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The heavyweight bout between Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt has
replaced the Jones-Cormier clash as the main event at UFC 200,
the mixed martial arts promotion company said in a statement on
its website (www.ufc.com).
Jones tested positive in an out-of-competition sample collection
by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on June 16, and the bout
was removed from the card because there was not enough time to
review the findings before Saturday, the statement added.
Jones had tested positive for traces of cocaine before he beat
Cormier in their first meeting in Jan. 2015.
UFC President Dana White told a news conference he was not aware
if the violation involved a performance-enhancing substance.
"He's got the chance to prove himself innocent before proven
guilty, but if it's true, obviously super, super disappointing,"
White added.
"These type of things are going to happen. It could have been a
lot worse. Jones might get two years for this."
Jones was stripped of the light heavyweight title he had held
since 2011 and suspended for several months after being charged
in a hit-and-run case in April 2015, an incident for which he
was later sentenced to 18 months probation.
He returned to competition in April this year with a victory
over Ovince Saint Preux to take the division's interim belt.
(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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