MMA Odds and Ends for Thursday: Jon Jones off UFC 200 due to potential anti-doping violation, UFC 200 main event scrapped

Jon Jones off UFC 200 due to potential anti-doping violation, UFC 200 main event scrapped  UFC President Dana White Wednesday night revealed that the UFC 200 main event between light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones has been called off. This is due to Jones being flagged to a potential violation by USADA. The new main event will be now be the  heavyweight bout between Mark Hunt (12-10-1) and former UFC champion Brock Lesnar (5-3), which will be a three round fight. UFC Vice President of Athlete Health & Performance Jeff Novitzky read the following statement last night. “The UFC organization was notified tonight that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Jon Jones of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection on June 16, 2016. USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case. It is important to note that, under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full fair legal review process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. However, because Jones was scheduled to compete against Daniel Cormier this coming Saturday, July 9 in Las Vegas, there is insufficient time for a full review before the scheduled bout and therefore the fight has been removed from the fight card. As a result, the three-round heavyweight bout between Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt will become the UFC 200 main event. Consistent with all previous potential anti-doping violations, additional information or UFC statements will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward. Ticket refunds available upon request at primary point of purchase.”   Tony Martin injured, Michel Prazeres seeks new opponent for UFC on FOX 20 MMAJunkie reported Wednesday that lightweight Tony Martin has suffered a a neck injury and now Michel Prazeres seeks new opponent for UFC on FOX 20. Martin (10-3) is coming off a submission victory over Felipe Oliveiri. Prazeres (19-2) is 3-1 in his last four fights, including a split-decision victory over Valmir Lazaro in his last bout. UFC on FOX 20 takes place July 23 at Chicago’s United Center. Here’s an updated look at the card. Holly Holm vs. Valentina Shevchenko Edson Barboza vs. Gilbert Melendez Bojan Mihajlovic vs. Francis Ngannou Kailin Curran vs. Felice Herrig Frankie Saenz vs. Eddie Wineland Darren Elkins vs. Godofredo Pepey Kamaru Usman vs. Alexander Yakovlev Michel Prazeres vs. opponent TBA James Moontasri vs. Alex Oliveira George Sullivan vs. Hector Urbina Jim Alers vs. Jason Knight Luis Henrique vs. Dmitry Smolyakov

Written by James Lynch

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