UFC 182: Jon Jones wasn't informed of positive drug test until after Daniel Cormier fight

The aftermath of this week's news that Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Jon Jones tested positive for cocaine metabolites prior to his fight against Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 -- which went down Sat., Jan 3, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada -- is still trickling in.

Full story here.

One of the major side notes of the news, is who knew what (and when).

While some of those details are still a bit sketchy, the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) -- who administered the out-of-competition drug test on Dec. 4, 2014 -- was aware of the positive results on Dec. 23. According to MMA Fighting, NSAC chairman Fransisco Aguilar confirmed that the commission informed UFC of the results that same day.

The real question though, is when was Jones was notified of his failed test?

NSAC executive director Bob Bennett told MMA Fighting that he would let UFC answer those questions, but did say that to the best of his knowledge, Jones wasn't informed of the failed test (see it here) until after he defended his title against "DC."

UFC officials have yet to reveal its timeline of events regarding this issue, but Dana White admitted during this interview that he knew one month before the fight of the test results.

According to the report, Jones was tested twice on Dec. 4, 2014, with both urine samples providing a positive result. And if you're wondering why Jones was still allowed to compete, according to this report, "since the NSAC follows the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) policies and benzoylecgonine is not on the out-of-competition banned substance list, a punishment could not be levied against Jones and he was permitted to compete."

Which begs the million-dollar question, why test at all?

For his part, Aguilar had this to say: "That was a bit of an anomaly that will be addressed [at the next NAC hearing on] Jan. 12. It was not a report requested by the NAC. It appears to have been an administrative oversight."

Oops.

Bennett went on to confirm that "Bones" was tested again on Dec. 18; however, he was not tested for cocaine. "Just for out of competition drugs such as anabolic steroids, no street drugs," he said.

And since cocaine is not a banned substance for out-of-competition testing, Jones will not face punishment from the NSAC. Whether or not he faces any punishment from UFC for what amounts to a code of conduct violation, remains to be seen.

Doubtful.

For now, the Las Vegas, Nevada-based mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion is backing its 205-pound champion with undying support. Still, as details become a bit clearer as each day passes, it's easy to see why some are crying foul at the way the promotion handled the situation.

And on the heels of this latest revelation that UFC knew of the failed test prior to fight night but chose to not inform Jones until after the bout, you can bet those angry tweets will likely intensify.