Jon Jones ‘B’ sample comes back positive for steroid

Jon Jones’ drug-test failure has been officially confirmed.

The ‘B’ sample taken from Jones in an in-competition collection July 28 in relation to UFC 214 came back positive Tuesday for Turinabol, the steroid Jones tested positive for in the ‘A’ sample, MMA Fighting confirmed with UFC vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky.

ESPN was the first to report the news. A ‘B’ sample not having the same results of the ‘A’ sample is rare.

“Mr. Jones’ B sample has confirmed the A sample findings,” USADA said in a statement through a spokesperson. “Importantly — as previously stated — due process should occur before drawing any conclusions about this matter.”

With the ‘B’ sample confirming the positive test, Jones will now begin his adjudication process with USADA, the UFC’s anti-doping partner. It’s unclear how long that will take. Jones’ disciplinary hearing in front of the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC), which also has jurisdiction in the case, is currently in line to be Oct. 17 in Los Angeles, but that could change.

Jones is facing up to a four-year suspension from USADA, since he is a repeat offender. Last year, he tested positive for the banned substances clomiphene and Letrozol and was handed a one-year suspension.

Arbitrators ruled in 2016 that Jones was reckless in taking a sexual-enhancement pill that was contaminated with the two substances. Once again, with this latest test failure, Jones’ team is saying he ingested the steroid unknowingly, possibly via a tainted supplement.

In the main event of UFC 214 in Anaheim, Calif., Jones beat Daniel Cormier to re-gain the UFC light heavyweight title. He has yet to be stripped of the belt, pending the USADA adjudication process. Jones’ victory, though, is likely to be overturned into a no contest by CSAC.

Jones, one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, passed a drug test taken via a blood sample July 29, the day of the Cormier fight. But USADA’s blood tests are complementary to urine ones and this one did not test for Turinabol, which Jones tested positive for in the urine collection taken a day earlier.