Jon Jones removed from UFC rankings in wake of second USADA drug-test failure

In a decision that comes as little surprise, Jon Jones is no longer part of the UFC’s official rankings following the confirmation that both his A and B samples tested positive for the steroid Turinabol.

Jones defeated Daniel Cormier by third-round KO in the main event of UFC 214 on July 29 to reclaim the UFC light heavyweight championship, but the promotion stripped Jones of that title on Wednesday and is now likely to wait and see the results of his upcoming appeal before acknowledging him on their contenders’ charts again.

The result of the Jones-Cormier bout has been overturned to a no contest and the belt is once more around Cormier’s waist.

This is not the first time that Jones has been removed from the rankings. “Bones” ruled the consensus pound-for-pound list for years, but he’s spent large chunks of his prime absent from the rankings after being temporarily suspended for his involvement in a hit-and-run back in April 2015, and for his suspension stemming from a July 2016 USADA violation that kept him out of competition for 12 months.

Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, who has long held the No. 2 spot (or the No. 1 spot during Jones’s suspensions), once again finds himself at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings, while Cormier retakes the championship slot on the light heavyweight list.