novitzky explained that this is not an anti-doping policy violation and Jones is cleared to fight by USADA.
Since Jones has a license to fight in California, the fight will now take place at The Forum in Inglewood and California State Athletic Commission Executive Director Andy Foster explained to MMA Fighting why the fight is taking place in California.
Stay tuned to TheMMAReport.com all this week for coverage of UFC 232 and coming up on Wednesday will be this week’s episode of The MMA Report Podcast as Jason Floyd and Daniel Galvan will discuss this situation and the entire UFC 232 fight card.