UFC 244 controversy: 5 other major UFC fights that were put into jeopardy by drug tests

#5 UFC 232: Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson

Jon Jones' controversial drug test forced the UFC to move UFC 232 from Las Vegas to Los Angeles

The final UFC show of 2018, UFC 232 saw perhaps the most controversial drug testing incident in UFC history, as the entire show ended up being moved from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Los Angeles, California, following the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s refusal to license Jon Jones for his UFC Light-Heavyweight title fight with Alexander Gustafsson.

Jones had actually been suspended since July 2017 following a positive test for the banned substance turanibol after defeating Daniel Cormier to regain the Light-Heavyweight crown, but despite being cleared to compete at UFC 232, controversy struck just six days before the event was scheduled to take place.

Jones was flagged by a pre-fight drug test for the same banned substance that he’d tested positive for in 2017 – turanibol – but despite being out of action for 15 months, both USADA and the UFC suggested that the positive test was caused by the initial dose of the substance – with PED expert Jeff Novitzky stating that he felt it was a “pulsing” effect rather than a new ingestion of the drug.

Rather than pull Jones from the event, the UFC instead moved the event to Los Angeles, as the California State Athletic Commission were willing to license Jones where Nevada’s equivalent were not. To say the move was controversial would be an understatement, as many of the fighters due to compete on the show’s undercard were extremely unhappy.

In the end, the show went ahead, though – and Jones stopped Gustafsson in the third round of their fight to reclaim his title.

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