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How long UFC champ Jon Jones is doing VADA testing, and how it’s being paid for

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is likely to be subjected to more drug testing than any fighter on the promotion’s roster over the next half-year.

In addition to being on the hook for testing by the UFC’s anti-doping partner, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Jones also will be tested randomly by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) for three to six months, California State Athletic Commission Executive Director Andy Foster told MMAjunkie.

That doesn’t include any testing from state athletic commissions such as the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which will soon receive Jones’ (23-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC) license application to fight Anthony Smith (31-13 MMA, 7-3 UFC) at UFC 235 on March 2 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Jones is scheduled to appear before the NSAC this month to discuss an “abnormal” test result that led to the move of UFC 232 from Nevada to California.

As part of a deal worked out with the CSAC, which required Jones to enroll with VADA to be sanctioned for UFC 232, the cost of program will be subtracted from a $205,000 fine he’s already paid for a positive drug test following UFC 214. The bill totals $22,000, Foster said.

The champ recently took to social media to celebrate negative test results from USADA and the CSAC in the wake of a second win over Alexander Gustafsson at December’s UFC 232 event. Most notably, the M3 metabolite of oral turinabol was not present in his system; Jones came up positive three times for trace amounts of the metabolite while testing negative five times between this past August and November.

Participation in VADA was first recommended by CSAC commissioner Martha Shin-Martha Shen-Urquidez, who urged Jones to clean up his image with fans who suspected he cheated for a title-winning bout against Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 and prior to a title-unifier with Cormier at UFC 200.

Shen-Urquidez said eight VADA tests would cost $18,000, while 10 would cost $20,000. It’s likely, then, that Jones will be tested 12 times during his participation. Foster said the anti-doping agency’s testing is more comprehensive than that ordered by the CSAC and said Jones already has been tested. He added results from VADA’s fight-night test for UFC 232 haven’t come back yet, though he said to date, there have been no issues for the champ.

Jones was tested seven times and 12 times overall in 2018 by USADA, according to the anti-doping agency’s online database. He is a massive betting favorite to defeat Smith at UFC 235 and defend the undisputed light heavyweight title he’s held on three occasions between regulatory and legal issues outside the cage.

For more on UFC 235, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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