Alexander Gustafsson could have pushed his rematch with Jon Jones back to March, but chose not to.
Gustafsson will meet Jones a second time as planned this Saturday night. The location, however, has changed. In case your mind wandered off for the holidays, here’s what went down. Jones popped for a trace amount of turinabol, but the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) determined this was a pulsing effect rather than a recent dosage. Despite this, the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) wouldn’t allow Jones to compete in Las Vegas. The California State Athletic (CSAC) opened the door for UFC 232 to be held inside The Forum in Inglewood, California.
“The Mauler” Declines March Option
During a recent edition of UFC 232 Embedded, UFC president Dana White sat down with Gustafsson and gave him the option to push his rematch with Jones back to March (via MMANYTT.com):
“Just to be clear, this isn’t about me and it’s not about keeping the f—king fight on. I’m going to have a fight either way and I don’t got to go to f—king L.A but it’s not fair to you and it’s definitely not fair to Jon either. He didn’t do anything wrong. We have every expert on f—king Earth saying he didn’t do anything wrong so the fight should happen. But if you have any doubts in your mind, we can cancel this thing and do it in f—king March.”
Gustafsson ultimately chose to remain on this Saturday night’s card. As part of the CSAC’s agreement to approve Jones to compete in California this weekend, “Bones” is required to undergo VADA testing in addition to the standard USADA procedure.
Stick with MMA News this Saturday night for live coverage of UFC 232. We’ll provide live results, highlights, and post-fight tidbits. Also, be sure to check back here tomorrow for a live stream of the pre-fight press conference and on Friday for the weigh-ins.
