2016: Jones fails a drug test ahead of UFC 200
To put it simply, UFC “International Fight Week” in 2016 was absolutely crazy. The UFC held three events in three days, which meant a packed media schedule of media days, open workouts, press conferences and weigh-ins that gave us the busiest fight week I’ve ever experienced. Then, an unexpected phone call midway through the week sent an already manic week into chaos.
We’d just attended an open workout event at T-Mobile Arena when we received a secret phone call from the UFC asking us to attend a secret media meeting at the MGM Grand. No reason was given, and we speculated between us about the reason for our summoning. Had the UFC been sold, as was rumored at the time? Was there going to be a massive addition to the fight card? We had literally no idea.
Then, when we sat down in front of the dais and Jeff Novitzky emerged, a collective groan went up from the small group of media in attendance. We all knew Novitzky, who was the face of the UFC’s recently-instituted anti-doping program, wasn’t coming to issue good news.
Novitzky then proceeded to inform us that [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] had failed a drug test and was out of his UFC 200 main event rematch with [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag]. We were stunned. Footage of Cormier later went viral as he broke down in tears at the news and, the following morning, we returned to the MGM Grand for a hastily-arranged press conference from Jones’ team, as the now-former UFC light-heavyweight champion broke down in tears in front of us.
It sparked a remarkable series of events as, initially, the heavyweight bout between Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt was named as the new main event for UFC 200. That was later changed to Miesha Tate’s women’s bantamweight title defense against Amanda Nunes as the event saw the UFC run through three main events in the space of 24 hours. In addition, Anderson Silva stepped in on just a few days’ notice to take on Cormier and add even more star power to the biggest – and most turbulent – fight week in UFC history.
Next up: Cormier becomes a double champ