UFC champ Jon Jones enters rehab facility after positive drug test

Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has entered a rehabilitation facility just days after scoring perhaps his biggest victory in the cage, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced Tuesday.

Jones retained his title for the eighth consecutive time with a unanimous decision over Daniel Cormier in the main event of UFC 182 on Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

“I am proud of Jon Jones for making the decision to enter a drug treatment facility,” UFC president Dana White said in a statement. “I’m confident that he’ll emerge from this program like the champion he truly is.”

A test administered to Jones by the Nevada Athletic Commission on Dec. 4 came back positive for the main metabolite in cocaine, benzoylecgonine.

The commission follows the World Anti-Doping Agency code, and benzoylecgonine is not banned for out-of-competition athletes, which Jones technically was on that date.

Because he was considered to be out of competition, Jones was not subject to punishment.

NAC executive director Bob Bennett said the issue will be discussed by the commission at a future date.

“We will be addressing that anomaly,” he said.

Jones was tested again later in December and the results were negative.

“We support UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ decision to enter a drug treatment facility to address his recent issue,” a statement from the UFC read. “While we are disappointed in the failed test, we applaud him for making this decision to enter a drug treatment facility. Jon is a strong, courageous fighter inside the octagon, and we expect him to fight this issue with the same poise and diligence. We commend him on his decision and look forward to him emerging from this program a better man as a result.”

Cormier, who had been embroiled in a public war of words with Jones leading up to the fight, commented to a mixed martial arts website late Tuesday afternoon.

“I am aware of Jon’s test, and if there is anything to say, it is this: There are a lot of people you impact, so please let’s get it together. Good luck on your rehab,” Cormier told MMAFighting.com.

Jones said after Saturday’s fight that he planned on making major changes in his life, though he wasn’t specific.

He lives in upstate New York most of the time and typically relocates to Albuquerque, N.M., only for training camps.

Jones, 27, said he now will be living in Albuquerque full time.

“I do not train in between fights, and that’s well documented,” Jones said at the postfight news conference. “I get this big gut and out of shape. I’m sure a lot of you have seen pictures. Usually I get back to Endicott after a fight and hang out with my buddies and play video games and whatnot. I become a full-time dad. Now that I’ll live in Albuquerque, it’s going to be huge. This next fight is going to be something else. I’ll get right back to strength and conditioning, start working toward a black belt in jiu-jitsu and just get better.

“I’m so excited for this development, this maturity that I’m getting ready to start going through of training in the offseason. Expect whoever I fight next to have their hands full.”

Jones was arrested in 2012 for driving under the influence of alcohol in Binghamton, N.Y. He was sentenced to a fine of $1,000 and had his license suspended for six months.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.